Background and career
Mary Ellen Trainor (July 8, 1952 – May 20, 2015) was an American character actress best known for her roles as Irene Walsh in The Goonies, LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the Lethal Weapon films, and newscaster Gail Wallens in Die Hard and Ricochet.
Trainor attended San Diego State University, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career working at radio stations KSDO as well as KCBS. Her first television appearance came in the 1983 Cheers episode "Father Knows Last", and her big-screen debut came the following year in Romancing the Stone (1984). Trainor became best known for her roles as Irene Walsh in The Goonies (1985), LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the Lethal Weapon films (1987-1998), and newscaster Gail Wallens in both Die Hard (1988) and Ricochet (1991). She appeared in other well-known films including The Monster Squad (1987), Scrooged (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Congo (1995), and Freaky Friday (2003). She had recurring television roles as Judy Lewis in Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Pilot 1990; 1991–1993), as Eve Lukens in Relativity (1996–1997), and as Diane Evans in Roswell (1999–2002). Three of the films in which she appeared were selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Goonies (1985), Die Hard (1988) and Forrest Gump (1994).
Trainor was married to director Robert Zemeckis for 20 years until their divorce in 2000. The couple had a son, Alexander.
Trainor died aged 62, on May 20 2015 at her home in Montecito, California from pancreatic cancer..
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
