Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shirley MacLaine at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival being interviewed by Access Hollywood, photo by Tony Shek | |
| Born | Shirley MacLean Beaty |
| Spouse | Steve Parker (1954-1982) |
Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American film and theatre actress, well-known not only for her acting, but for her devotion to her belief in reincarnation and aliens. She is also the writer of a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her new age beliefs, such as solipsism, as well as her Hollywood career. She is the older sister of Warren Beatty.
Biography
Early life
Named after Shirley Temple, MacLaine was born Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia's Bellevue neighborhood. 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. 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 Beatty 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 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.
Eventually, MacLaine decided that professional ballet wasn't for her. She said that she didn't really have the right body type and that she did not want to starve herself. Also, her feet weren't good enough (she didn't have really high arches and insteps). Nor was she an "exquisite beauty." At that point, she decided to switch her focus to acting. She attended Washington-Lee High School and was on the cheerleading squad and acted in school 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. 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. She got her second nomination two years later for The Apartment, in which she starred alongside Jack Lemmon. This film won 5 Oscars, including Best Director for Billy Wilder. She was nominated for Irma la Douce (1963), once again reunited with Wilder and Lemmon. In 1975, she also 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, as was her co-star Anne Bancroft. In 1983, she finally won her first Oscar for Terms of Endearment. The film won 5 Oscars, including one for Jack Nicholson and three for director James L. Brooks. After she won an Oscar, she starred 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 also starred as Helen in the film that was released to video under the title Dress Code. She completed Closing the Ring, directed by Richard Attenborough and staring Christopher Plummer; it will be released in 2007.
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 (b. 1956).
In political circles, MacLaine is known for her former relationship with Andrew Peacock, a former Australian Liberal Party Prime Ministerial aspirant who was later appointed as Ambassador to the United States. She also has a close friendship with Ohio congressman, Dennis Kucinich, a candidate in the 2004 and 2008 Democratic presidential primaries. Kucinich is reported to have spent a few months living in MacLaine's home.
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 them. Parker v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 474 P.2d 689 (Cal. 1970).
She now lives in Santa Fe, 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 | Meg Wheeler | Golden Globe nomination: Best Musical/Comedy Actress | |
| 1959 | Career | Sharon Kensington | |
| 1960 | Ocean's 11 | Tipsy girl | uncredited |
| Can-Can | Simone Pistache | ||
| The Apartment | Fran Kubelik | Academy Award nomination: Best Actress BAFTA win: Best Actress Golden Globe win: Best Musical/Comedy Actress | |
| 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 |
TV work
- Shirley's World (1971-1972) and a 1977 one hour special.
- 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)
Awards
References
- ^ http://www.newenglandancestors.org/education/articles/research/special_guests/gary_boyd_roberts/gbr83.asp
- ^ http://www.adherents.com/people/pb/Warren_Beatty.html
- ^ http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/21_beatty.shtml
- ^ Hanrihan v. Parker, 19 Misc. 2d 467, 469 (N.Y. Misc. 1959)
External links
- 1934 births
- American actor-singers
- American comedians
- American dancers
- American female singers
- American film actors
- American musical theatre actors
- American spiritual writers
- American stage actors
- BAFTA winners (people)
- Best Actress Academy Award winners
- Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film)
- Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film)
- Canadian Americans
- Emmy Award winners
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Living people
- People from Richmond, Virginia
- Virginia actors