Laura Harrington

Laura Harrington is an American actress and screenwriter from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She studied at Boston University with David Wheeler, who ran the Theater Company of Boston, and Wheeler directed her Broadway debut as Margaret in a 1979 revival of Richard III opposite Al Pacino. He also recommended her to the director Jan Egleson, whose The Dark End of the Street gave her an acclaimed screen debut in 1981. She is perhaps best known for playing the sister of the main character in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and she appeared as Mrs. Johnson in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) and opposite Emilio Estevez in Maximum Overdrive (1986), written and directed by Stephen King. Her later credits include a supporting part in The Devil's Advocate (1997), the television series Quantum Leap, and screenwriting, including an adaptation of The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre.