Shirley MacLaine Bio
Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author whose career has spanned more than seven decades. She is widely recognized for reshaping classic Hollywood roles and for her outspoken writing on spirituality and personal growth. MacLaine has received an Academy Award, an Emmy, two BAFTAs, six Golden Globes, two Volpi Cups, and two Silver Bears, among other honors. Her work has been honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute in 1995, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014.
She remains one of the last surviving stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age, with a prolific presence in film, television, theatre, and literature.
Early Life and Background
Shirley MacLean Beaty was born on April 24, 1934, in Richmond, Virginia. She was named after child actress Shirley Temple, who was six years old at the time. Her father, Ira Owens Beaty, was a professor of psychology, a public school administrator, and a real estate agent. Her Canadian mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a drama teacher from Wolfville, Nova Scotia. MacLaine’s younger brother is filmmaker Warren Beatty, who changed the spelling of his surname for his career.
As a toddler, MacLaine had weak ankles and fell over with the slightest misstep, so her mother enrolled her in ballet class at the Washington School of Ballet at the age of three. This became the foundation of her interest in performing. She never missed a class and, because she was the tallest in her group, often played the boys’ roles in classical pieces like Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty. Eventually, MacLaine decided against a career in professional ballet because she had grown too tall and felt unable to perfect her technique.
During childhood, the family moved several times around Virginia before settling in Arlington in 1945. MacLaine played baseball on a boys’ team and held the record for the most home runs, which earned her the nickname Powerhouse. She attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, where she was on the cheerleading squad and acted in school theatrical productions.
Path to Acting
The summer before her senior year of high school, MacLaine went to New York City to try acting and had minor success in the chorus of a production of Oklahoma! that toured the subway circuit. After graduation, she returned to New York and made her Broadway debut dancing in the ensemble of the Broadway production of Me and Juliet (1953–1954). She then became an understudy to actress Carol Haney in The Pajama Game.
In May 1954, Haney injured her ankle during a Wednesday matinee, and MacLaine performed in her place. A few months later, with Haney still injured, Jerry Lewis saw a matinee and urged film producer Hal B. Wallis to attend the evening performance with him, hoping to cast her in Artists and Models. Wallis signed her to work for Paramount Pictures.
Shirley MacLaine Career
Early Career (1955–1959)
MacLaine began her career and quickly rose to fame during the final years of the Golden Age of Hollywood when she made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry (1955), winning the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. The Trouble with Harry was quickly followed by her role in the Martin and Lewis film Artists and Models (1955). Soon afterwards, she had the female lead in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
MacLaine played Ginny Moorehead, who falls in love with Frank Sinatra’s character Dave, in Vincente Minnelli’s adaptation of James Jones’ novel Some Came Running (1958). For her role, she earned positive reviews and received her first nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
Breakthrough (1960–1969)
In 1960, MacLaine starred in Billy Wilder’s romantic drama The Apartment, alongside Jack Lemmon and Fred MacMurray. The film received widespread critical acclaim and emerged as a major commercial success at the box office, receiving ten Academy Award nominations and winning Best Picture. MacLaine’s performance earned her a second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.
MacLaine starred in The Children’s Hour (1961), directed by William Wyler, then reunited with Wilder and Lemmon for Irma la Douce (1963), receiving her third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and winning her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. In 1969, she starred in the film version of the musical Sweet Charity, directed by Bob Fosse, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Notable Works and Milestones
MacLaine’s signature works include The Apartment (1960), Irma la Douce (1963), The Turning Point (1977), Being There (1979), Steel Magnolias (1989), Postcards from the Edge (1990), and Terms of Endearment (1983), the last of which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
Shirley MacLaine Award Nominations
Throughout her career, Shirley MacLaine has earned six Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, including her first for Some Came Running (1958) and additional nods for The Apartment (1960), Irma la Douce (1963), The Turning Point (1977), and Terms of Endearment (1983). She has also received multiple Golden Globe Award nominations across comedy, musical, and drama categories, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for her work in television and film.
Shirley MacLaine Awards Won
Shirley MacLaine has collected an Academy Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment (1983), two BAFTA Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, two Volpi Cups, and two Silver Bears. She has also received the Film Society of Lincoln Center Tribute in 1995, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1998, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014. Her early win of the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress marked her emergence as a major Hollywood talent.
Shirley MacLaine Family
Shirley MacLaine was born to Ira Owens Beaty, a professor of psychology and public school administrator, and Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), a Canadian drama teacher from Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Her younger brother is filmmaker Warren Beatty, who altered the spelling of his surname for his acting career. Through her brother, MacLaine’s relatives include niece Ella Beatty and sister-in-law Annette Bening.
Personal Life
MacLaine was married to businessman Steve Parker from 1954 until their divorce in 1982. Their daughter, Sachi Parker, was born in 1956. MacLaine has openly discussed her interest in spirituality, metaphysics, and reincarnation, themes that have shaped many of her best-selling books, including Out on a Limb (1983). She also directed her first feature film, Bruno (released to video as The Dress Code), in 2000.