Biography
As a teenager, she auditioned for the coveted role of Scarlett O'Hara in her thick "Noo Yawk" accent, prompting director George Cukor to suggest she consider college. Undaunted, Winters persisted and landed an understudy job for the 1940 Broadway production of "The Time of Your Life". The following year, she made her Broadway debut in "The Night Before Christmas". A voluptuous bottle blonde, the actress soon caught the attention of talent …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
| Played recurring role as Roseanne's grandmother Nana Mary on the ABC sitcom "Roseanne" | ||
| Raised in Brooklyn, New York | ||
1938 | Auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind"; George Cukor reportedly told her she should attend college | |
1940 | Stage debut as understudy in "The Time of Your Life" | |
1941 | Broadway debut in "The Night Before Christmas" | |
1943 | Film acting debut in "What a Woman!" | |
1943 | Signed to a contract by Columbia Pictures | |
1944 | Appeared in "Knickerbocker Holiday", billed as Shelley Winter | |
1947 | Gained attention in film with her performance in "A Double Life" | |
1947 | Played Ado Annie on Broadway in the musical "Oklahoma!" | |
1948 | Played small role in "Red River", starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift | |
1948 | Signed seven-year contract with Universal | |
1951 | Received Best Actress Oscar nomination as the doomed, working-class girl in love with Clift in "A Place in the Sun", directed by George Stevens | |
1955 | Portrayed the promiscuous shopgirl Crystal Allen in NBC version of "The Women" | |
1955 | Returned to Broadway as co-star of "A Hatful of Rain" | |
1955 | Starred in "The Night of the Hunter", directed by Charles Laughton | |
1959 | Received first Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mrs Van Daan in the film version of "The Diary of Anne Frank", directed by George Stevens | |
1962 | Cast as the blowsy Charlotte Haze in Stanley Kubrick's comic take on "Lolita" | |
1962 | Succeeded Bette Davis in the role of Maxine Faulk in Tennessee Williams' "The Night of the Iguana" | |
1964 | Appeared in featured role in the Actors Studio film version of "Three Sisters", starring Geraldine Page | |
1964 | Received Emmy for appearance in "Two Is the Number", a drama special aired as part of "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (NBC) | |
1965 | Garnered second Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as the bigoted mother of a blind girl in "A Patch of Blue" | |
1970 | Played Minnie Shean Marx in "Minnie's Boys", the unsuccessful musical biography of the Marx Brothers | |
1970 | Starred in the Roger Corman film "Bloody Mama"; first time working with Robert De Niro | |
1971 | TV-movie debut in ABC's "Revenge" | |
1972 | Received fourth Academy Award nomination as the grandmotherly ex-swimmer who risks her life to save others in "The Poseidon Adventure" | |
1973 | Debut as playwright with "One Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger", a series of three one-act plays; hand-picked Robert De Niro for one of the roles | |
1974 | Starred as Rose Winters (a character named after her real-life mother) in the CBS TV-movie "Big Rose", an unsold series pilot | |
1976 | Acted the role of the Concierge in Roman Polanski's thriller "The Tenant" | |
1979 | Played Gladys Presley in the acclaimed ABC biopic "Elvis", starring Kurt Russell and directed by John Carpenter | |
1981 | Cast as a duplicitous agent in Blake Edwards' satirical "S.O.B." | |
1991 | Played the pianist in "Stepping Out" | |
1995 | Cast as Pauly Shore's mother in the lame comedy "Jury Duty" | |
1995 | Co-starred in "Heavy" | |
1996 | Had supporting role in Diane Ladd's TV directorial debut, the Showtime movie "Mrs. Munck" | |
1996 | Played small role of Mrs Touchette in Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady" | |
1999 | Acted in "La Bomba", featuring ex-husband Vittorio Gassman and his son Alessandro | |
1999 | Played a retirement home resident in "Gideon's Web"; shown at the Cannes Film Festival market | |
Awards
1951 | Academy Award for Actress in A Place in the Sun |
1951 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama in A Place in the Sun |
1954 | Venice International Film Festival for Special Jury Prize in Executive Suite |
1959 | Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in The Diary of Anne Frank |
1959 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in The Diary of Anne Frank |
1962 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama in Lolita |
1964 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By an Actress in Her School For Bachelors |
1965 | Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in A Patch of Blue |
1966 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Alfie |
1966 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By an Actress In a in Murder At NBC |
1972 | Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in The Poseidon Adventure |
1972 | BAFTA Award for Supporting Actress in The Poseidon Adventure |
1972 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in The Poseidon Adventure |
1975 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance By a Supporting Actress in NBC Sunday Mystery Movie |
1976 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Next Stop, Greenwich Village |
1977 | BAFTA Award for Supporting Actress in Next Stop, Greenwich Village |