Born in Richmond, Va., on April 24, 1934, Shirley MacLaine moved to New York City and spent years as a Broadway chorus girl, eventually becoming an understudy to Carol Haney in "The Pajama Game." The first time she went on in Haney's place, she made a big impression on audiences and producers alike.Snatched up by Hollywood, MacLaine's got her first film role in The Trouble with Harry (1955). She garnered the first of five Best Actress Oscar nominations for Some Came Running (1958), and she continued her streak of success with The Apartment (1960), Irma La Douce (1963) and the big-screen adaptation of the musical Sweet Charity (1969).
In later years, MacLaine opted for roles that blended comedy and drama, as illustrated in the films Being There (1979), 1983's Terms of Endearment (for which she finally won a Best Actress Oscar), Steel Magnolias (1989) and Postcards from the Edge (1990). Her work in In Her Shoes (2006) gained her a Golden Globe nod and her role as Coco Chanel got her an Emmy nod in 2009.
Terms of EndearmentJames L. Brooks directs this Academy Award-winning drama that follows widowed Aurora (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter, Emma (Debra Winger), through the years as they support each other through relationships with various men -- and deal with heartbreaking tragedy. This warm, offbeat adaptation of... Read More
Mrs. WinterbournePregnant 18-year-old Connie (Ricki Lake) has been kicked out by her boyfriend. On a train, she meets Hugh Winterbourne (Brendan Fraser) and his pregnant wife, Patricia (Ricki Lake again). When the train wrecks and Connie wakes up in the hospital -- mistaken for the widowed Patricia -- Hugh's mother... Read More
Guarding TessLonging for action but feeling more like a heavily armed butler, Doug Chesnic is a serious-minded Secret Service agent assigned to protect the very demanding Tess Carlisle (Golden Globe nominee Shirley MacLaine), a widowed First Lady living quietly in Ohio. After three years on the job, the pair... Read More
Sweet CharityShirley MacLaine gives one of her greatest performances in this spectacular musical based on Neil Simon's smash Broadway hit. Director Bob Fosse broke new cinematic ground with his freewheeling, visually stunning story of lovelorn New York dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine, who dreams of... Read More
What a Way to Go!A frazzled widow tells her psychiatrist the unbelievable circumstances that made her a multimillionaire in this star-studded comedy. In a series of flashbacks, Louisa (Shirley MacLaine) recalls her four very different husbands (Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum and Gene Kelly) -- all of... Read More
