Shirley MacLaine

MacLaine has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1615 Vine Street. Her television work includes a production of Gypsy and her sitcom Bette. She was named after Shirley Temple. Other films include Scenes From a Mall, For the Boys (for which she was again nominated for an Academy Award), Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club, and The Stepford Wives. In political circles, MacLaine is known for her close friendship with Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich, a candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Her rendition of 1990's "From a Distance" also earned her a Grammy and is another of her most popular songs. In 1975, she received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature for her documentary The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir. Midler sang several of the film's songs including "Wind Beneath My Wings," which became one of Midler's most popular hits, receiving multiple Grammy Awards.

She stayed busy over the next several years, garnering an Academy Award nomination in 1960 for The Apartment. In 1988 she starred in the film Beaches. Her first film was the Alfred Hitchcock black comedy The Trouble With Harry in 1955. She appeared in such other popular comedies as Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune and Big Business. Wallis was in the audience, took note of MacLaine, and signed her to go to Hollywood to work for Paramount Pictures. In 1986, director Paul Mazursky cast her in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, beginning a successful comedic acting career. A few months thereafter, with Haney still out of commission, director/producer Hal B. In her first film role, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She achieved her goal when she became understudy to actress Carol Haney in The Pajama Game; Haney broke her ankle and MacLaine replaced her. She was tapped for the pseudobiographical role of the drug-addled rock music star in The Rose, modeled after Janis Joplin. Upon graduating from high school, MacLaine moved to New York City to live out her dream of being a Broadway actress. Midler appeared in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway, but it was her singing that made her a star. She is the sister of actor/director Warren Beatty (Beatty changed his name from Beaty to Beatty). He produced her first major album, The Divine Miss M (also the name by which she is known to her fans.). She is also the writer of a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her new age beliefs as well as her Hollywood career. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, she majored in drama at the University of Hawaii, but got her start singing in gay bathhouses in New York City where, among others, she became friends with Barry Manilow, who was her piano accompanist.

Shirley MacLaine, born Shirley MacLean Beaty (born April 24, 1934 in Richmond, Virginia), is an American actress, well-known not only for her acting but for her devotion to her belief in reincarnation. Bette Midler (born December 1, 1945) is a singer, actress and comedienne. 1959 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - Some Came Running. 1961 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - The Apartment. 1964 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - Irma la Douce.

1976 - Nominated Best Documentary, Features - The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir. 1978 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - The Turning Point. 1984 - Won Best Actress in a Leading Role - Terms of Endearment.