Hollywood Mysteries #52 - Shirley MacLaine, Ruthlessly Brilliant

[@laurielaurie8280]

Shirley was a great actress. I loved her sassy attitude lol. I miss seeing her in movies. She is one of a kind ❤

[@notpurrfect6397]

In "Postcards from the edge" her character is a self-absorbed actress and mother. She's hilarious in that role. I didn't know that was her in real life. Thank you for this biography!

[@twhelostl61]

Mother, daughter, Doris Mann, Suzanne Vale. A parody of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. Postcards is a great comedy. I can't think of two better actresses to tell that story. Film is based on Carrie Fishers book by the same title.

[@sarahalbers5555]

The book is great as well.

[@missourimomofthree]

She and her brother were apparently raised as self centered sorts. Warren was tamed with a late marriage and 4 kids. Shirley was and is the most self absorbed person I can recall.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

100%

[@stephaniec3619]

I loved the Apartment. Great movie! Thank you so much, as usual for your through video on Shirley!

[@HollywoodMysteries]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@emilien.]

I am not a huge Shirley-the-person fan but I respect her acting chops and have certainly admired her range of roles. Terms of Endearment galvanized my appreciation of her. The dynamics and "banter" between her character and on screen daughter so shockingly mirrored aspects of a very difficult time in the dynamics between my mother and myself, I quietly wept throughout most of the movie.

[@ABoyandHisDog.23]

That movie just tore my soul out. So powerful

[@kathyh4804]

My heat hurts for her poor daughter.😢Could you imagine such a self consumed mother as Shirley? I know I can but my mother wasn’t famous. That would only add to the pain, seeing her living the life ( or so it seemed!) traveling the world WITHOUT you! Very evil

[@rolyons]

Very sad, particularly as Sachi's father was also negligent and emotionally abusive.

[@majimespirit8421]

Most actresses should not become Moms. Common theme. Putting a two year old on a 48 hour flight takes the cake. Her daughter was literally unwanted baggage. I don’t understand why Shirley was married. She never saw the guy, there was no companionship, nothing. He was just a financial expense. Great actress, but completely immature and flaky. Not relationship material.

[@megb9700]

@@kathyh4804 Or, she was merely doing what was expected of the time because she had soooo much social pressure to succeed or utterly fail in all things (survival). Was she allowed to abort? Was she allowed to succeed in what she mastered (singing, dancing, acting)? Was she allowed to bring her child to the sets? Was she allowed to truly be a single parent without censor? Could she home school? Was she qualified to homeschool other children? Homeschool children with learning differences? Was there some kind of well paying job/career available that would have allowed her to raise her child alone? Childcare? Do her own parents sound remotely helpful? My mom was an RN, and the pay back then did NOT support single mothers. She stayed married to a serial cheater. Pay for nurses went up in the 1990’s after the silent generation retired. Teachers pay now in 2020’s still exists in 1970’s standards. That was it for “respectable “ jobs of that time, teacher or nurse. Honestly put yourself in post war America of that time, what could you have done differently that would be the most supportive for all involved? I used to judge Shirley big time, especially when she went through her spiritual, crystal, woo-woo stage. I don’t anymore.

[@Snarkyhippie]

​@@majimespirit8421she was married because that's what women were expected to do. Then become a mother, because that's what we were expected to do. Not sure how old you are or what your background is, but she knew that was not the life meant for her, yet she went through the motions. What a miserable life it is to pretend like that. What's sad is that it was still essentially forced on her because other people refused to listen or care that it wasn't for her even when she made it clear. Not all women want to be a wife and mother. I'm honored to be a mother, but hated being a wife.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Devastating! 😢

[@Aromagirl70]

I was always fascinated by Shirley as a person, especially her dating one of our politicians! Then I saw her in The Apartment, and loved her as an actress. Her and Jack Lemmon was a perfect pairing. I need to find more of her movies! Thankyou for this wonderful tribute to her and her life.

[@Lisa-je6hv]

The level of selfishness this woman had is disgusting. But once again, it's an excellent documentary!

[@brigittebeltran6701]

You have no idea how mean she was!!! Horrid woman to work with!!! 🎉

[@heidibee501]

Unlike other bios l have watched we never got to the part where things were bad, and then got worse. There wasn't any slippery slope. I am not complaining; just surprised. BTW: l loved the movie, "What a Way to Go." Her affair with Bob Mitchum makes it even more interesting.

[@JR-ld2xx]

Thank you!

[@overcomerbtboj]

I’m not a shirley fan nor a fan of her as a parent but i do absolutely love her in cannonball run 2 - it was just an all star comedy and good fun and she parodied herself and her role in two mules for sister sara pretending to be a nun - she was funny and hilarious in that all star cast - its a guilty pleasure of mine

[@ABoyandHisDog.23]

Holy Crap I NEVER knew Warren Beaty was her brother! 😮

[@majimespirit8421]

You learned something today!

[@ABoyandHisDog.23]

@majimespirit8421 I like to try to do so everyday so this worked out well😉🧐

[@jojomcdonald8658]

Yep I was today years old when I learnt that too 🙋‍♀️🤯

[@ming60640]

What I don’t understand is the dearth of information about Shirley and Warren’s relationship, not just in this wonderful bio but in general. I don’t know if they love each other or hate each other - it’s like they’re strangers from different times. Gee, maybe she IS the 30,000 year old sibling of a deity.

[@maryhaynes8633]

@@ming60640 They didn't speak for years it was never explained why but it was often mentioned in tabloids in the sixties.

[@nanasewdear]

My mother was a movie fan and as an only child, movie magazines were my first reading material. I get the impression that my mother didn't care for Shirley MacLaine but I sure like her. Her characters always have an extra spark. I even enjoyed "Out on A Limb"!

[@brigittebeltran6701]

That was not a true story.

[@anthonysheppard9247]

Fantastic life ,great actress,I read 2 of her books,great author❤,,brillant channel

[@brigittebeltran6701]

She used ghost writers...Sorry!!!

[@anncarper8163]

Shirley was a great and talented actress. But she also sounds kind of narcissistic. Why would anyone have a child only to abandon or abuse it? 😔

[@brigittebeltran6701]

100% correct!

[@jaymesguy239]

Very few REAL movie stars make ideal parents. It's not the role that ever really fits, it requires too much rehearsal and there's not enough applause and awards. She was another one. A great performer and star and a lousy parent. I can only imagine how she was as a wife or girlfriend. And, of course, she's also a deluded narcissist. Not all that unique, except she wrote more books about it.

[@maryhaynes8633]

Nailed it. I don't care for her all that much. She seems so self centered and also seems to have no moral codes at all. I feel sorry for her daughter who really didn't have a mother at all.

[@marysue7165]

Not a fan but she really is crazy talented

[@SyIe12]

👍⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@BeverlyLedbetter-cb1971]

How could they say she wasn't pretty enough?? She was a very attractive woman, partly because she looked almost Asian!😣

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Met her in 1996...Worst experience in my life. She was the epitome of a very self-centered narcissist who complained about eveything around her. I met the actual authors of her books...yes! Ghostwriters!!! She doesnt write. Not a nice individual at all.

[@overcomerbtboj]

Interesting- shirley has a very mean spirited demeanor- the face and eyes don’t lie

[@donellamackenzie6331]

Never liked her what Robert Mitchum saw in her beats me but he saw the light and went back to his lovely wife who really loved him they married whe very young and he had nothing in 1941and was with him when he died.

[@brigittebeltran6701]

Yes!!! She had the audacity to pursue a much married man...No moral compass!!! 👿

[@diannbajewicz8952]

Shes weird

[@nyckolaus]

Martha Levinson!

[@barryrivadue9228]

Left out Around the World in 80 Days

[@lauramcintyre483]

Never liked her and her acting. I always felt that she f***ed her way to the top.

[@captainape6807]

Wow! You don't mince your words.🤣🤣

[@SusanMarg]

​@@lauramcintyre483 No. 1. Most probably - everone, including Marilyn (who owned her own kneepads) did it. Grace Kelly married a repugnant, royal swordsman so she only had 1 client of her choosing instead of many 2. Objectively, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder

[@majimespirit8421]

Sounds like she impetuously bedded whoever she felt like. Doubt that all those guys had power in Hollywood.

[@maryhaynes8633]

@@SusanMarg Grace Kelly for all her ladylike demeanor slept around a lot. I was quite shocked reading a couple of biographies about her. Wow, she sure had a lot of people fooled.

[@SusanMarg]

@maryhaynes8633 Yes. Her father was a pig, she she seemed to have a penchant for married men and she seemed to get discarded quickly. Her marriage to Ranier solved both their problems and he got a million dollar dowry🤯 Makes u wonder who needed the public optics more🤔