Mary Ellen Trainor, best known for her performances as Stephanie Woods in the Lethal Weapon movies and Mrs. Walsh in The Goonies, died on May 20 in her Montecito, California home, The New York Times reported yesterday. She was 62.
The case of death was due to complications with pancreatic cancer, as confirmed by Trainor’s friend Kathleen Kennedy on Monday. In addition to her roles in the movies mentioned above, the actress is also remembered for her acting turns in Die Hard, The Monster Squad, Scrooged, Ghostbusters II. She also had a recurring role in the TV series “Roswell,” which ran from 1999-2002.
Before her acting career, Trainor served as a producer’s assistant, on films such as Big Wednesday, Hardcore and Steven Spielberg‘s 1941, where she met her future husband Robert Zemeckis. She would go on to have small roles-to-cameos in a number of her husband’s movie, including Romancing the Stone, Back to the Future Part II, Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump. The couple were divorced in 2000.
Trainor last starred in Cake: A Wedding Story in 2007 and in the TV movie McBride: Requiem. She is survived by her son, Alexander Zemeckis.
