Martha Plimpton

 "I realized as I got older that I could choose to be an actor to a certain extent, but movie stardom is not something you choose. It chooses you. You have very little control over that. So I stopped considering that an option."

Daughter of actors Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton, and granddaughter of actor John Carradine, Martha Plimpton was conceived while parents were performing together in the Broadway production of "Hair" in 1970.

During filming of "The Goonies" (1985, below), Plimpton made a bet with director Richard Donner that she would stop biting her nails. Donner paid up several years later, while they were doing the DVD commentary. During that same commentary, audio commentary, she said that she was once playing the title role in Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" on stage when an audience member shouted "Gooooonies!" from his seat.

"Don't go to Hollywood right away unless you're, like, ridiculously hot and only marginally talented. In which case, go straight to Hollywood and make all the money you can. Just take the money and run!"

Happy Birthday, Martha Plimpton!