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Shirley MacLaine        

Academy Award-Winning Actress & Author

A dancer, singer, author, and highly regarded actress, Shirley MacLaine is certainly among Hollywood's most unique stars. A five-time Academy Award nominee, she won a Best Actress Award for playing quirky matriarch “Aurora Greenway” in Terms of Endearment.

MacLaine earned her first Oscar nomination for her role in Some Came Running. She went on to display her dancing talents in Can-Can and appeared with “Rat Packers” Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford in Oceans Eleven. The only female member of the famed group, she would later recount her experiences with them in her seventh book My Lucky Stars. She won her second Oscar nomination for the comedy/drama The Apartment, and a third nomination for Irma La Douce. MacLaine's career was in high gear during the '60s, with her appearing in everything from dramas to madcap comedies to musicals such as What a Way to Go! and Sweet Charity! In addition to her screen work, she actively participated in Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign and served as a Democratic Convention delegate. She was similarly involved in George McGovern's 1972 campaign.

MacLaine went on to be earn her fourth nomination for The Turning Point and to star in hits including Being There, Madame Sousatzka, Steele Magnolias, Guarding Tess, The Evening Star, and most recently Bewitched.

A popular author of several best-selling books about new age beliefs and her own personal journeys that include Out on a Limb and Dancing in the Light, MacLaine is known for her faith in reincarnation, angels, the power of crystals and unorthodox beliefs. She has created ShirleyMacLaine.com to serve as a center for spirit, mind and body that affords visitors of all ages the ability explore and interact with the myriad of alternative views relating to the very human concerns of health, well being, aging, and alternative therapies, and other spiritual and intangible issues. The intent of ShirleyMacLaine.com is to provide timely information on spirit, mind, and body and to create an environment for learning and personal growth. While maintaining her famous sense of humor, MacLaine remains vocal about spiritual and political issues including the environment, UFOs, reincarnation, and animal rights. In her newest book, Sage-ing While Age-ing, she confronts the realities of growing older, while reflecting on a greater understanding of her place in the universe.

The sister of actor/activist/director Warren Beatty, MacLaine took dance lessons from age two, first performed publicly at age four, and at 16 went to New York, making her Broadway debut as a chorus girl. It was after her appearance on Broadway in “The Pajama Game” that she moved to Hollywood to begin her storied film career in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry.

Speech Topics


The Power of Mind, Body, & Spirit

Dancing in the Light

News


'The Last Word' Premiere: Shirley MacLaine on Playing Strong ...
co-star Amanda Seyfriend said of MacLaine at the premiere. “She speaks ... Shirley MacLaine Talks Playing Strong-Willed Women at 'The Last Word' Premiere.
Shirley MacLaine to Return to Downton Abbey - ABC News
Nick Briggs/PBS/AP Images After a third season in which the popular PBS series “Downton Abbey” lost two of its main characters, PBS is announcing the return ...

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