Shelley Winters
A beloved character actor with a career spanning decades, Shelley Winters was born Shelley Schrift in St. Louis, Missouri in 1920. The young Winters took an interest in acting almost as soon as she could talk, and by her teens, she was saving money to take acting classes. She would begin modeling at age 16, and while taking acting classes at The New School, she landed her first Broadway role in 1941 in "The Night Before Christmas." Using her mother's maiden name Winters almost from the very beginning, the young actor would establish herself as a major force on the Broadway stage over the next few years, co-starring in "Rosalinda" and "Oklahoma!" before eventually relocating to Hollywood. Though her first film role would be a forgettable appearance in "What a Woman!" (1943), Winters' breakthrough would eventually come in George Cukor's "A Double Life" (1947). Despite her rising fame however, Winters was unsatisfied with the blonde bombshell roles her studio continued to cast her in. Determined to make a change, she attended her audition for the drama "A Place in the Sun" (1947) wearing no makeup, and impressed producers with the strength of her acting alone. The film would mark a new period in Winters' career, and even though she would return to Broadway for starring roles in "A Hatful of Rain" and "Night of the Iguana," her acclaimed, unglamorous performances in films like "Night of the Hunter" (1955) and "Lolita" (1962) would cement her reputation as a deeply committed character actor. Winters would continue to act throughout the coming decades, appearing in everything from disaster movie "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), to the family film "Pete's Dragon" (1977), to James Mangold's indie drama "Heavy" (1995). Winters passed away in 2006. She was 85 years old.
Photos
Shelley Winters
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | La bomba | Prof. Summers (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Gideon | Mrs. Willows (Character) | - | 1999 |
47% |
|
The Portrait of a Lady | Mrs. Touchett (Character) | $3.7M | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
Mrs. Munck | Aunt Monica (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
Raging Angels | Grandma Ruth (Character) | - | 1995 |
87% |
|
Heavy | Dolly Modino (Character) | $985.7K | 1995 |
0% |
|
Jury Duty | Mom (Character) | $14.8M | 1995 |
No Score Yet |
|
Backfire! | The Good Lieutenant (Character) | - | 1994 |
20% |
|
The Pickle | Yetta (Character) | $45.6K | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Weep No More My Lady | Vivian Morgan (Character) | - | 1992 |
No Score Yet |
|
Stepping Out | Mrs. Fraser (Character) | $232.3K | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Touch of a Stranger | Lily (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | An Unremarkable Life | Evelyn McEllany (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Purple People Eater | Rita (Character) | - | 1988 |
15% |
|
The Delta Force | Edie Kaplan (Character) | $15.9M | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Very Close Quarters | Galina (Character) | - | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Witchfire | Lydia (Character) | - | 1986 |
No Score Yet |
|
Deja Vu | Olga Nabokova (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
|
Alice in Wonderland | The Dodo Bird (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
|
Ellie | Cora Jackson (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet |
|
Over the Brooklyn Bridge | Becky (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet |
|
Fanny Hill | Mrs. Cole (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Looping | Carmen (Character) | - | 1981 |
14% |
|
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July | Crystal (Voice) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet |
|
City on Fire | Nurse Andrea Harper (Character) | - | 1979 |
78% |
|
The Visitor | Jane Phillips (Character) | - | 1979 |
67% |
|
Elvis | Gladys Presley (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Magician of Lublin | Elzbieta (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Initiation of Sarah | Mrs. Erica Hunter (Character) | - | 1978 |
63% |
|
King of the Gypsies | Queen Rachel (Character) | - | 1978 |
0% |
|
Tentacles | Tillie Turner (Character) | - | 1977 |
56% |
|
Pete's Dragon | Lena Gogan (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Un borghese piccolo piccolo | Amalia Vivaldi (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
An Average Little Man | Amalia Vivaldi (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet |
|
Black Journal | Lea (Character) | - | 1977 |
84% |
|
The Tenant | The Concierge (Character) | $9.6K | 1976 |
86% |
|
Next Stop, Greenwich Village | Faye Lapinsky (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
Frosty's Winter Wonderland | Crystal (Voice) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | That Lucky Touch | Diana Steedeman (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Journey Into Fear | Mrs. Mathews (Character) | - | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Sex Symbol | Agatha Murphy (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Big Rose | Rose Winters (Character) | - | 1974 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Devil's Daughter | Lilith Malone (Character) | - | 1973 |
70% |
|
Blume in Love | Mrs. Cramer (Character) | - | 1973 |
80% |
|
Cleopatra Jones | Mommy (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet |
|
Poor Pretty Eddie | Bertha (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Heartbreak Motel | Bertha (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Black Vengeance | Bertha (Character) | - | 1973 |
60% |
|
Who Slew Auntie Roo? | Mrs. Forrest (Character) | - | 1972 |
80% |
|
The Poseidon Adventure | Belle Rosen (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Adventures of Nick Carter | Bess Tucker (Character) | - | 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shattered | Gabriella (Character) | - | 1972 |
55% |
|
What's the Matter With Helen? | Helen Hill (Character) | - | 1971 |
0% |
|
Revenge | Amanda Hilton (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Death of Innocence | Elizabeth Cameron (Character) | - | 1971 |
No Score Yet |
|
Flap | Dorothy Bluebell (Character) | - | 1970 |
13% |
|
Bloody Mama | 'Ma' Kate Barker (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | How Do I Love Thee? | Lena Mervin (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Mad Room | Mrs. Armstrong (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Arthur! Arthur? | Hester Green (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet |
|
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell | Shirley Newman (Character) | - | 1968 |
70% |
|
The Scalphunters | Kate (Character) | - | 1968 |
67% |
|
Wild in the Streets | Mrs. Flatow (Character) | - | 1968 |
54% |
|
Enter Laughing | Mrs. Emma Kolowitz (Character) | - | 1967 |
95% |
|
Harper | Fay Estabrook (Character) | - | 1966 |
97% |
|
Alfie | Ruby (Character) | - | 1966 |
No Score Yet |
|
Time of Indifference | Lisa (Character) | - | 1966 |
89% |
|
A Patch of Blue | Rose-Ann D'Arcey (Character) | - | 1965 |
42% |
|
The Greatest Story Ever Told | Woman who is healed (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Three Sisters | Natalya (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A House Is Not a Home | Polly Adler (Character) | - | 1964 |
60% |
|
The Balcony | Madame Irma (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wives and Lovers | Fran Cabrell (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Chapman Report | Sarah Garnell (Character) | - | 1962 |
91% |
|
Lolita | Charlotte Haze (Character) | - | 1962 |
44% |
|
The Young Savages | Mary di Pace (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet |
|
Let No Man Write My Epitaph | Nellie Romano (Character) | - | 1960 |
80% |
|
The Diary of Anne Frank | Mrs. Petronella Van Daan (Character) | - | 1959 |
88% |
|
Odds Against Tomorrow | Lorry (Character) | - | 1959 |
91% |
|
The Big Knife | Dixie Evans (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
I Died a Thousand Times | Marie Garson (Character) | - | 1955 |
93% |
|
The Night of the Hunter | Willa Harper (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Treasure of Pancho Villa | Ruth Harris (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
I Am a Camera | Natalia Landauer (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet |
|
Mambo | Toni Salerno (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet |
|
Saskatchewan | Grace Markey (Character) | - | 1954 |
100% |
|
Executive Suite | Eva Bardeman (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tennessee Champ | Sarah Wurble (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cash on Delivery | Myrtle La Mar (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Playgirl | Fran Davis (Character) | - | 1954 |
17% | No Score Yet | Untamed Frontier | Jane Stevens (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet |
|
My Man and I | Nancy (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet |
|
Phone Call From a Stranger | Binky Gay (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet |
|
Meet Danny Wilson | Danny Wilson (Character) | - | 1952 |
88% |
|
He Ran All the Way | Peggy Dobbs (Character) | - | 1951 |
82% |
|
A Place in the Sun | Alice Tripp (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
Behave Yourself | Kate Denny (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
Frenchie | Frenchie Fontaine Dawson (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Raging Tide | Connie Thatcher (Character) | - | 1951 |
100% |
|
Winchester '73 | Lola Manners (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | South Sea Sinner | Coral (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet |
|
Take One False Step | Catherine Sykes (Character) | - | 1949 |
33% |
|
The Great Gatsby | Myrtle Wilson (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Johnny Stool Pigeon | Terry Stewart (Character) | - | 1949 |
93% |
|
Cry of the City | Brenda Martingale (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet |
|
Larceny | Tory (Character) | - | 1948 |
88% |
|
A Double Life | Pat Kroll (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Two Smart People | Princess (Character) | - | 1946 |
No Score Yet |
|
A Thousand and One Nights | Handmaiden (Character) | - | 1945 |
95% |
|
Cover Girl | Chorus Girl (unconfirmed) (Character) | - | 1944 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Knickerbocker Holiday | Ulda Tienhoven (Character) | - | 1944 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
76% | 78% | Roseanne | Nana Mary (Guest Star) | 1991-1994 1996 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Inside the Actors Studio | Guest | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hotel | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The French Atlantic Affair | Unknown (Character) | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Kojak | Evelyn McNeil (Guest Star) | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Chico and the Man | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1975 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | McCloud | Thelma (Guest Star) | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | What's My Line? | Guest | 1955-1957 1960 1966 1972 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Here's Lucy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1968 |
72% | 79% | Batman | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I've Got a Secret | Guest | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ben Casey | Lydia Mitchum (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wagon Train | Ruth Owens (Guest Star) | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Climax! | Unknown (Character) | 1956-1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Alcoa Hour | Pat (Character) | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Producers' Showcase | Unknown (Character) | 1955 |