who plays cora's mother on downton abbey
List of Downton Abbey characters Martha Levinson (played by Shirley MacLaine) is Cora's brash, outspoken American mother, a wealthy widow with homes in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. She visits Downton with great fanfare in Series 3 for Mary and Matthew's wedding and then returns to the United States. Unlike Violet, Martha wears up-to-date clothing. Martha has a slightly strained relationship with her daughter Cora, making her rarely visit the house. She is mentioned once in series one when Cora was pregnant with her miscarriage as being very anxious but Violet wrote to her to come admire the baby. Martha arrives in Downton for Mary's wedding to Matthew, and remains there for a short time afterwards. Violet and Mary scheme to have her give the Crawleys more money to save Downton from ruin by putting on a lavish banquet, but the evening nearly ends in disaster when the oven fails. It is Martha who saves the feast, instead arranging an indoor picnic for the guests. Martha reveals to Violet and Mary that even if she wanted to sink more money into Downton, her late husband's will ties up the Levinson fortune up too tightly. Martha leaves Downton shortly afterwards, telling Robert she is "homesick for America".