Carlin Glynn, Sixteen Candles actress and mother of Mary Stuart Masterson, dies at 83
Carlin Glynn, the actress who played the mother of Molly Ringwald's character in Sixteen Candles and won a Tony as the star of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, died July 13 after battling dementia and cancer. She was 83.
Her daughter and fellow actress Mary Stuart Masterson announced the news in a heartfelt Instagram post, writing, "I will always be grateful for those last moments, no matter how hard. Death is like birth in the oddest way. From my first breath to her last. This thread is as fragile as it is strong."
Masterson added that her mother was "the most graceful clumsy person you would ever meet. Strong, smart, silly, intuitive, kind, generous, passionate and a deep listener. She was devoted to my father and to the enormous circle of students and collaborators who were considered her chosen family."
Glynn's first screen role came in the 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor, opposite Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. Just four years later, she made her Broadway debut in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and won the Tony Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. Her husband, Peter Masterson, would go on to adapt the musical into the 1982 film of the same name starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. Glynn and Masterson were married until his death in 2018.
Glynn's other film credits included Resurrection, Continental Divide, The Escape Artist, Sixteen Candles, Whiskey School, Lost Junction, West of Here, Judy Berlin, Convicts, and The Trip to Bountiful.
On the television side, her most notable role was as First Lady Meg Tresch on the short-lived White House sitcom Mr. President. She also appeared in the TV movie Johnny Garage and the miniseries A Woman Named Jackie, and on one episode each of Strange Luck and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
In addition to Mary Stuart, Glynn is survived by her two other children, Alexandra Masterson and Peter Masterson Jr.
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