|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Shirley MacLean Beaty |
Date of Birth: April 24, 1934 |
| Status:
N/A
|
Partner:
N/A |
| Profession:
Actor |
Official Site
Go to the Shirley MacLaine Official Homepage |
| << Add Shirley MacLaine To Your Favorites |
|
Full Shirley MacLaine Biography
Combining a tomboy's brashness with a pixie's charm and a waif's vulnerability, MacLaine made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy, "The Trouble with Harry" (1955). She established herself in the late 1950s and early 60s with films such as "Some Came Running" (1959), "The Apartment" (1960) and "Irma La Douce" (1963). High-spirited as well as versatile, often sporting reddish bangs which dusted her eyebrows, she was associated for a time with the famous Hollywood "Rat Pack" of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and their cronies. MacLaine displayed a more serious side of her character in the late 1960s, when she began an active involvement in liberal politics. Apart from her zestful turn in Bob Fosse's musical, "Sweet Charity" (1968), in which she was well-cast as a somewhat ditzy but boundlessly optimistic dance hall hostess aiming to make something of her life, MacLaine made fewer important films as the decade progressed. She did, however, begin working extensively in TV and on stage and published the first of several autobiographical works, "Don't Fall Off the Mountain", in 1970.
After keeping busy in a series of well-received TV specials in the 1970s, in which she celebrated her days as a gypsy chorine, and a notable dramatic feature in "The Turning Point" (1977), in which she locked horns with Anne Bancroft, MacLaine received renewed attention as a film actress in the 1980s. She earned an Oscar for her role as Aurora Greenway, an overprotective mother with a prickly relationship with her daughter (Debra Winger) in James L Brooks' tearjerker, "Terms of Endearment" (1983). Her continuing autobiographical installments (e.g. 1983's "Out on a Limb") have provoked some amusement for their theories of "out-of-body" experiences and reincarnation but her continuing career was no laughing matter. MacLaine went on to flamboyantly play John Schlesinger's "Madame Sousatzka" (1988), joined the stellar ensemble of actresses in Herbert Ross' "Steel Magnolias" (1989), and provided a role model for Meryl Streep in Mike Nichols' "Postcards from the Edge" (1990). She was also reasonably convincing as the formidable Jewish mom of Kathy Bates in "Used People" (1992) and had been a showbiz institution for long enough to be good casting as a feisty First Lady whose energy taxes her bodyguard in "Guarding Tess" (1994). MacLaine continued to play slightly cantankerous women in "Mrs. Winterbourne", and reprising her award-winning role of Aurora Greenway in Robert Harling's "Evening Star" (both 1996).
"There's a definite arc to my career," the then 58-year old MacLaine declared with pride. "I mean I used to go get married in films. Now I die in films." MacLaine is the sister of Warren Beatty and is divorced from producer Steve Parker. Her daughter Sachi Parker is an actress. |
|
|
Additional Shirley MacLaine Biography
Her early childhood dream was to be a ballerina. She took ballet classes fervently all throughout her youth and never missed one, and whenever they performed a piece, she would play the boy's role, due to being the tallest one there. She was so determined and so set on being a dancer that her recurring childhood nightmare was that she missed the bus to class. She finally got to play a respectable woman's role, the Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella," and while warming up backstage, she snapped her ankle. Many would bow out in this particular situation, but she was so determined that she simply tied the ankle ribbon on her toe shoes extra tight and go "on with the show." After it was over, she called for an ambulance.
As of 2004, she is the only actress to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress (Drama) without getting an Oscar nomination for the same performance, for Madame Sousatzka (1988).
On the album 'Bebop Moptop' by Scottish band Danny Wilson (band), there is a song called 'The Ballad Of Me And Shirley Maclaine'.
In a scene from Mrs. Doubtfire, when Daniel (Robin Williams) tells his brother (Harvey Firestein) that they need to go older when transforming him into a woman, his brother asks "Shelly Winters older or Shirley Maclaine older?" Daniel asks what the difference is and his brother says, "Some scotch tape and red hair dye." |
|
| Add Shirley MacLaine Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
Shirley MacLaine Quote(s)
| It is useless to hold a person to anything he says while he's in love, drunk, or running for office. |
|
| Add Shirley MacLaine Review/Comment
|
HQ Shirley MacLaine Pictures (5) | Random Shirley MacLaine Picture
|
| << Back to the Shirley MacLaine Homepage |
|
