Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (3)



Her trademark theme song, taken from the movie, Sweet Charity (1969), is "If My Friends Could See Me Now". It is usually the music that accompanies her when she makes entrances on talk shows.

Strong-willed characters who fluctuate between endearing and abrasive



Short hair (the only time in her adult life she's had long hair was a period in her late 30s)



Trivia (67)

Led a series of weekend-long higher-self seminars in the late 1980s teaching people about her views on many aspects of New Age practices and techniques.



Attended Washington-Lee H.S. in Arlington, VA.





Older sister of Warren Beatty



A frequent visitor to Houston, Texas, where she starred in Terms of Endearment (1983) and The Evening Star (1996). At each visit, she goes to Tony's Restaurant, where she orders a complete soufflé just for herself.

Born at 3:57 PM EST.



Is a horse lover.





Turned down the role of Diane Freeling in Poltergeist (1982) to play the Oscar-winning role of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment (1983).

Her childhood dinner for many years consisted of tabasco and saltine crackers (which often resulted in bad dreams--her missing the bus to ballet class).



Took ballet as a child and always played the boy's role due to being the tallest in her class.



Right before a performance of "Cinderella" with the Washington School of Ballet (she was dancing the role of the Fairy Godmother), she was warming up backstage when she broke her ankle. Instead of bowing out, she simply tied the ribbon on her toe shoes tighter and danced the role through. After the show was over, she called for an ambulance.



Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967.





Close friends with actress Julie Christie , who lived with Shirley's brother Warren Beatty for nearly a decade.



Her performance as Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment (1983) is ranked #81 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.



She and Barbra Streisand celebrate their joint birthday together every year.



Attended the same high school, Washington-Lee High School, as Sandra Bullock . Both were also cheerleaders at the school. Her brother, Warren Beatty also attended this high school.



When writing The Exorcist (1973), William Peter Blatty based the character of "Chris O'Neil" on MacLaine, who was a friend of his.



Dropped out of the The Blue Bird (1976) before shooting began.

Father was a professor, then a real estate agent. Mother was a teacher.



About 1975, while starring in a special musical show that played at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA, she walked out on the show because of the poor acoustics and sound system. Chrysler Hall was well known for this problem at the time, and Miss MacLaine was not the only performer to complain about it. Years later, the theatre closed for a while and underwent extensive renovations to improve the acoustics, thanks in part to the star's vigorously vocal objections.



Received an honorary degree from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. [1999]





Grandmother to Frank Murray Jr. (born 1996) and Arin Murray (born 1998); the son and daughter of her daughter Sachi Parker



In her book, "My Lucky Stars", MacLaine wrote that before production on My Geisha (1962) began, Yves Montand bet her husband, Steve Parker , that he could seduce her. Parker, whom MacLaine learned later, was having an affair at the time, took Montand up on the bet; Montand won.

Will receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement award on June 7, 2012, in Los Angeles. [October 2011]





In her memoir "I'm Over That And Other Confessions", she claims to have been intimate with Danny Kaye , and Robert Mitchum , among others. She told Oprah Winfrey in an April 2011 TV appearance that she was not attracted to Jack Lemmon because he was not "dangerous" and "complicated".

Her father was American, from Virginia, and her mother was Canadian, from Nova Scotia. She is of mostly English and Scottish descent.



Release of book, "Out on a Limb". [1983]



Release of the book, "Out on a Leash: Exploring the Nature of Reality and Love". [2003]





Release of book, "Shirley and Warren" by James Spada . [1985]

Release of the book, "My Lucky Stars: A Hollywood Memoir". [1995]



Starred in Award winning British Drama Downton Abbey played Hugh Bonneville's character's Mother-In-Law. [January 2012]



Release of book, "Don't Fall Off the Mountain". [1970]



Release of book, "Dancing in the Light". [1985]





Completing filming for Closing the Ring (2007) in Northern Ireland and Canada. [June 2006]

Release of the book, "Dance While You Can". [1991]



Release of her book, "Sage-ing While Age-ing". [2007]



Release of book, "You Can Get There From Here". [1975]



Release of the book, "It's All in the Playing". [1987]



Initially she was cast as Bonnie Parker in her brother's film 'Bonnie and Clyde'. When Warren Beatty decided to play Clyde himself, she was dropped.





Recipient of Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime contribution to American culture, in Washington, DC on December 8, 2013 (telecast on Dec. 29). Fellow honorees are Billy Joel , 'Carlos Santana', Herbie Hancock and Martina Arroyo

Initially she was cast as Bonnie Parker in her brother's film 'Bonnie and Clyde'. When Warren Beatty decided to play Clyde himself, she was dropped for obvious reasons.





Had an open relationship with ex-husband Steve Parker . He lived in Japan with their daughter Sachi Parker , while MacLaine focused on her career.

Quit smoking in 2016.





Acting mentor of Julia Roberts , who is her neighbor.



The only actress to be nominated for Best Actress Oscars twice for films in which her female co-star was nominated in the same category. She and Anne Bancroft were both Best Actress nominees for The Turning Point (1977), while she and Debra Winger were nominated for Terms of Endearment (1983). Her win for the latter film was also the only time a Best Actress nominee won the award when nominated with a co-star.



As of 2018, the only actress to be nominated for the Best Actress Oscar twice for performances in Best Picture winning films. She was nominated for The Apartment (1960) and Terms of Endearment (1983), winning for the latter.



Was originally cast as Brenda Morel in Youth (2015) before being replaced by Jane Fonda

Speak Japanese fluently.



Inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in Austin, Texas in March 2017.





To date (2018) she has never appeared in a feature film with her brother Warren Beatty



Returned to work four months after giving birth to her daughter Sachi Parker to begin filming Hot Spell (1958).



She has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Apartment (1960) and Being There (1979).

On August 24, 2019, she was honored with a day of her film work during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.



Personal Quotes (26)

Some people think I look like a sweet potato, I consider myself a spud with a heart of gold.



It is useless to hold a person to anything he says while he's in love, drunk, or running for office.



I had a video made of my recent knee operation. The doctor said it was the best movie I ever starred in.





I think in my 40s, right around the time of The Turning Point (1977), that I began to address myself more to the future. See, I wasn't afraid of getting old, because I never had the problems the other actresses my age had. I was never a great beauty. I was never a sex symbol. I did, however, have great legs, because I was a dancer. But I didn't have that baggage. I wasn't interested in my stature as a star. Ever. I was just interested in good parts.

[about her considering ballet as a profession) I was never good enough to be a soloist. Quatre ballet was about all I could handle. I didn't have those beautifully constructed feet [high arches, high insteps]. My extension on my left leg was pretty good, but I didn't point my foot with that grace that suggests true beauty.



An actor has many lives and many people within him. I know there are lots of people inside me. No one ever said I'm dull.



I can't define longevity. I don't know what it means.



[on Oscars] I love to win those things. Love it. The only part about it I don't like is the red carpet and getting a dress and walking around in high heels and holding in my stomach. I hate that.



[on accepting her Oscar, 1983] I am going to cry because this show has been as long as my career! I have wondered for 26 years what this would feel like! Thank you for terminating the suspense.



I'm not unaware of how I'm perceived, I just don't care about it. Unless I really hurt someone's feelings. I care about that.



...I was always a character actress and never a sex symbol. Even when I was the leading lady, I was a character actor.



I've made so many movies playing a hooker that they don't pay me in the regular way anymore. They leave it on the dresser.



My first few weeks in New York were an initiation into the kingdom of guts.





[after being offended by David Letterman on his show] Cher was right! You are an asshole!

On personal power: You are the architect of your personal experience.





[on Warren Beatty ] The difference between us is sex. I can take it or leave it. But my kid brother ... well, now, he enjoys his reputation. Sex is the most important thing in his life. It's his hobby, you could say.



[on Mia Farrow ] All turned in and vulnerable, a child with a highly energetic brain. From the neck up she's eighty.

On mothering: If we can genuinely honor our mother and father we are not only at peace with ourselves but we can give them birth to our future.



I'm very interested in how insane everybody is. That's why I write.



I don't know what the norm is. The latest evaluations on human sexuality say that we are one-third monogamous, one-third serially monogamous and one-third polygamous. I would say there should be some kind of form to fill out before you promise monogamy.





[on planning a scene in Downton Abbey (2010) which involved a conversation with Maggie Smith ] I told her I was going to sing it, and first she said to me, 'You know, dear, when you do that, I'm going to fall off my chair'. I said, OK. And then she said, 'No, I think not. I think I'll fall asleep'. I said, OK, that's good too. And then she said, 'No, I think I will cry'. I said, I don't know what you'd do that for, but whatever. What she did instead was flirt back. I was so surprised.

I do miss the stage. There's nothing like it, nothing. When I did my one-woman show and played the Palace and played the Gershwin and all that, I did - what? - eight shows or maybe more a week. Of course you can't do anything else, and you can't run quickly for a cab in the rain, and you can't have a drunken love affair. You can't do any of that. Because you've got to be perfectly healthy. And I guess I value enjoying my life a little bit more than the discipline these days.





[on Peter Sellers ] Peter had a leaking aura and these past-life incarnations would come through and that's why he could play these parts so well. He was positive he was having a sexual, a deep, erotic relationship with me, he actually thought he was! Dick Zanuck would walk into his dressing room and hear Peter doing sex talk over the phone and he would ask me, 'What is it like having a relationship with Peter Sellers?' and I said, 'He's out of his mind.' He did the same thing with Sophia Loren when they made The Millionairess (1960).

Once the soul of India gets into you, it sits on your shoulder all the time.



If I'm click-worthy, that's because I'm still walking upright.



Salary (7)