6 Things About Shirley MacLaine for Her 91st Birthday
Shirley MacLaine, who turns 91 today, April 24, has lived an interesting life by an estimation. The sister of Warren Beatty, she started acting as a teenager in minor roles on Broadway, before breaking into film in 1955 with Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry. In the 70 years that followed, she won an Academy Award for 1984’s Terms of Endearment, starred in iconic films like The Apartment, Steel Magnolias and Postcards From the Edge; she also enjoyed a dramatic love life, explored an interest in metaphysics and UFOs, and wrote two autobiographies: 1983’s Out on a Limb and 2024’s The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories From This Marvelous Lifetime.
In honor of her long and extraordinary life, here are six things you may not know about the star.
1 She dated many of her costars (but not two very famous ones)
Paramount/Everett Collection
MacLaine has talked about her open marriage to Steve Parker and admitted that she had affairs with many of her costars over the years. In fact, there were only two leading men who she didn’t date, according to The Wall of Life: Jack Lemmon and Jack Nicholson. As to why, she called Lemmon “a sister” and said that Nicholson made her “laugh all the time.” She insists nothing ever happened between her and Nicholson and added, “I don’t think he would’ve been my type to have an affair with anyway. I would laugh too much.”
2 She originally wanted to be a dancer
Everett Collection
It wasn’t always MacLaine’s dream to become an actress. She wanted to be a dancer instead and moved to New York City to pursue her dreams at 16 years old. In The Wall of Life, she said, “When I went out auditioning, people thought I was older and was offered a job in the chorus of the ‘subway circuit’ of Oklahoma! and got to do the show in all the boroughs of New York.”
3 Her first love was a student, not a movie star
Everett Collection
While she was only married once, to Parker (1954-82), she opens up about her first love in The Wall of Life. She said that she was in love with George Huvos, a student at Columbia University. They met when she was only 17 years old. Ultimately, she turned down Huvos’ wedding proposal to pursue her dancing dreams.
4 She gave this advice to Elvis Presley
Everett Collection
The two were both contract players at Paramount at the same time, and she said that his dressing room was near hers. When he asked for advice on set, according to The Wall of Life, she said, “I just told him to be nice to people and kind, because he was a huge star then. But we didn’t hang out, I didn’t know him that well.”
5 She hit on Morgan Freeman
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection
While MacLaine has dated tons of gorgeous men, there was one that turned her down: Morgan Freeman. She admitted, “I propositioned him and he turned me down. Oh, I really liked him right away. I thought his acting was brilliant. I barely said anything, and he just shook his head. Isn’t that interesting?”
6 She is really into UFOs
MacLaine has shown an interest in UFOs and aliens many times over the years and has done interviews on the subject. She said that she has had alien encounters, especially at her New Mexico ranch, as well as witnessed the 1952 UFO incident in Washington D.C. In July of that year, numerous sightings around the same area were reported.
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1950s Musicals
November 2020
Bright and brassy, toe-tapping musicals from the 1950s
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