Ten fun facts about Shirley MacLaine

Fact 1
Shirley MacLaine was named after the child star Shirley Temple. She is sister to famous film star Warren Beatty.

Fact 2
Shirley studied ballet when she was a child. Shirley was one of the tallest girls in her ballet class and was often cast in the male roles because of her height.

Fact 3
The young ballet dancer was once cast as the fairy Godmother in a ballet rendition of Cinderella. Just before she was to go on stage one night she broke her ankle. Rather than call off the performance she tightened the laces on her ballet shoes and danced her part.

Fact 4
In 1967 Shirley was a member of the jury during the Cannes Film Festival.

Fact 5
In 1988 she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a drama for her role in Madame Sousatzka. However, she did not receive an Oscar nomination for this role. As of 2004 she was the only actress to ever get a Golden Globe as best actress and not receive an Oscar nomination for the same role.

Fact 6
In 2012, the American Film Institute honored her with the “AFI Lifetime Achievement Award”, which is considered to be the highest honor for anyone in the Hollywood film industry.

Fact 7
Shirley MacLaine was a cheerleader in high school. She attended Washington Lee High School, the same school that Sandra Bullock also went to.

Fact 8
She has a strong interest in spirituality, especially New Age beliefs and reincarnation.

Fact 9
She was ranked one of the 100 great movie characters of all time for her performance in Terms of Endearment.

Fact 10
This actress shares the same birthday as Barbara Streisand and celebrates this event with Barbara each year.