Lea Katherine Thompson (born May 31, 1961 in Rochester, Minnesota) is an American actress, television director and television producer.
She's most well known as Lorraine Baines McFly (the mother of time-traveller Marty McFly) in the Back to the Future films and as Caroline Duffy in Caroline in the City.
She is married to director Howard Deutch. Their daughters are actresses Maddie and Zoey Deutch.
Filmography:
- Jaws 3-D (1983) as Kelly Ann Bukowski
- All the Right Moves (1983) as Lisa Lietzke
- Red Dawn (1984) as Erica Mason
- Back to the Future (1985) as Lorraine McFly, née Baines
- Back to the Future Part II (1989)
- Back to the Future Part III (1990) - also as Maggie McFly
- SpaceCamp (1986) as Kathryn Fairly
- Howard the Duck (1986) as Beverly Switzler - which years later led the actress to appear in the comics As Herself
- Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) as Amanda Jones
- Dennis the Menace (1993) as Alice Mitchell
- The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) as Laura Jackson "Laurette Voleur"
- Caroline in the City (1995-1999) as Caroline Duffy
- Exit Speed (2008) as Maudie Thompson.
- J. Edgar (2011) as Lela Rogers (mother of Ginger Rogers)
- Switched at Birth (2011-2017) as Kathryn Kennish
- Love at the Christmas Table (2012) as E.B.
- Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero (2014) as Vonnie Zero (voice)
- The Spencer Sisters (2023-) as Victoria Spencer
Tropes in her works:
- The Cast Showoff: She performed her own singing in Howard the Duck.
- Old Shame: Actually subverted as far as Howard the Duck is concerned. She takes a lot of pride in her role on the film in spite of its flaws, and has even offered to direct a reboot for Marvel herself.
- Star-Derailing Role: Though she's not bitter about it, between Howard the Duck and SpaceCamp, 1986 was not a good year for Thompson. Outside the BTTF trilogy, she wouldn't find major success on the silver screen again. Though her TV role in Caroline in the City would keep her in the popular consciousness in the latter half of The '90s.
