Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: August 18, 1920

Death Date: January 14, 2006

Birth Place: St. Louis, Missouri

Partners: Burt Lancaster

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.

Credits

Elvis

Actor
Show
2013

Talking Pictures

Guest Star
Show
2013

Valley Girls

Actor
Show
2000

An Evening at the Improv

Host
Show
2000

La bomba

Actor
Prof. Summers
Movie
1999

Gideon

Actor
Mrs. Willows
Movie
1999

Mrs. Munck

Actor
Aunt Monica
Movie
1996

The Portrait of a LadyStream

Actor
Mrs. Touchett
Movie
1996
46%

Heavy

Actor
Dolly Modino
Movie
1995

Jury Duty

Actor
Mom
Movie
1995

Raging Angels

Actor
Grandma Ruth
Movie
1995

Inside the Actors Studio

Guest
Talk
1994

Backfire!

Actor
The Good Lieutenant
Movie
1994

The Pickle

Actor
Yetta
Movie
1993

Weep No More My Lady

Actor
Vivian Morgan
Movie
1992

No Llores Más Mi Amor

Actor
Movie
1992

Pleure pas ma belle

Actor
Movie
1991

Stepping Out

Actor
Mrs. Fraser
Movie
1991

Touch of a Stranger

Actor
Lily
Movie
1990

An Unremarkable Life

Actor
Evelyn McEllany
Movie
1989

Separada Por un Amor

Actor
Movie
1989

RoseanneStream

Guest Star
Nana Mary
Series
1988
76%

The Purple People Eater

Actor
Rita
Movie
1988

Very Close Quarters

Actor
Galina
Movie
1986

Witchfire

Actor
Lydia
Movie
1986

The Delta Force

Actor
Edie Kaplan
Movie
1986

Alice in Wonderland

Actor
The Dodo Bird
Movie
1985

Deja Vu

Actor
Olga Nabokova
Movie
1985

Over the Brooklyn Bridge

Actor
Becky
Movie
1984

Ellie

Actor
Cora Jackson
Movie
1984

Mémoires diaboliques

Actor
Movie
1984

Hotel

Guest Star
Soap
1983

Loma de Nalgas

Actor
Movie
1983

Fanny Hill

Actor
Mrs. Cole
Movie
1983

Fanny Hill

Actor
Movie
1983

Looping

Actor
Carmen
Movie
1981

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in JulyStream

Voice
Crystal
Movie
1980
14%

The French Atlantic Affair

Actor
Show
1979

Elvis

Actor
Gladys Presley
Movie
1979
60%

The Visitor

Actor
Jane Phillips
Movie
1979

The Magician of Lublin

Actor
Elzbieta
Movie
1979

City on Fire

Actor
Nurse Andrea Harper
Movie
1979

King of the Gypsies

Actor
Queen Rachel
Movie
1978

The Initiation of Sarah

Actor
Mrs. Erica Hunter
Movie
1978

Le Roi des gitans

Actor
Movie
1978

Gran bollito

Actor
Lea
Movie
1977

Tentacles

Actor
Tillie Turner
Movie
1977

Pete's DragonStream

Actor
Lena Gogan
Movie
1977
56%

An Average Little Man

Actor
Amalia Vivaldi
Movie
1977

Un borghese piccolo piccolo

Actor
Amalia Vivaldi
Movie
1977

Frosty's Winter WonderlandStream

Voice
Crystal
Special
1976

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Dennis Weaver

Host
Show
1976

Barrio Bohemio

Actor
Movie
1976

Next Stop, Greenwich Village

Actor
Faye Lapinsky
Movie
1976

The TenantStream

Actor
The Concierge
Movie
1976
83%

Journey Into Fear

Actor
Mrs. Mathews
Movie
1975

Le Veinard

Actor
Movie
1975

That Lucky Touch

Actor
Diana Steedeman
Movie
1975

Toque de Suerte

Actor
Movie
1975

Chico and the ManStream

Guest Star
Series
1974

Big Rose

Actor
Rose Winters
Movie
1974

The Sex Symbol

Actor
Agatha Murphy
Movie
1974

La Rançon de la solitude

Actor
Movie
1974

KojakStream

Guest Star
Evelyn McNeil
Series
1973

Black Vengeance

Actor
Bertha
Movie
1973

Blume in LoveStream

Actor
Mrs. Cramer
Movie
1973
71%

The Devil's Daughter

Actor
Lilith Malone
Movie
1973

Heartbreak Motel

Actor
Bertha
Movie
1973

Poor Pretty Eddie

Actor
Bertha
Movie
1973

Cleopatra Jones

Actor
Mommy
Movie
1973

Dynamite Jones

Actor
Movie
1973

Shattered

Actor
Gabriella
Movie
1972

The Poseidon AdventureStream

Actor
Belle Rosen
Movie
1972
79%

The Adventures of Nick Carter

Actor
Bess Tucker
Movie
1972

Who Slew Auntie Roo?

Actor
Mrs. Forrest
Movie
1972

Revenge

Actor
Amanda Hilton
Movie
1971

What's the Matter With Helen?

Actor
Helen Hill
Movie
1971

A Death of Innocence

Actor
Elizabeth Cameron
Movie
1971

Vengeance

Actor
Movie
1971

McCloud

Guest Star
Thelma
Series
1970

Flap

Actor
Dorothy Bluebell
Movie
1970

How Do I Love Thee?

Actor
Lena Mervin
Movie
1970

Bloody Mama

Actor
'Ma' Kate Barker
Movie
1970

The Mad Room

Actor
Mrs. Armstrong
Movie
1969

Arthur! Arthur?

Actor
Hester Green
Movie
1969

Here's LucyStream

Guest Star
Series
1968

The Dick Cavett ShowStream

Guest
Talk
1968

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell

Actor
Shirley Newman
Movie
1968

The ScalphuntersStream

Actor
Kate
Movie
1968
70%

Wild in the Streets

Actor
Mrs. Flatow
Movie
1968

Enter Laughing

Actor
Mrs. Emma Kolowitz
Movie
1967

BatmanStream

Guest Star
Series
1966

Time of Indifference

Actor
Lisa
Movie
1966

HarperStream

Actor
Fay Estabrook
Movie
1966
95%

AlfieStream

Actor
Ruby
Movie
1966
97%

Una Canción Apasionada

Actor
Movie
1965

Cuando Sólo el Corazón Ve

Actor
Movie
1965

A Patch of BlueStream

Actor
Rose-Ann D'Arcey
Movie
1965
89%

The Greatest Story Ever ToldStream

Actor
Woman who is healed
Movie
1965
42%

The Three Sisters

Actor
Natalya
Movie
1965

A House Is Not a Home

Actor
Polly Adler
Movie
1964

La Maison de Madame Adler

Actor
Movie
1964

The Balcony

Actor
Madame Irma
Movie
1963

Wives and Lovers

Actor
Fran Cabrell
Movie
1963

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonStream

Guest
Talk
1962

The Chapman ReportStream

Actor
Sarah Garnell
Movie
1962

LolitaStream

Actor
Charlotte Haze
Movie
1962
91%

Ben Casey

Guest Star
Lydia Mitchum
Series
1961

The Young Savages

Actor
Mary di Pace
Movie
1961

Let No Man Write My Epitaph

Actor
Nellie Romano
Movie
1960

The Diary of Anne FrankStream

Actor
Mrs. Petronella Van Daan
Movie
1959

Odds Against Tomorrow

Actor
Lorry
Movie
1959

Le Coup de l'escalier

Actor
Movie
1959

Wagon TrainStream

Guest Star
Ruth Owens
Series
1957

The Alcoa Hour

Actor
Pat
Show
1955

The Big Knife

Actor
Dixie Evans
Movie
1955

The Treasure of Pancho Villa

Actor
Ruth Harris
Movie
1955

I Am a Camera

Actor
Natalia Landauer
Movie
1955

The Night of the HunterStream

Actor
Willa Harper
Movie
1955
93%

I Died a Thousand Times

Actor
Marie Garson
Movie
1955

Producers' Showcase

Actor
Show
1954

Climax!Stream

Actor
Series
1954

Saskatchewan

Actor
Grace Markey
Movie
1954

Playgirl

Actor
Fran Davis
Movie
1954

Executive Suite

Actor
Eva Bardeman
Movie
1954

Cash on Delivery

Actor
Myrtle La Mar
Movie
1954

Tennessee Champ

Actor
Sarah Wurble
Movie
1954

I've Got a SecretStream

Guest
Game Show
1952

Sin Pudor

Actor
Movie
1952

My Man and I

Actor
Nancy
Movie
1952

Meet Danny Wilson

Actor
Danny Wilson
Movie
1952

Untamed Frontier

Actor
Jane Stevens
Movie
1952

Phone Call From a Stranger

Actor
Binky Gay
Movie
1952

Compórtate

Actor
Movie
1951

He Ran All the Way

Actor
Peggy Dobbs
Movie
1951

Behave Yourself

Actor
Kate Denny
Movie
1951

Frenchie

Actor
Frenchie Fontaine Dawson
Movie
1951

The Raging Tide

Actor
Connie Thatcher
Movie
1951

A Place in the SunStream

Actor
Alice Tripp
Movie
1951
81%

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

South Sea Sinner

Actor
Coral
Movie
1950

Winchester '73Stream

Actor
Lola Manners
Movie
1950
100%

Take One False Step

Actor
Catherine Sykes
Movie
1949

The Great Gatsby

Actor
Myrtle Wilson
Movie
1949

Johnny Stool Pigeon

Actor
Terry Stewart
Movie
1949

Cry of the City

Actor
Brenda Martingale
Movie
1948
93%

Larceny

Actor
Tory
Movie
1948

A Double Life

Actor
Pat Kroll
Movie
1947

Two Smart People

Actor
Princess
Movie
1946

A Thousand and One Nights

Actor
Handmaiden
Movie
1945

Cover GirlStream

Actor
Chorus Girl (unconfirmed)
Movie
1944
95%