Shirley MacLaine, widely regarded as one of the greats in entertainment history, has revealed that she underwent a facelift.
Aging is something everyone experiences, but in Hollywood, many turn to Botox, facelifts, or plastic surgery to slow it down.
The 91-year-old actress chose to do the same, though some may no longer recognize her. With a career spanning more than 60 years, she continues to draw attention even today.
A superstar with multiple Academy Award nominations and a win to her name, MacLaine shows no intention of slowing down at 91.
Born on April 24, 1934, in Richmond, Virginia, she was raised by a mother who worked as a drama teacher.
Her younger brother went on to become a successful director and actor, and by the age of three she had already begun preparing for a life in show business. She became a trained ballet dancer and, after high school, moved to New York City to pursue acting.
Leaving for New York at that age might worry many parents, but not hers.
“They weren’t surprised. I was in show business since I was 3, basically,” she once told Variety. “They were so confident that I would be alright, that I became alright,” she added.
“It didn’t occur to me that I should have confidence. It does now. I look back on it now, and I think, ‘Oh, what were they thinking?’ I had a certain amount of what I would call sophisticated naivete because I had been going to ballet school from 3 on, as I said,” she continued.
“But when we lived in Arlington and Richmond, I was always on some bus by myself going to ballet class and learning to negotiate the transfers and learning to be alone and fairly confident that I would be fine, walking home in the forest alone at night.”
Debut in Hitchcock film
At that point in her career, she also changed her name. After being hired as a chorus girl and understudy to the second lead, Carol Haney, in the Broadway musical The Pajama Game, she got her big break.
When Haney broke her ankle, the young dancer, trained in ballet her whole life, stepped into the role.
Film producer Hal Wallis discovered her and offered her a contract, marking the start of a career that would span more than 60 years and take her to remarkable places.
Her film debut came in 1955, when she was cast in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry. Her distinctive tomboy look quickly made her a sought-after presence in Hollywood, leading to more and more roles.
Not long after, she received her first Academy Award nomination. Over a five-year stretch, she earned three Oscar nominations for Best Actress in Some Came Running (1958), The Apartment (1960), and Irma La Douce (1963). In total, she has received six nominations, and in 1984 she won Best Actress for Terms of Endearment.
Shirley MacLaine — one of the greats in entertainment history
She has also collected seven Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award, with honors extending beyond individual performances. Among them are the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and, in 1998, the Cecil B. DeMille Award for outstanding contribution to entertainment.
Her list of accolades is extensive, including the American Film Institute (AFI) Lifetime Achievement Award. Yet Shirley MacLaine is not ready to step away just yet. In February, Deadline reported that the 91-year-old actress is set to lead the upcoming film Margret and Stevie, centered on writer and illustrator Margret Rey.
Shirley MacLaine remains a true legend in entertainment. So what is the secret behind her long and successful career?
“Even though I tell people the truth, I’m not a diva. That comes from my 3-year-old ballet training. I’ve got to go all the way back to that and just hard, honest work, with quite a bit of art, if you can muster it, thrown in,” MacLaine told Variety in 2020.
“I’ve also stayed in the business and never thought about quitting because I wanted to pay for plane tickets to travel. I didn’t socialize Hollywood style. I’d rather travel to a country I hadn’t been to. So when I think about my life, I’m not sure I wouldn’t put the travels a bit above show business.”
Praised for down-to-earth personality
The actress has shown herself to be “one of the people,” not tucked away in a large mansion or distant from fans who have long shown her affection.
As late as March, she was photographed in Malibu enjoying oysters and a beer, dressed in a mint-green hoodie and black glasses. Holding up her fork, she smiled toward the camera.
Fans quickly praised Shirley MacLaine’s look and her down-to-earth presence.
“Who doesn’t love this lady? Classic,” one wrote.
“Love her! It’s so great to see her out enjoying life!” a second added.
A third said, “One of the last of the greats,” while a fourth gushed, “Looking good for 91 and out enjoying herself, Brilliant.”
Shirley MacLaine has long been praised for her looks. Around 40 years ago, she chose to undergo a facelift. The topic of Botox, plastic surgery, and cosmetic procedures has remained a heated one in Hollywood for years. Some choose to never alter their appearance, while others go, at times, a bit further.
Admitted to doing face-lift
MacLaine spoke to The Guardian in 2007 about her views on plastic surgery and facelifts. She said her younger brother, the well-known Warren Beatty, was “the beautiful one in the family.” As she began to notice wrinkles in her own face, she knew what direction she wanted to take.
“Just in the last week I’m falling in love with my wrinkles because I was wondering: should I do Botox? I’m loving the idea that I’m 73 and almost looking like it,” MacLaine said in 2007. “I had a face-lift about 30 years ago. I’m glad I did it. It’s all back to where it was now, though. I do worry about getting heavy. Not so much cosmetically, but what it means for the body. But I won’t do liposuction. I go for walks on the beach, up and down hills at Malibu.”
Shirley added, “I do stretching for my back and some of the skeletal problems. Probably caused by dancing in high heels, and dancing on cement instead of wood. I was never that good a dancer to really injure myself, and I was always really cautious.”
Shirley MacLaine remains one of the greats in entertainment history.