Shirley MacLaine
| Shirley MacLaine | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 MacLaine at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival being interviewed by Access Hollywood, photo by Tony Shek |
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| Born | Shirley MacLean Beaty April 24, 1934 Richmond, Virginia, United States |
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| Occupation | Actress | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1955-present | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Steve Parker (1954-1982) |
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Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an American Academy Award-winning film and theater actress, well-known not only for her acting, but also now for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She is also the writer of a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career. She is the older sister of Warren Beatty.
Contents |
Biography
Early life
Named after Shirley Temple, MacLaine was born Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia. Her father, Ira Owens Beaty,[1] was a professor of psychology, public school administrator and real estate agent, and her mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a Nova Scotia-born drama teacher; her grandparents were also teachers. Through her mother she is descended from the Scottish Clan Maclean. The family was devoutly Baptist.[2][3] MacLaine's father moved the family from Richmond to Norfolk, Virginia and then to Arlington, Virginia while she was still a child, then to Waverly, Virginia between 1932-1936, eventually taking a position at Arlington's Jefferson Middle School. The Beaty family lived in a house in the Western part of the county off Wilson Boulevard where it was said that Shirley and brother, Warren, were known around their neighborhood as troublemakers in their pre-adolescent days.
Her early childhood dream was to be a ballerina. She took ballet fervently all throughout her youth and never missed one class, 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 went "on with the show." After it was over, she called for an ambulance.
Eventually, MacLaine decided that professional ballet was not for her. She said that she did not really have the right body type and that she did not want to starve herself. Also, that her feet were not "beautifully constructed" (without high arches and insteps). Nor was she of "exquisite beauty." At that point, she decided to switch her focus to acting. She attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was on the cheerleading squad and acted in the school's productions. The summer before her senior year, she went to New York to try acting on Broadway with some success. After she graduated, she went back and within a year she achieved her goal of becoming a star when she became an understudy to actress Carol Haney in The Pajama Game; Haney broke her ankle, and MacLaine replaced her.
A few months after, with Haney still out of commission, director-producer Hal B. Wallis was in the audience, took note of MacLaine, and signed her to go to Hollywood to work for Paramount Pictures. She would later sue Wallis over a contractual dispute, a suit that is credited with having ended the old-style studio system of actor management.[4]
Career
Her first film was the Alfred Hitchcock film The Trouble with Harry in 1955, which won her the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress. In 1958, she took part in Hot Spell and Around the World in Eighty Days. At the same time, she starred in Some Came Running; this film gave her her first Academy Award nomination - one of the film's five Oscar nods - and a Golden Globe nomination. She also starred in a lesser known film called "The Children's Hour" also starring Audrey Hepburn, based on the play by Lillian Hellman. She got her second nomination two years later for The Apartment, starring with Jack Lemmon. The film won 5 Oscars, including Best Director for Billy Wilder. She later said, "I thought I would win for The Apartment, but then Elizabeth Taylor had a tracheotomoy." She was nominated for Irma la Douce (1963), once again reunited with Wilder and Lemmon. In 1975, she received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature for her documentary film The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir. Two years later, she was once again nominated for The Turning Point, along with co-star Anne Bancroft. In 1983 she won her first Oscar for Terms of Endearment. The film won five Oscars; one for Jack Nicholson and three for director James L. Brooks. She went on to star in other major films, like Steel Magnolias with Julia Roberts. She made her feature-film directorial debut in the quirky film Bruno, written by then new-comer David Ciminello in his Disney-Meets-David Lynch style. MacLaine starred as Helen in this film, which was released to video under the title The Dress Code. In 2007 she completed Closing the Ring, directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Christopher Plummer.
MacLaine is also set to star in Poor Things, a drama. The production has been delayed due to Lindsay Lohan's stint in rehab.
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).
MacLaine has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1615 Vine Street.
Personal life
MacLaine was married to businessman Steve Parker until they divorced in 1982. They had a daughter, Sachi Parker (born 1956).
MacLaine's interest in spirituality is very strong and long-lived. Many of her best-selling books, such as Out on a Limb and Dancing in the Light have it as their central theme. Her beliefs have compelled her to explore herself and the world. This includes walking El Camino de Santiago and working with Chris Griscom.
MacLaine found her way into many law school casebooks when she sued Twentieth Century-Fox for breach of contract. She was to play a role in a film titled Bloomer Girl, but the production was cancelled.
Twentieth Century-Fox offered her a role in another film, Big Country, Big Man, in hope of getting out of its contractual obligation to pay her for the cancelled film. MacLaine's refusal led to an appeal by Twentieth Century-Fox to the Supreme Court of California in 1970, where the Court ruled against Fox. Parker v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 474 P.2d 689 (Cal. 1970).
She shares a birthday with Barbra Streisand which they celebrate together every year. She now lives in northern New Mexico.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Artists and Models | Bessie Sparrowbrush | |
| The Trouble with Harry | Jennifer Rogers | BAFTA nomination: Best Actress | |
| 1956 | Around the World in 80 Days | Princess Aouda | |
| 1958 | Some Came Running | Ginnie Moorehead | Academy Award nomination: Best Actress Golden Globe nomination: Best Drama Actress |
| The Sheepman | Dell Payton | ||
| Hot Spell | Virginia Duval | ||
| The Matchmaker | Irene Molloy | ||
| Ask Any Girl (film) | Meg Wheeler | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress | |
| 1959 | Career | Sharon Kensington | |
| 1960 | Ocean's Eleven | Tipsy girl | uncredited cameo |
| Can-Can | Simone Pistache | ||
| The Apartment | Fran Kubelik | Academy Award nomination: Best Actress BAFTA win: Best Actress Golden Globe win: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
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| 1961 | The Children's Hour | Martha Dobie | Golden Globe nomination: Best Drama Actress |
| All in a Night's Work | Katie Robbins | ||
| Two Loves | Anna Vorontosov | ||
| 1962 | Two for the Seesaw | Gittel Mosca | |
| My Geisha | Lucy Dell/Yoko Mori | ||
| 1963 | Irma la Douce | Irma la Douce | Academy Award nomination: Best Actress BAFTA nomination: Best Actress Golden Globe win: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1964 | The Yellow Rolls-Royce | Mae Jenkins | |
| What a Way to Go! | Louisa May Foster | BAFTA nomination: Best Actress | |
| 1965 | John Goldfarb, Please Come Home | Jenny Erichson | |
| 1966 | Gambit | Nicole Chang | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1967 | Woman Times Seven | Paulette/Maria Teresa/Linda/Edith/Eve Minou/Marie/Jeanne | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1968 | The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom | Harriet Blossom | |
| 1969 | Sweet Charity | Charity Hope Valentine | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1970 | Two Mules for Sister Sara | Sara | |
| 1971 | Desperate Characters | Sophie Bentwood | |
| 1972 | The Possession of Joel Delaney | Norah Benson | |
| 1977 | The Turning Point | Deedee Rodgers | Academy Award nomination: Best Actress |
| 1979 | Being There | Eve Rand | BAFTA nomination: Best Actress Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1980 | A Change of Seasons | Karyn Evans | |
| Loving Couples | Evelyn | ||
| 1983 | Terms of Endearment | Aurora Greenway | Academy Award win: Best Actress BAFTA nomination: Best Actress Golden Globe win: Best Drama Actress |
| 1984 | Cannonball Run II | Veronica | |
| 1987 | Out on a Limb | Herself | |
| 1988 | Madame Sousatzka | Madame Yuvline Sousatzka | Golden Globe win: Best Drama Actress |
| 1989 | Steel Magnolias | Ouiser Boudreaux | BAFTA nomination: Best Supporting Actress |
| 1990 | Postcards from the Edge | Doris Mann | BAFTA nomination: Best Actress Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress |
| Waiting for the Light | Aunt Zena | ||
| 1991 | Defending Your Life | "Past Lives Pavilion" host | |
| 1992 | Used People | Pearl Berman | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1993 | Wrestling Ernest Hemingway | Helen Cooney | |
| 1994 | Guarding Tess | Tess Carlisle | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress |
| 1995 | The West Side Waltz | Margaret Mary Elderdice | |
| 1996 | The Evening Star | Aurora Greenway | |
| Mrs. Winterbourne | Grace Winterbourne | ||
| 1997 | A Smile Like Yours | Martha | uncredited |
| 1999 | Joan of Arc | Madame de Beaurevoir | |
| 2000 | Bruno | Helen | |
| 2001 | These Old Broads | Kate Westbourne | |
| 2002 | Salem Witch Trials | Rebecca Nurse | |
| Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay | Mary Kay | ||
| 2003 | Carolina | Grandma Millicent Mirabeau | |
| 2005 | Rumor Has It | Katharine Richelieu | |
| Bewitched | Iris Smythson/Endora | ||
| In Her Shoes | Ella Hirsch | Golden Globe nomination: Best Supporting Actress | |
| 2007 | Closing the Ring | Ethel Ann | |
| 2008 | Coco Chanel | Coco Chanel | |
| 2008 | Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning | Amelia Thomas |
TV work
- Shirley's World (1971 – 1972) and a 1977 one hour special.
- Where Do We Go From Here? (1978) Winner of the Rose D'Or
- Out on a Limb (1987)
Bibliography
- "Don't Fall Off the Mountain" (1970)
- McGovern: The Man and His Beliefs (1972)
- You Can Get There from Here (1975)
- Out on a Limb (1983)
- Dancing in the Light (1986)
- It's All in the Playing (1988)
- Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation (1989)
- Dance While You Can (1991)
- My Lucky Stars: A Hollywood Memoir (1995)
- The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit (2000)
- Out on a Leash: Exploring the Nature of Reality and Love (2003)
- Sage-ing While Age-ing (2007)
References
- ↑ New England Historic Genealogical Society
- ↑ The religion of Warren Beatty, actor, director
- ↑ Actor Warren Beatty gives public-policy graduates — and Gov. Schwarzenegger — some advice on power
- ↑ Hanrihan v. Parker, 19 Misc. 2d 467, 469 (N.Y. Misc. 1959)
External links
- Shirley's Official Website
- Shirley MacLaine at the Internet Movie Database
- Shirley MacLaine at Yahoo! Movies
- Shirley MacLaine interviewed by Ginny Dougary (2005)
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Simone Signoret for Room at the Top |
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 1959 for Ask Any Girl for The Apartment |
Succeeded by Sophia Loren for Two Women |
| Preceded by Marilyn Monroe for Some Like It Hot |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 1960 for The Apartment |
Succeeded by Rosalind Russell for A Majority of One |
| Preceded by Rosalind Russell for Gypsy |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 1963 for Irma la Douce |
Succeeded by Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins |
| Preceded by Meryl Streep for Sophie's Choice |
NYFCC Award for Best Actress 1983 for Terms of Endearment |
Succeeded by Peggy Ashcroft for A Passage to India |
| Preceded by Meryl Streep for Sophie's Choice |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1984 for Terms of Endearment |
Succeeded by Sally Field for Places in the Heart |
| Preceded by Sally Kirkland for Anna |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1989 for Madame Sousatzka |
Succeeded by Michelle Pfeiffer for The Fabulous Baker Boys |
| Preceded by Dustin Hoffman |
Cecil B. DeMille Award 1998 |
Succeeded by Jack Nicholson |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | MacLaine, Shirley |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Beaty, Shirley MacLean |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 24, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |