Quick Facts
- NAME: Shirley MacLaine
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Theater Actress, Television Actress, Dancer, Singer, Journalist
- BIRTH DATE: April 24, 1934 (Age: 79)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Richmond, Virginia
- Full Name: Shirley MacLean Beaty
- AKA: Shirley MacLaine
- AKA: Shirley MacLean
- ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus
Best Known For
Shirley MacLaine is one of Hollywood's legendary leading ladies, known for a vast span of films that include The Apartment, Sweet Charity and Terms of Endearment.
Videos see all videos
-
Shirley MacLaine and Barbra Streisand - Influential Women (1:15)
Shirley MacLaine and Barbra Streisand - Influential Women
Watch a short video about Shirley MacLaine and Barbra Streisand to learn the many similarities between these two powerful and entertaining women.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowShirley MacLaine. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 11:05, May 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367.
Shirley MacLaine. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367 [Accessed 20 May 2013].
"Shirley MacLaine." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 20 2013, 11:05 http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367.
"Shirley MacLaine," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367 [accessed May 20, 2013].
"Shirley MacLaine," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367 (accessed May 20, 2013).
Shirley MacLaine [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367.
Shirley MacLaine, http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367 (last visited May 20, 2013).
Shirley MacLaine. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/shirley-maclaine-9393367. Accessed May 20, 2013.
In both Rumor Has It and In Her Shoes, MacLaine plays the grandmother to likes of such stars as Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz and Toni Colette.
Contents
Recent Projects
Now in her seventies, MacLaine continues to seek out new roles and challenges. She played the legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel in the 2008 television movie Coco Chanel. In 2011, MacLaine co-starred with Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey in the light-hearted crime drama Bernie.
MacLaine moved to the small screen to join the cast of the much beloved British period drama Downton Abbey for its third season. MacLaine plays the American mother of Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, on the show. Viewers enjoyed watching her character match wits with the Dowager Countess of Grantham played by Maggie Smith.
Personal Life
Shirley MacLaine was married to Steve Parker, a producer and businessman, from 1954 to 1982. The couple had a daughter, Stephanie, better known as Sachi. The pair had an unusual relationship with Parker spending much of his time living in Japan. Her daughter Sachi also spent part of her youth living abroad with her father.
In 2013, Sachi Parker shared her experiences as MacLaine's daughter in the memoir Lucky Me: My Life With—and Without—My Mom, Shirley MacLaine. She claimed that her mother pressured her to lose her virginity as a teen and had pair of sex therapists in the house during her first sexual experience, according to the New York Daily News. MacLaine has dismissed the book, saying “I'm shocked and heartbroken that my daughter would make statements about me that are virtually all fiction" in the same article.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
profile name: Shirley MacLaine profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Best Actress Oscar Winners
View groupExplore our collection of Best Actress Oscar winners, including Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Marion Cotillard, Vivien Leigh and Cher. View full biographies, photos and videos, only at Biography.com.
Best Actress Oscar Winners 68 people in this group
-
Studio 54 Patrons 49 people in this group
-
Bewitching Women
View groupIn the past, witches—or those alleged to be witches—were burned at the stake. They are a Halloween staple, portrayed as cackling, cauldron-stirring evil-doers. Far from such eerie depictions are the portrayals of witches in film and on television. Played by glamorous actresses, these witches have no warts on their faces, but rather ordinary lives and good intentions—with some supernatural powers to contend with. Here are some of the witches who have brought witchcraft into today's pop culture, on the big and small screens.
Bewitching Women 28 people in this group

June Carter Cash
Musical Monikers
Justin Bieber
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived


