Debra Winger

Mary Debra Winger (Cleveland Heights, Ohio, May 16, 1955) is an American actress who was nominated three times for an Oscar, for An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), The Strength of Endearment (1983) Shadowlands (1993).

Personal life and career

She was born Mary Debra Winger in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Her father, of Jewish descent, was a distributor of meat products; her mother also professed the Hebrew religion.

Early Years

At the age of 16, he dropped out of school and moved with his family to Israel, where he lived for a time on a kibbutz. She was enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, which marked her character with a tough and strong personality in the martial environment of the militias.

Back in the United States at age 18, she was in a serious car accident that left her semi-paralyzed and blind, forcing her to stay in bed for 10 months. She studied criminology and sociology, but dropped out to work as a guide at a theme park. It took almost a year until she Winger was able to recover her mobility and vision and it was then that she made the determination to be an actress.

First roles

Winger was consistent with his decision and began working on television commercials to make himself known. Her debut was in Slumber Party & # 39;57 in which she appears nude, being one of the first actresses to appear uncensored.

Then she was hired for a very popular television series in the United States, Wonder Woman (1975-79), with which she had a notable success as Drusilla, the protagonist's younger sister. She also participated briefly in Police Woman , a hit series starring Angie Dickinson.

From then on, he landed roles in the movies, although the first movies he was in didn't attract attention. The first film of his where he had a leading role did have a greater impact: Thanks God it & # 39; s Friday , a musical film about the disco music fever, where Winger had Jeff Goldblum as a partner. The title song of the film, 'Last Dance', sung by Donna Summer, won the Oscar Award.

Greatest Hits

However, Debra Winger's consolidation as a star took a little longer: it was in 1980, when she was selected among 200 candidates for the role of John Travolta's friend in Urban Cowboy, a film which was very successful and which allowed him to demonstrate his acting skills.

Thanks to this, he obtained two decisive roles two years later: one as a co-star, with Nick Nolte, in the film Cannery Row (replacing Raquel Welch), and another even more important one, together with Richard Gere, in the hugely successful film Officer and a Gentleman, for which she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actress.

A year later, she starred in The Strength of Endearment, alongside Shirley MacLaine, and was again nominated for an Oscar. In 1986 he filmed Dangerously Together, with Robert Redford and Daryl Hannah, and in 1987 he worked on Black Widow (The Black Widow), where he plays an FBI agent investigating the case of a beautiful lady (Theresa Russell) who systematically murders her husbands to keep their fortunes.

In the late 1980s, Winger linked several prestigious films. In 1989 he filmed an adaptation of the novel The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, under the direction of Bernardo Bertolucci and with John Malkovich as a co-star. In 1993 he filmed with Anthony Hopkins Shadowlands (Twilight Lands ), directed by Richard Attenborough (for which he received his third Oscar nomination), and in 1995 the romantic comedy Forget Paris (Forget Paris) directed by and co-starring Billy Crystal.

The actress in 2009

Winger was considered an excellent actress, very versatile, who intensely tinged her characters with an aura of fragility and rudeness, at the same time coupled with good looks and very personal sensuality. However, she also earned a reputation with the directors of that time of being an actress with whom it was difficult to work on the set, due to her intense personality and her own ideas. She turned down roles in various promising projects, such as A League of Their Own (1992), with Tom Hanks and Madonna, supposedly because she did not want to work with her. The role of her was finally made by Geena Davis, and the film ended up being a great commercial success (more than 100 million dollars raised). About her character difficult of her of her, she once explained: "I never argue about the size of my caravan or things like that, but about work ". The legendary Bette Davis came to her defense, saying, "In Debra Winger I see something of myself ."

Last years

After these films and at the age of 40, in 1995 Winger made it known to film professionals that she was not interested in acting in commercial films if they did not have a proper level of quality. She preferred to work less and spend longer periods between films than to participate in low-level films, which is why the press considered it a retirement from the film industry. Even so, she has been working regularly since then, proving on each occasion that she is a great actress, with the necessary versatility to act in very diverse roles. In 2002 she starred in a unique documentary, Searching for Debra Winger, directed by Rosanna Arquette.

In 2008, he appeared in Rachel's Wedding, starring Anne Hathaway and directed by Jonathan Demme, and soon caused a stir in the specialized media by publishing his controversial memoirs (titled Undiscovered ) where he criticized the world of Hollywood. Winger's participation in this film garnered many good opinions from the public, but was ignored by critics.

He has participated in a leading role in the third season of the series In treatment. She has also given a professorship in film at Harvard University where she teaches film.

In 2017, he participated in the film The lovers by Azazel Jacobs, son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs.

In 2020, he starred in Miranda July's film titled Kajillonaire (How to survive in a material world).

Personal life

Debra Winger had a brief relationship with Robert Redford in 1986, but left him that year to marry a friend of Redford's, Timothy Hutton. Winger was married for four years to actor Timothy Hutton and the couple had a son, Noah, divorcing in 1990. She was dating Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey for a while. A few years later, in 1996, Ella Winger remarried an actor and film agent named Arliss Howard, with whom she had a second child.

Filmography

Television career

Awards

Oscar Awards

Golden Globes

Tokyo International Film Festival