A screen legend for over 70 years, Shirley MacLaine boasts a diverse career across Broadway, film, and television. With six Academy Award nominations and a Best Actress win for Terms of Endearment, she continues adding to her impressive filmography.
Born Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia in 1934, she started her career as a dancer replacing Carol Haney in the Broadway production of The Pajama Game in 1954. She made her acting debut alongside John Forsythe in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry (1955), followed by roles in Artists and Models (1955) and Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Her standout performance in Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960), starring alongside Jack Lemmon, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress with Billy Wilder winning in the Best Picture and Director category.
She would go on to star in classics including All in a Night’s Work (1961), My Geisha (1962), Irma La Douce (1962), and Sweet Charity (1969) securing her status as the funny kooky girl in cinema.
MacLaine would eventually win an Academy Award for Best Actress in the film Terms of Endearment (1983) starring alongside Debra Wigner and Jack Nicholson, and continued her reign in critically acclaimed movies like Steel Magnolias (1989) and Postcards from The Edge (1990).
Take a look back at Shirley MacLaine’s trailblazing career in film and television.
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THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, 1955
John Forsythe and Shirley MacLaine
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ARTISTS AND MODELS, 1955
Shirley MacLaine and Jerry Lewis
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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, (aka AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS), 1956
Cantinflas, Shirley MacLaine and David Niven
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THE SHEEPMAN, 1958
Shirley MacLaine and Glenn Ford
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HOT SPELL, 1958
Shirley MacLaine and Shirley Booth
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THE MATCHMAKER, 1958
Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Morse, and Perry Wilson
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SOME CAME RUNNING, 1958
Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine
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ASK ANY GIRL, 1959
Gig Young and Shirley Maclaine
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CAREER, 1959
Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine
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THE APARTMENT, 1960
Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon
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OCEAN’S ELEVEN, 1960
Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine
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ALL IN A NIGHT’S WORK, 1961
Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine and Cliff Robertson
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TWO LOVES, 1961
Laurence Harvey and Shirley MacLaine
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THE CHILDREN’S HOUR, 1961
Shirley MacLaine and Audrey Hepburn
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MY GEISHA, 1962
Shirley MacLaine and Yoko Tani
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TWO FOR THE SEESAW, 1962
Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine
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IRMA LA DOUCE, 1963
Shirley MacLaine
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WHAT A WAY TO GO!, 1964
Shirley MacLaine and Gene Kelly
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THE YELLOW ROLLS-ROYCE, 1965
Art Carney, Alain Delon, and Shirley MacLaine
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JOHN GOLDFARB, PLEASE COME HOME, 1965
Shirley MacLaine
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GAMBIT, 1966
Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine
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WOMAN TIMES SEVEN, 1967
Shirley MacLaine
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THE BLISS OF MRS. BLOSSOM, 1968
Richard Attenborough and Shirley MacLaine
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SWEET CHARITY, 1969
Shirley MacLaine
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TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA, 1970
Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood
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DESPERATE CHARACTERS, 1971
Shirley MacLaine
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SHIRLEY’S WORLD, 1971-1972
Shirley MacLaine
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THE POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANEY, 1972
Lisa Kohane, Shirley MacLaine and David Elliott
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THE TURNING POINT, 1977
Shirley MacLaine, Leslie Browne, and Anne Bancroft
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BEING THERE, 1979
Shirley MacLaine and Peter Sellers
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LOVING COUPLES, 1980
Shirley MacLaine and Stephen Collins
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A CHANGE OF SEASONS, 1980
Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins
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TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, 1983
Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson
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CANNONBALL RUN II, 1984
Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Frank Sinatra
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OUT ON A LIMB, 1987
Shirley MacLaine
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MADAME SOUSATZKA, 1988
Navin Chowdhry and Shirley MacLaine
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STEEL MAGNOLIAS, 1989
Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacLaine
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WAITING FOR THE LIGHT, 1990
Teri Garr, Shirley MacLaine,Colin Baumgartner, and Hillary Wolf
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POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, 1990
Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine
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USED PEOPLE, 1992
Shirley MacLaine and Kathy Bates
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WRESTLING ERNEST HEMINGWAY, 1993
Shirley MacLaine
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GUARDING TESS, 1994
Shirley MacLaine and Nicolas Cage
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THE WEST SIDE WALTZ, 1995
Shirley MacLaine and Liza Minnelli
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MRS. WINTERBOURNE, 1996
Ricki Lake, Brendan Fraser, Shirley MacLaine, and Miguel Sandoval
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THE EVENING STAR, 1996
Juliette Lewis, Shirley MacLaine, George Newbern, and Mackenzie Astin
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JOAN OF ARC, 1999
Shirley MacLaine
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THESE OLD BROADS, 2001
Joan Collins, Debbie Reynolds, and Shirley MacLaine
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CAROLINA, 2003
Shirley MacLaine, Mika Boorem, and Julia Stiles
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BEWITCHED, 2005
Nicole Kidman, Shirley MacLaine, and Will Ferrell
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IN HER SHOES, 2005
Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine
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RUMOR HAS IT, 2005
Shirley MacLaine and Jennifer Aniston
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CLOSING THE RING, 2007
Shirley MacLaine and Neve Campbell
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COCO CHANEL, 2008
Shirley MacLaine
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ANNE OF GREEN GABLES: A NEW BEGINNING, 2008
Shirley MacLaine
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VALENTINE’S DAY, 2010
Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo
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BERNIE, 2011
Shirley MacLaine and Jack Black
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DOWNTON ABBEY, 2012-2013
Maggie Smith and Shirley MacLaine
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GLEE, 2014
Darren Criss and Shirley MacLaine
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A HEAVENLY CHRISTMAS, 2016
Kristin Davis and Shirley MacLaine
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THE LAST WORD, 2017
Amanda Seyfried, Shirley MacLaine, and AnnJewel Lee Dixon
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NOELLE, 2019
Shirley MacLaine
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AMERICAN DREAMER, 2022
Peter Dinklage and Shirley MacLaine
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ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, 2022
Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, Amy Schumer, Shirley MacLaine, and Martin Short
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