Academy Award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine has a new guest role on season 2 of Only Murders In The Building as Leonora Folger. At 88 years old, MacLaine is truly a multitalented performer who has a long history of playing comedic, dramatic and musical roles onscreen since 1955. No matter how big or how small her character, she is always memorable.
Her colorful off-screen personality is as memorable as her onscreen roles, as she is from a showbiz family and her brother is Academy Award-winning actor, director, and writer Warren Beatty. But what are her best roles in her long career, thus far?
The Trouble With Harry (1955) - 7.0
In this Alfred Hitchcock film, The Trouble with Harry, a dead body is found in a small Vermont town and several locals must figure out what to do with the body and how and why he was killed. MacLaine plays Jennifer Rogers, Harry's estranged wife who worries he killed him when she hit him with a milk bottle.
This was MacLaine's feature film debut. She does well with black comedy and has good romantic chemistry with John Forsythe who plays her love interest Sam Marlowe. Although she sometimes is overshadowed by Edmund Gwenn as Capt. Albert Wiles and Mildred Natwick as Miss Ivy Gravely, she does very well for her acting debut on screen.
Out On A Limb (1987) - 7.1
In this dramatically interesting mini-series, MacLaine plays herself in her quest for new age enlightenment. While Out On A Limb covers both her private life, such as her affair with Gerry Stamford (Charles Dance), it also goes into MacLaine's experiences with her past lives, journey through Peru, and possible with an alien.
There is an effective use of MacLaine's voice-over of her trying to understand her search for knowledge. It's a story that is very personal to MacLaine in a way that pays off.
Some Came Running (1958) - 7.3
In this Vincente Minnelli film, Dave Hirsh (Frank Sinatra) an alcoholic former military veteran and writer returns home to scandal and secrets. MacLaine plays Ginnie Moorehead, a promiscuous woman, with not much education.
MacLaine is one of the most memorable parts of this melodrama. Ginnie's unrequited love for Dave and search for human comion is heartbreaking. Ginny's sacrifice at the end makes for a fitting tragic end to her character. MacLaine was nominated for her very first Oscar at the Academy Awards for her touching performance in this film.
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013) - 7.3
Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a man working for Life Magazine with an overactive imagination when he is assigned to get a picture for the last printed cover of the magazine he must set out on an adventure to find the photographer. MacLaine plays Edna Mitty, Walter's mother.
MacLaine's Edna is much more part of Walter's journey than she seems. She is key to finding the photographer, Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), because he visited her before going to Greenland, and the negative of the photo for the cover ended up in the garbage. While not the biggest role, MacLaine still stands out as Enda, with her unconditional love for Stiller's Walter Mitty.
Steel Magnolias (1989) - 7.3
Steel Magnolias is a comedy-drama about a group of friends at a Louisiana beauty parlor. MacLaine plays Ouiser Boudreaux, the town grump and wealthy widow.
MacLaine's Ouiser Boudreaux is the comic relief of the film. She is very memorable with her little dog and spouts with her rival Drum Eatenton (Tom Skerritt). There is a particularly standout moment involving her dog when he gets loose after Drum sets off fireworks and she accidentally breaks hundreds of Easter eggs. Despite her rough, sarcastic exterior, she is kind-hearted and cares about her friends.
Of Endearment (1983) - 7.4
of Endearment is about Aurora (MacLaine) trying to find romance and her daughter Emma's family issues over the course of several years.
MacLaine's Aurora has a difficult relationship with her daughter, constantly underestimating her husband Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels). Despite this, Aurora and Emma have a very deep bond that is unspoken. Another highlight for MacLaine is Aurora and Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson) the retired astronaut's romance. MacLaine won the Best Actress Award for Best Actress for her performance.
Being There (1979) - 8.0
Being There is about sheltered gardener Chance the gardener (Peter Sellers) who, after his employer dies, is sent out into the world with no knowledge except what he learned from TV and becomes an advisor and political insider. MacLaine plays Eve Rand, the wife of Ben a dying tycoon.
MacLain's Eve Rand is responsible for Chance's new status as it's her who accidentally hits Chance over and lets him recover at her manor. One of the more comedic highlights of the film is when Eve tries to seduce Chance and without her knowledge, he is more interested in TV than sex. While there is a bit of sadness in her unrequited attraction to Chance as her husband is dying, there is some comedy to it.
Only Murders In The Building (2021 - ) - 8.1
Only Murders In The Building is about three people who live in an Upper West Side apartment, Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), who start a true-crime podcast while investigating a murder in their own apartment building. MacLaine plays Leonora Folger, mother to the late Bunny in season two.
While not many of the episodes of season 2 have been released, MacLaine's Leonora Folger is still a highlight so far. She is central to the mystery thus far not only being the mother of Bunny, the murder victim but also the daughter of the architect who built the apartment building and had an affair with Savage's father. Time will tell what happens to Leonora, but so far, her character stands out.
The Apartment (1960) - 8.3
The Apartment is a comedy-drama romance about C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a Manhattan insurance clerk who decides to use his apartment for executives to have affairs there, only for him to fall in love too. MacLaine plays Fran Kubelik, the elevator operator he falls in love with.
MacLaine's Fran is lovably neurotic and tragic. She is someone who is happy on the outside, but her affair with Jeff D. Sheldrake makes her unhappy. She is especially good in the dramatic scene where she almost dies, but Baxter saves her. The romance between Fran and Baxter is a hopeful yet ambiguous one, in the end, where he confesses his love for her and she feels she can finally move past her trauma.
Downton Abbey (2010 - 2015)- 8.7
Downton Abbey is about the wealthy Crowley family and their servants at the start of the 20th century. MacLaine plays Martha Levinson, the wealthy mother of American Cora, whose new money saved the family from ruin.
MacLaine's Martha Levinson is a strong matriarch who can go toe to toe with Maggie Smith's grande dame, Violet Crawley. She is far more modern in contrast with the old-money English Crowleys. She always speaks her mind and is ive of her daughter and granddaughters. She is brash and does not care what people think of her, demonstrating a typical American/British culture clash.
