Editing Mary Steenburgen (section)

==Early life==
Steenburgen was born February 8, 1953, in [[Newport, Arkansas]], to Nellie Mae (née Wall),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JBF4-S5Q |title=Steenburgen |publisher=[[Familysearch.org]] |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref> a school-board secretary, and Maurice Hoffman Steenburgen, a freight-train conductor who worked for the [[Missouri Pacific Railroad]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/96/Mary-Steenburgen.html |title=Mary Steenburgen Biography (1953-) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=September 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1248998.html |title=Stony Reception in Little Rock; Film by Mary Steenburgen Draws Cries of Foul in Arkansas |first=Barbara |last=McIntosh |date=April 3, 1988 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |via=Highbeam.com |access-date=September 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020151508/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1248998.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2012}}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=29 |title=Mary Nell Steenburgen (1953–) |first=Jan |last=Emberton |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date=September 7, 2010|archive-date=December 19, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191219140316/https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/mary-nell-steenburgen-29/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Stated on ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', October 17, 2017</ref> She has a sister, Nancy Kelly (née Steenburgen), a teacher.<ref name="tvguide">{{cite magazine |url= http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/mary-steenburgen/bio/165140 |title=Mary Steenburgen: Biography |magazine=[[TV Guide]]|access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref> In 1971, she enrolled at [[Hendrix College]] to study drama.<ref name="encyclopedia"/> She subsequently traveled to [[Dallas]] at the suggestion of her drama teacher where she successfully auditioned for New York City's [[Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre]].<ref name="encyclopedia"/>