Michelle Pfeiffer

Apr 29, 1958

Santa Ana, Orange County, California

Pfeiffer's first major screen role was in the film sequel, Grease 2. However, it wasn't until 1983 when Pfeiffer starred with Al Pacino in Brian De Palma's gangster classic Scarface that she caught the attention of Hollywood. Over the course of the 1980's and 1990's, Pfeiffer starred in a string of box-office and critical hits as Ladyhawke, The Witches of Eastwick, Married to the Mob, Tequila Sunrise, The Russia House, Frankie and Johnny, Batman Returns, The Age of Innocence, Dangerous Minds, an... ... (read more...) d One Fine Day. She received the British Academy Award and also received her first Oscar nomination in 1988 as Best Supporting Actress in Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons. Pfeiffer received her second Best Actress Academy Award nomination in 1992's Love Field, which also won Pfeiffer the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1993. Her role as chanteuse Susie Diamond in 1989's The Fabulous Baker Boys continues to be a highlight of her career. Pfeiffer's performance gained another Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, as well as honors from the Hollywood Foreign Press, New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics, and the National Society of Film Critics and Board of Review. Critics compared Pfeiffer's performance, much known for her scorching rendition of "Makin Whoopee" atop of a piano, as being in the ranks of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, and the young Katharine Hepburn. In her rave review of the film, Pauline Kael recalled Pfeiffer's performance as having "the grinning infectiousness of Carole Lombard and the radiance of the very young Lauren Bacall."<br/><br/>

In 1995, Pfeiffer was given the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award by Harvard University for her contribution to the performing arts. The award, bestowed annually by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals society, is given to female performers who are deemed to have made a "lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment." The award placed Pfeiffer among the ranks of Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Meryl Streep.<br/><br/>

Since then, Pfeiffer has continued to maintain her status as one of the film world's reigning screen goddesses, despite working much less in recent years. In 2000, Pfeiffer starred with Harrison Ford in one of the biggest box office hits of the year, Robert Zemeckis's thriller What Lies Beneath. In 2001, Pfeiffer starred opposite Sean Penn in I Am Sam and in 2002 alongside Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn in White Oleander, which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress.<br/><br/>

After a long break from the spotlight, Pfeiffer returned to acting in 2006. Her first round of projects teamed her with director Amy Heckerling in the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (opposite Paul Rudd, released Summer 2006) as well as opposite Robert DeNiro, Claire Danes, and Sienna Miller in the science fiction fantasy epic Stardust, due to be released in 2007. It has been confirmed that she will co-star in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Hairspray as Velma Von Tussle.<br/><br/>

In an August 2006 In Style interview, her first given in many years, Pfeiffer discussed her return to making movies. Now with her children a bit older, Michelle contends, "I'm a better mother if I also work. Leaving home for little spurts is actually a good thing. Things don't fall apart. It empowers them without me hovering, making everyone feel inadequate." Pfeiffer also discussed plastic surgery, Hollywood's obsession with it, and now in her 40s, her own thoughts on going under the knife. "You see some freakish things... I'm hoping I'm courageous enough to age gracefully."