Portrait of Martha Plimpton

Birthday profile

Martha Plimpton

Martha Plimpton, American actress

Born
November 16, 1970
Age in 2026
56
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1970

About Martha Plimpton

Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. She started her career as a teen actress in film before transitioning to adult roles on stage and screen. She has received several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for three Tony Awards. Her feature-film debut was a supporting role in the political thriller Rollover (1981), and she rose to prominence in the adventure film The Goonies (1985). She later took roles in The Mosquito Coast (1986), Shy People (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Parenthood (1989), Samantha (1991), Beautiful Girls (1996), Small Town Murder Songs (2011), Frozen 2 (2019), and Mass (2021). She is a member of the Carradine family. On television, she took a recurring guest role on the legal drama The Good Wife (2009–2013) for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award. She was further Emmy-nominated for her leading role as Virginia Chance in the Fox sitcom Raising Hope (2010–2014), and guest spot as a drug addict in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2002). She starred in the ABC sitcom The Real O'Neals (2016–2017). On stage, Plimpton made her Broadway debut in the play Sixteen Wounded (2004). She was nominated for three consecutive Tony Awards for her performances in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia (2006–2007), Caryl Churchill's Top Girls (2007–2008), and the musical Pal Joey (2008–2009). She also appeared on Broadway in Shining City (2006–2007), Cymbeline (2007), and A Delicate Balance (2014). Plimpton's first stage appearance was when her mother brought her on stage in costume for the curtain call of the short-lived Broadway play The Leaf People then another play in The Ass and the Heart. Plimpton co-founded a production company, Everything is Horrible, which has produced short films for the Internet. She won a Drama Desk Award and was nominated for a Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Martha Plimpton was born

Martha Plimpton was born in 1970. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1970

  • #1 song"Bridge over Troubled Water" – Simon & Garfunkel
  • Top moviePatton
  • Top TV showMarcus Welby, M.D.
  • Best-selling bookLove Story – Erich Segal

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentPelé leads Brazil to 3rd World Cup title in Mexico
  • Top headlineThe Beatles officially break up
  • Technology milestoneFloppy disk invented by IBM
  • Defining fadBell-bottom pants
  • Notable inventionFloppy disk
  • World population3.70 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon
  • Sports championBaltimore Orioles (World Series)
  • Also wonNew York Knicks (NBA)
  • U.S. population205.1M

1970 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Martha Plimpton's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19702026
Gas$0.36$3.45/gal
Average home$17,000$435,000
Average income$11,400$67,500
Minimum wage$1.60$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.55$11.95
Postage stamp$0.06$0.73
Population205.1M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.