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| Known as the girl with big red curls and weak ankles, Shirley MacLaine was born as Shirley MacLean Beaty on April 24, 1934, to Virginia native Ira Owens Beaty and his wife Kathlyn. Ira and Kathlyn gave up their dreams to raise their family. Before Shirley was 3 years old, her brother and rival Warren Beaty was born on March 30 or 31, 1937. Shirley was the tallest in her ballet classes at the Washington School of Ballet. She had an excellent batting average in baseball. As she discovered it wasn't a good thing for a girl to do, she tossed aside her cleats for a pair of pom-pom's and joined the cheerleading squad in her high school Washington-Lee High School. As soon, as she graduated, she packed her bags and headed for New York. While auditioning for Rodgers and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet, she had a problem with the producer who kept mispronouncing her name. He asked, "OK Beaty. Do you have another name, kid?" She then changed her name from Shirley MacLean Beaty to Shirley MacLaine. Shirley later joined another play called "The Pajama Game". With her high-octane performance, she won a part and the role as an understudy to Carol Haney. Unfortunately, Carol was known for never missing a performance in her life. A few months or so into the play, Shirley was going to ditch The Pajama Game and take the lead role in another Broadway hit Can-Can. She left for the theatre after being 15 minutes late because the train broke down. She then heard that Carol had broken her ankle and she was to go on for her. Despite making many mistakes, she seriously endeared herself to the audience. She replaced Carol again, 3 months later following another injury. Shirley knew her lines and knocked them dead. ‘Hal Wallis’ (cv) was in the audience that night with a five-year contract signing her to Paramount Pictures. She agreed to the contract, and three months later she was off to shoot the movie _The Trouble With Harry (1955)_. She then took roles in _Hot Spell (1955)_ and _Around The World In Eighty Days (1956)_, completed not too long before her daughter Stephanie Parker was born. With Shirley's career on track, she played one of most challenging roles as Ginny Moorhead in _Some Came Running (1958)_. She went on to do _The Shipman (1958)_ and _The Matchmaker (1958)_. In 1960, she got her first Academy Award nomination in the movie _The Apartment (1960)_. Three years afterwards, she got a second Oscar nomination in _Irma La Deuce (1963)_. In 1969, she brought her friend ‘Bob Fosse’ (cv) from Broadway to direct her in the movie _Sweet Charity (1969)_, which gave her the hit trademark "If My Friends Could See Me Now". After a 3-5 year hiatus, Shirley had made a documentary on China called _The Other Half Of The Sky: A China Memoir (1975)_ which gave her a nomination for Best Documentary. In 1977, she got her 3rd Oscar nomination in _The Turning Point (1977)_. In 1979, she worked with ‘Peter Sellers’ (cv) shortly before his death in _Being There (1979)_. After being in show business for over 20 years, she was honored by the Academy with the Best Actress Oscar for _Terms of Endearment (1983)_. After a 5 year hiatus, Shirley made a movie named _Madame Sousatska (1988)_ to rave reviews, and won at the Venice Film Festival. In 1989, she worked with ‘Dolly Parton’ (cv), ‘Sally Fields’ (cv), and ‘Julia Roberts’ (cv) in _Steel Magnolias (1989)_. She received great reviews playing ‘Meryl Streep's’ (cv) mother in _Postcard From The Edge (1990)_ and _Guarding Tests (1994)_. In 1996, she reprised her role as Aurora Greenway in _The Evening Star (1996)_ which, however, wasn’t too successful at the box office. In mid-1998, she directed _Bruno (1998)_ which starred ‘Alex D. Linz’ (cv). In February 2001, Shirley worked with close friends once again in _Those Old Broads (2001)_, and has just recently co-starred with ‘Julia Stiles’ (cv) in _Carolina (2002)_ and ‘Kirstie Alley’ (cv) in _Salem Witch Trials (2001)_. She created her own website www.shirleymaclaine.com in June, 2000. Shirley is currently in pre-production of a new movie that should be out between 2002 and 2003. |
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