Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine

Shirley MacLaine is an American actress, author, activist, and former dancer. Born in Richmond, Virginia, she made her acting debut as a teenager with minor roles in the Broadway musicals Oklahoma! and The Pajama Game. She rose to prominence with starring roles in Around the World in 80 Days, Some Came Running, Ask Any Girl, The Apartment, Two for the Seesaw, Irma la Douce, and Sweet Charity.

About Shirley MacLaine in brief

Summary Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American actress, author, activist, and former dancer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Born in Richmond, Virginia, she made her acting debut as a teenager with minor roles in the Broadway musicals Oklahoma! and The Pajama Game. She rose to prominence with starring roles in Around the World in 80 Days, Some Came Running, Ask Any Girl, The Apartment, The Children’s Hour, Two for the Seesaw, Irma la Douce, and Sweet Charity. She was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1995, and Kennedy Center Honor in 2013 for her contribution to American culture, through performing arts. She has also written numerous books regarding the subjects of metaphysics, spirituality, reincarnation as well as a best-selling memoir Out on a Limb. She played baseball on an all-boys team, holding the record for most home runs, which earned her the nickname \”Powerhouse\”. As a toddler, she had weak ankles and would fall over with the slightest misstep, so her mother decided to enroll her in ballet class at the Washington School of Ballet at the age of three. Ultimately she decided against making a career of professional ballet because she had grown too tall and was unable to acquire perfect technique.

She attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was on the cheerleading squad and acted in musical and musical theater productions. She also played the boys’ roles in classical romantic pieces like Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty due to being the tallest in the group and the absence of males in the class. She had a substantial female role as the fairy godmother in Cinderella; while warming up backstage, she broke her ankle, but then tightened the ribbons on her toe shoes and proceeded to dance the role all the way through before calling for an ambulance. Her uncle was A. A. MacLeod, a Communist member of the Ontario legislature in the 1940s. While she was still a child, Ira Beaty moved his family from Richmond to Norfolk, and then to Arlington and Waverly, then back to Arlington eventually taking a position at Arlington’s Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in 1945. Her younger brother is the actor, writer, and director Warren Beatty; he changed the spelling of his surname when he became an actor. Their parents raised them as Baptists. The Turning Point, Being There, Madame Sousatzka, Steel Magnolias, Postcards from the Edge, The Evening Star, Bewitched, In Her Shoes, Valentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and The Little Mermaid. Maclaine has been the recipient of many honorary awards. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.