Mary Badham

Mary Badham is an American actress born on October 7, 1952, in Birmingham, Alabama, and the younger sister of director John Badham. She is best known for her portrayal of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch in the 1962 film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, a role she took on with no prior film acting experience. The performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, making her, at age ten, the youngest actress ever nominated in that category at the time. The award that year went to Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker.

During production of To Kill a Mockingbird, Badham formed a close bond with Gregory Peck, who played Atticus Finch. She referred to him as "Atticus" throughout their friendship, and he called her "Scout" in return; the two remained in contact until Peck's death in 2003. Following the film, Badham appeared in additional screen projects, including a role as Sport Sharewood in "The Bewitchin' Pool," the final episode of the original Twilight Zone series, where technical difficulties led to her outdoor dialogue being dubbed in post-production by voice actress June Foray. She also had roles in the films This Property Is Condemned and Let's Kill Uncle before stepping away from acting.

Badham returned to the profession in 2005 at the request of actor, writer, and director Cameron Watson, who cast her in a cameo role opposite Keith Carradine in the film Our Very Own. Watson had located her in Monroeville, Alabama, where she had been attending a stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird, and stated he would not accept any other actress for the part.

Her stage debut came on March 27, 2022, when she joined the U.S. national tour of Aaron Sorkin's stage adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird in the role of Mrs. Dubose, bringing her to Broadway in 2022. The production marked her first work as a stage performer. In 2012, Badham attended a White House screening of To Kill a Mockingbird with President Barack Obama to commemorate the film's fiftieth anniversary. Three years later, she publicly defended the publication of Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman and its depiction of an older, more bigoted Atticus Finch.

As of 2014, Badham worked as an art restorer and a college testing coordinator. She is married to Richard W. Wilt, dean of Library and Educational Support Services at Lehigh Carbon Community College, and is the mother of two children. She has traveled internationally to share her experiences making To Kill a Mockingbird and to discuss the book's themes of tolerance and compassion.