Cast & creator
Shirley MacLaine
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Mike Douglas Show, The View
Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress, singer, author, activist, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, headstrong, and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning seven decades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards. Born in Richmond, Virginia, MacLaine made her acting debut as a teenager with minor roles in the Broadway musicals Oklahoma! and The Pajama Game. Following minor appearances as an understudy in various other productions, MacLaine made her film debut with Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy The Trouble with Harry (1955), winning the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. She rose to prominence with starring roles in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Some Came Running (1958), Ask Any Girl (1959), The Apartment (1960), The Children's Hour (1961), Two for the Seesaw (1962), Irma la Douce (1963), and Sweet Charity (1969). A six time Academy Award nominee, MacLaine won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the comedy-drama Terms of Endearment (1983). Her other prominent films include The Turning Point (1977), Being There (1979), Madame Sousatzka (1988), Steel Magnolias (1989), Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Evening Star (1996), Bewitched (2005), In Her Shoes (2005), Valentine's Day (2010), and The Little Mermaid (2018). MacLaine has been the recipient of many honorary awards. She was awarded the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2012, Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1995, and Kennedy Center Honor in 2013 for her contribution to American culture, through performing arts. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. Apart from acting, MacLaine has written numerous books regarding the subjects of metaphysics, spirituality, and reincarnation, as well as a best-selling memoir, Out on a Limb (1983).
Also known as: Shirley MacLean Beaty, Shirley McLaine
141
film credits
50
television credits
178
1944–2026 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (191)
Showing 191 of 191 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
The View
Self
1997
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self
1979
Glee
June Dolloway
2009
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest
1968
Champs-Elysées
Self
1982
Tony Awards
Self - Host
1956Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Downton Abbey
Martha Levinson
2010
Golden Globe Awards
Self
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Cecil B. DeMille Award Recipient
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee / Presenter
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Winner
1944
Only Murders in the Building
Rose Cooper
2021
Intimate Portrait
Self (archive footage)
1993Intimate Portrait
Self - Narrator (voice)
1993
The Carol Burnett Show
Self
1967
Beckmann
Self
1999
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self - Guest
1975Film '72
Self
1971
Omnibus
1967
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Guest
1956
The Bob Hope Show
Self
1950Pebble Mill
Self
1991
V Graham Norton
Self
2002
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
Parkinson
Self - Guest (archive footage)
2004
The Oscars
Self
1953Goldene Kamera
Self
1984
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Edna Mitty
2013Système 2
Self
1975
Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981Der große Preis
Self
1974V.I.P. Schaukel
Self
1971
The Apartment
Fran Kubelik
1960
Talking Pictures
Self (archive footage)
2013
The Early Show
Self
1999
Valentine's Day
Estelle
2010Please Turn the Page
Self
1977
Reflets de Cannes
Self
1954
In Her Shoes
Ella Hirsh
2005
Terms of Endearment
Aurora Greenway
1983
Steel Magnolias
Ouiser Boudreaux
1989
Cannonball Run II
Veronica
1984
Ocean's Eleven
Tipsy Girl (uncredited)
1960
Rumor Has It...
Katharine Richelieu
2005Harty
Self
1983
Two Mules for Sister Sara
Sara
1970
Around the World in 80 Days
Princess Aouda
1956
Bewitched
Iris Smythson / Endora
2005
The Last Word
Harriet Lauler
2017The Last Word
Executive Producer
2017
Shirley's World
Shirley Logan
1972
The Emmy Awards
Self
1949
Guarding Tess
Tess Carlisle
1994
Joan of Arc
Madame de Beaurevoir
1999
Being There
Eve Rand
1979
The Children's Hour
Martha Dobie
1961
The Trouble with Harry
Jennifer Rogers
1955
Defending Your Life
Shirley MacLaine
1991
The Little Mermaid
Eloise
2018
Out on a Limb
Shirley MacLaine
1987Out on a Limb
Book
1987Out on a Limb
Teleplay
1987
Noelle
Elf Polly
2019
Irma la Douce
Irma La Douce
1963
What a Way to Go!
Louisa May Foster
1964
Postcards from the Edge
Doris Mann
1990
Salem Witch Trials
Rebecca Nurse
2003
American Dreamer
Astrid Fanelli
2022
Closing the Ring
Ethel Ann
2007
Some Came Running
Ginnie Moorehead
1958
Mrs. Winterbourne
Grace Winterbourne
1996
Sweet Charity
Charity
1969
Dolly Parton: An American Original – Special Edition of 20/20
Self (archive footage)
2026
The Yellow Rolls-Royce
Mae Jenkins
1964
Woman Times Seven
Paulette / Maria Teresa / Linda / Edith / Eve Minou / Marie / Jeanne
1967
My Geisha
Lucy Dell / Yoko Mori
1962My Geisha
Songs
1962
Artists and Models
Bessie Sparrowbush
1955
Gambit
Nicole
1966
Bernie
Marjorie Nugent
2012
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
Helen Cooney
1993
Two for the Seesaw
Gittel 'Mosca' Moscawitz
1962
The Evening Star
Aurora Greenway
1996
The Sheepman
Dell Payton
1958
Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning
Amelia Thomas
2008
Inside the Actors Studio
Self
1994
All in a Night's Work
Katie Robbins
1961Laugh-In
Guest Performer
1977
The Matchmaker
Irene Molloy
1958
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
2008
The Turning Point
Deedee
1977
Elsa & Fred
Elsa
2014
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
Jenny
1965John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
Songs
1965
Forever Hollywood
Self
1999
Wide-Awake
The Pianist
2012
The Possession of Joel Delaney
Norah Benson
1972
Get Bruce!
Self
1999
These Old Broads
Kate Westbourne
2001
Casting a Spell: Making 'Bewitched'
Self
2005
Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and 'Dr. Strangelove'
Self
2004
The Best of So Graham Norton
Self (archive footage)
2004
Be Pretty and Shut Up!
Self (archive footage)
1981
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists
Self
2018
Used People
Pearl Berman
1992
A Smile Like Yours
Martha (uncredited)
1997
Commitment to Life
Self (archive footage)
2023
That's Dancing!
1985That's Dancing!
Self (archive footage)
1985
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
Harriet Blossom
1968The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom
Songs
1968
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
Self
2003
Waiting for the Light
Aunt Zena
1990
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self
1995
A Change of Seasons
Karyn Evans
1980
Wild Oats
Eva
2016
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Self (archive footage)
1990
Madame Sousatzka
Madame Yuvline Sousatzka
1988
Can-Can
Simone Pistache
1960
Rat Pack
Self (archive footage)
2022
MCAINE: An Anagram of Cinema
Self - Actress (archive footage)
2023
Shirley Maclaine: Kicking Up Her Heels
Self
1996
Carolina
Grandmother Mirabeau
2003
I Love Liberty
Self
1982
Mike Wallace Is Here
Self (archive footage)
2019
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History
Self
2008
Ask Any Girl
Meg Wheeler
1959
The Celluloid Closet
Self
1996
Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay
Mary Kay Ash
2002
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
Self
2021
The West Side Waltz
Margaret Mary Elderdice
1995
Desperate Characters
Sophie Bentwood
1971
Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration
Self
1988
Loving Couples
Evelyn
1980The Royal Variety Performance 1977
1977
Jack Paar: Smart Television
Self
2003
Rescued from the Closet
Self
2001
Chita Rivera: A Lot Of Livin' To Do
Self (archive footage)
2015
Richard Attenborough: A Life in Film
Self
2014
Inside 'The Apartment'
Self
2008
Vittorio D.
Self
2009
Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration
Self
1990
Shirley MacLaine, comme un torrent
Self (archive footage)
2026
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Barbra Streisand
self
2001
A Heavenly Christmas
Pearl
2016
Year of the Woman
Self
1973
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
Self (archive footage)
1980
Bruno
Helen
2000Bruno
Director
2000Lucy Boomer
Lucy Boomer
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
Self
1998
Barbra Streisand: Timeless - Live in Concert
Herself
2001
The Unknown Peter Sellers
Self
2000
The All-Star Christmas Show
Self
1958
The Car That Became a Star
Self
1965
Vito
Self (archive footage)
2011
Hot Spell
Virginia Duval
1958
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
Martha Levinson (archive footage)
2024
The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?
Self
1977The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?
Executive Producer
1977
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1920s: The Dawn of the Hollywood Musical
Self
2008
Shirley MacLaine: Gypsy in My Soul
Self
1976
From Stage to Screen---A Director's Dilemma
1969
Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu
Narrator (voice)
1998
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
Self - Cameo Performance
1982
Bella!
Self
2023
Shirley MacLaine: '...Every Little Movement'
Self
1980
The Shirley MacLaine Show
Herself
1985The Shirley MacLaine Show
Writer
1985
Palme
Self
2012Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration of Life
Self
1997
Discovering Audrey Hepburn
Self (archive footage)
2015
Career
Sharon Kensington
1959
The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
Self
1975The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
Director
1975The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
Writer
1975The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
Producer
1975
Shirley MacLaine: If They Could See Me Now
Self
1974Shirley MacLaine: If They Could See Me Now
Producer
1974Men of Granite
Sophia Prather
2015
Two Loves
Anna Vorontosov
1961People Not Places
Clare
Circasia
Clown
1976
Shirley MacLaine... Illusions
Self
1982
Shirley MacLaine's Inner Workout
self
1989Margret and Stevie
Margret Rey