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Michelle Pfeiffer was born April 29,
1958, in Santa Ana, California. Parents Dick and Donna, relocated the
Pfeiffer family to Midway City, and finally to Fountain Valley. With an
older brother Rick and 2 younger sisters, Dedee and Lori, Michelle was
considered the tough kid and even the school bully, rather than the
fragile beauty we would picture her to be.
Although Michelle was always a stubborn drama queen when she was young,
she did not realize until later that she wanted to be an actress. While
attending Fountain Valley High School, she entered the world of the
employed by working as a salesgirl at a local clothing store. After her
1976 high school graduation, Michelle went off to study court reporting at
Golden West College, while working as a checkout clerk at a local grocery
store.
Not satisfied with her studies or her ambition, Michelle decided she
wanted a change and decided to go for an acting career. She knew that
beauty contests would be a good place to start since that would give her
recognition and the chance to meet an agent, so she entered and won the
1978 Miss Orange County beauty pageant.
Michelle ditched her court reporting classes for acting classes, and made
her onscreen debut with one line on the series Fantasy Island. After an
appearance on Delta House and the film Falling In Love Again, Michelle was
cast as the lead in the disappointing sequel to Grease. Although the film
was a flop, those who did see it really took to the new actress. She then
got her big break when she was cast as Al Pacino's wife in Scarface.
Actually, director Brian De Palma originally didn't want to give her the
part, until he saw her personally during casting.
While her career was getting a jumpstart, her personal life experienced
some confusion when she allegedly became involved with a cult in the early
'80s. Director Peter Horton, who was a classmate of Michelle's during
acting classes, began to date the California bombshell, and eventually
rescued her from the clutches of the cult. Horton and Michelle were
married in 1981.
After bit parts in small movies, Michelle co-starred with Cher, Susan
Sarandon and Jack Nicholson in the wacky The Witches of Eastwick. She was
gradually beginning to get noticed, especially after the title role in the
made-for-TV movie, Natica Jackson. But just as the '80s were drawing to a
close, Michelle started to work nonstop, starring in 1988's Married to the
Mob, Tequila Sunrise and most notably Dangerous Liaisons, for which she
was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. In 1989, Michelle made
heads turn and critics take notice in her role as lounge singer Susie
Diamond in The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Her fabulous role garnered her a Best Actress Oscar nomination, as well as
the New York Film Critics Award, Chicago Film Festival Award, and Golden
Globe Award (to name a few), all for Best Actress in 1990. After her 1990
divorce from Horton, Michelle probably didn't even have the time to think
about being single -- especially because she hardly ever was, what with
dating Fisher Stevens, John Malkovich and Michael Keaton.
Her title as one of the most versatile actresses of today can be proven by
the variety of films she has done: a Russian woman in 1990's The Russia
House; a jaded waitress in 1991's Frankie & Johnny; Catwoman in 1992's
Batman Returns; a Jacqueline Kennedy-obsessed housewife in Love Field (for
which she earned her second Best Actress Oscar nomination); an inner-city
teacher in 1995's Dangerous Minds; an ambitious single mother in One Fine
Day (which she also produced); a fairy queen in 1999's A Midsummer Night's
Dream with Calista Flockhart; and a haunted wife in 2000's What Lies
Beneath, opposite Harrison Ford.
Michelle practically has a reserved spot on People magazine's 50 Most
Beautiful People list, having appeared on the list at least 4 times, and
lucky television producer David E. Kelley gets to see the classic beauty
on a daily basis. Michelle married the Ally McBeal and The Practice
producer in 1993. The couple has an adopted daughter, Claudia Rose, and a
son, John Henry.
One thing that Michelle has proved in her 2 decades of acting is that
she's still as beautiful and talented as she was when donning that latex
catsuit in Batman Returns, and she still knows how to purr better than
ever before. |
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"I still think people will
find out that I'm really not very talented. I'm really not very
good. It's all just been a big sham."
[On playing her part of Claire Spencer in What Lies Beneath (2000)]
"I thought about Drew Barrymore in the first Scream (1996/I) - I
mean, ultimately that movie was more funny than scary, but the
opening sequence was quite terrifying, and she portrayed terror in a
way I'd never seen an actress do."
[On wearing her costume in Batman Returns (1992) for the first
time]: "I thought to myself 'I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't
think. I'm unhappy. I can't act'."
[on cosmetic surgery] "If that nose or those jowls bother you, do
it! But this epidemic of people losing sight of what looks good, the
distortion that has been going on is creepy."
"I act for free, but I demand a huge salary as compensation for all
the annoyance of being a public personality. In that sense, I earn
every dime I make."
"Ultimately, I believe the only secret to a happy marriage is
choosing the right person. Life is a series of choices, right?"
"I was shocked at the prejudice, voiced in some quarters, over my
decision to adopt a mixed-race baby. It's really surprising that
people still put so much emphasis on it. None of us are pure
anything. We're all a mixture. Claudia is a beautiful child, and
some of the most beautiful people I've seen in the world have been
of mixed race. As mother of both an adopted child and my own
birth-child, there is absolutely no difference in the huge amount of
love I feel for both my children. I always knew I wanted to adopt a
child and also have one of my own. There is no difference at all."
"I have to say this singing was harder than any I've done before.
The melodies are so fast that you can barely get a breath in. But
once I got past the 'Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into'
phase, it was so much fun to sing again." |
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Chasing Montana (2008)
Stardust (2007) .... Lamia
Hairspray (2007) .... Velma Von Tussle
I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) .... Rosie
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) (voice) .... Eris
White Oleander (2002) .... Ingrid Magnussen
... aka Weißer Oleander (Germany)
I Am Sam (2001) .... Rita Harrison Williams
What Lies Beneath (2000) .... Claire Spencer
The Story of Us (1999) .... Katie Jordan
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) .... Titania
... aka Sogno di una notte di mezza estate (Italy)
... aka William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA:
complete title)
The Deep End of the Ocean (1999) .... Beth Cappadora
The Prince of Egypt (1998) (voice) .... Tzipporah
A Thousand Acres (1997) .... Rose Cook Lewis
One Fine Day (1996) .... Melanie Parker
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996) .... Gillian Lewis
Up Close & Personal (1996) .... Sally/Tally Atwater
Dangerous Minds (1995) .... Louanne Johnson
"Picket Fences" .... Client (1 episode, 1995)
- Freezer Burn (1995) TV Episode (uncredited) .... Client
Wolf (1994) .... Laura Alden
"The Simpsons" .... Mindy Simmons (1 episode, 1993)
- The Last Temptation of Homer (1993) TV Episode (voice) .... Mindy
Simmons
The Age of Innocence (1993) .... Ellen Olenska
Love Field (1992) .... Lurene Hallett
Batman Returns (1992) .... Catwoman/Selina Kyle
Frankie and Johnny (1991) .... Frankie
... aka Frankie & Johnny (USA: poster title)
The Russia House (1990) .... Katya Orlova
The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) .... Susie Diamond
Dangerous Liaisons (1988) .... Madame Marie de Tourvel
Tequila Sunrise (1988) .... Jo Ann Vallenari
Married to the Mob (1988) .... Angela de Marco
Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) .... Brenda Landers (segment
"Hospital")
The Witches of Eastwick (1987) .... Sukie Ridgemont
Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987) (TV) ....
Natica Jackson
... aka Natica Jackson (USA: short title)
... aka Power, Passion and Murder
Sweet Liberty (1986) .... Faith Healy
"ABC Afterschool Specials" .... Annie (1 episode, 1985)
- One Too Many (1985) TV Episode .... Annie
Ladyhawke (1985) .... Isabeau d'Anjou
Into the Night (1985) .... Diana
Scarface (1983) .... Elvira Hancock
Grease 2 (1982) .... Stephanie Zinone
The Children Nobody Wanted (1981) (TV) .... Jennifer Williams
Splendor in the Grass (1981) (TV) .... Ginny Stamper
Callie & Son (1981) (TV) (as Michele Pfeiffer) .... Sue Lynn
Bordeaux
... aka Callie and Son (Australia)
... aka Rags to Riches
Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981) .... Cordelia
Farenington
"Fantasy Island" .... Athena / ... (2 episodes, 1978-1981)
- Elizabeth's Baby/The Artist and the Lady (1981) TV Episode ....
Deborah Dare
- The Island of Lost Women/The Flight of Great Yellow Bird (1978) TV
Episode .... Athena
Falling in Love Again (1980) .... Sue Wellington
... aka In Love
The Hollywood Knights (1980) .... Suzie Q
"B.A.D. Cats" (1980) TV Series .... Samantha 'Sunshine' Jensen
(unknown episodes)
"CHiPs" .... Jobina (1 episode, 1979)
... aka CHiPs Patrol (USA: syndication title)
- The Watch Commander (1979) TV Episode .... Jobina
The Solitary Man (1979) (TV) .... Tricia
"Delta House" .... The Bombshell (1 episode, 1979)
- Hoover and the Bomb (1979) TV Episode .... The Bombshell |
