Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine was born Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother, Kathlyn Corinne (MacLean), was a drama teacher from Nova Scotia, Canada, and her father, Ira Owens Beaty, a professor of psychology and real estate agent, was from Virginia. Her brother, Warren Beatty, was born on March 30, 1937. Her ancestry includes English and Scottish.Shirley was the tallest in her ballet classes at the Washington School of Ballet. Just after she graduated from Washington-Lee High School, she packed her bags and headed for New York. While auditioning for Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Me and Juliet", the producer kept mispronouncing her name. She then changed her name from Shirley MacLean Beaty to Shirley MacLaine. She later had a role in "The Pajama Game", as a member of the chorus and understudy to Carol Haney. A few months into the run, Shirley was going to leave the show for the lead role in "Can-Can" but ended up filling in for Haney, who had broken her ankle and could not perform. She would fill in for Carol, again, three months later, following another injury, the very night that movie producer Hal B. Wallis was in the audience. Wallis signed MacLaine to a five-year contract to Paramount Pictures. Three months later, she was off to shoot Kłopoty z Harrym (1955). She then took roles in Gorący czar (1958) and W 80 dni dookoła świata (1956), completed not too long before her daughter, Sachi Parker (born Stephanie), was born. With Shirley's career on track, she played one of her most challenging roles: "Ginny Moorhead" in Długi tydzień w Parkman (1958), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She went on to do Jeden przeciw wszystkim (1958) and Swatka (1958). In 1960, she got her second Academy Award nomination for Garsoniera (1960). Three years later, she received a third nomination for Słodka Irma (1963). In 1969, she brought her friend Bob Fosse from Broadway to direct her in Słodka Charity (1969), from which she got her "signature"... song, "If My Friends Could See Me Now". After a five-year hiatus, Shirley made a documentary on China called Druga połowa nieba: Raport z Chin (1975), for which she received an Oscar nomination for best documentary.In 1977, she got her fourth Best Actress Oscar nomination for Punkt zwrotny (1977). In 1979, she worked with Peter Sellers in Wystarczy być (1979), made shortly before his death. After 20 years in the film industry, she finally took home the Best Actress Oscar for Czułe słówka (1983). After a five-year hiatus, Shirley made Madame Sousatzka (1988), a critical and financial hit that took top prize at the Venice Film Festival. In 1989, she starred with Dolly Parton, Sally Field and Julia Roberts in Stalowe magnolie (1989). She received rave reviews playing Meryl Streep's mother in Pocztówki znad krawędzi (1990) and for Rycerz pierwszej damy (1994). In 1996, she reprised her role from "Terms of Endearment" as "Aurora Greenway" in Czułe słówka: Ciąg dalszy (1996), which didn't repeat its predecessor's success at the box office. In mid-1998, she directed Bruno (2000), which starred Alex D. Linz. In February 2001, Shirley worked with close friends once again in Wieczny blask gwiazd (2001), and co-starred with Julia Stiles in Carolina (2003) and with Kirstie Alley in Polowanie na czarownice (2002).MacLaine as her own website which includes her own radio show and interviews, the Encounter Board, and Independent Expression, a members-only section of the site. In the past few years, Shirley starred in a CBS miniseries based on the life of cosmetics queen Mary Kay Ash--Piekło na obcasach (2002), and wrote two more books, "The Camino" in 2001, and "Out On A Leash" in 2003. After taking a slight hiatus from motion pictures, Shirley returned with roles in the movies that were small, but wonderfully scene-stealing: Czarownica (2005) with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell, Siostry (2005) with Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette, in which Shirley was nominated for a Golden Globe in the best supporting actress category, and Z ust do ust (2005) with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner. Shirley completed filming of Znak miłości (2007), directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, in 2007. Her latest book is entitled "Sage-ing While Ag-ing"; Shirley's latest film is Walentynki (2010), which debuted in theaters on February 12, 2010.show more