Was born Shirley MacLean Beaty on April 24, 1934, to Virginia native Ira Owens Beaty and his wife, Kathlyn. Her brother Warren Beatty was born on March 30, 1937.
Took ballet as a child and always ended up playing the boys’ role due to being the tallest in her class.
Has said that her childhood dinner for many years consisted of Tabasco sauce and saltine crackers.
Led a series of weekend-long “Higher Self Seminars” in the late ‘80s teaching people about her views on many aspects of New Age practices and techniques.
Sister-in-law is actress Annette Bening.
Famous quote: “I’ve made so many movies playing a hooker that they don’t pay me in the regular way anymore. They leave it on the dresser.”
Turned down the role of Diane Freeling in Poltergeist (1982) to play Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment (1983).
Her performance as Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment in 1983 is ranked #81 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
Won the 1984 Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Terms of Endearment. She has five additional Oscar nominations.
Won the 1976 Emmy for Outstanding Special.
Won six Golden Globes. The earliest was the Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1955 (along with Kim Novak) and the most recent was the 1998 Cecil B. DeMille Award for outstanding contribution to the entertainment field.
Her trademark theme song, taken from the movie Sweet Charity (1969), is “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” It is usually the music that accompanies her when she makes entrances on talk shows.
A frequent visitor to Houston, Texas, where she starred in Terms of Endearment and The Evening Star (1996). At each visit, she goes to Tony’s Restaurant, where she orders a complete soufflé just for herself.
Was close friends with the members of the Rat Pack. She starred with all of them in Ocean’s Eleven (1960). Other works with Rat Pack members include: Some Came Running (1958), Cannonball Run II (1984) and Can-Can (1960).
She and Barbra Streisand celebrate their joint birthday together every year.
