Shirley MacLaine gave longtime admirers a welcome surprise this week, appearing in a rare new video to look back on one of the most memorable films of her legendary Hollywood career.
The 92-year-old Oscar-winning star, who is also the older sister of screen legend Warren Beatty, 89, appeared lively and upbeat in a clip shared by the Southampton Playhouse ahead of its August 25 screening of the 1969 musical comedy Sweet Charity.
Dressed casually in glasses, a blue shirt and a red vest, MacLaine reflected warmly on the film, saying: ‘I would like to see Sweet Charity again… Remember how hard we worked.
‘Between you and me, it didn’t do very well, so I hope you guys like it,’ she continued with a smile, before closing the message by sending her love to fans.
In Sweet Charity, MacLaine played Charity Hope Valentine, a hopeful New York City dance-hall hostess whose belief in love remains unshaken despite repeated disappointments.
Directed by Bob Fosse, the movie followed Charity’s search for romance, happiness and a more fulfilling life. The cast also featured John McMartin and Chita Rivera, though the now-celebrated musical struggled at the box office when it was first released.
Shirley MacLaine thrilled fans by honoring one of her signature screen roles in a rare video this week — pictured center in 1969’s Sweet Charity with Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly and Stubby Kaye
MacLaine, 92, the older sister of fellow Hollywood icon Warren Beatty, 89, appeared bright and animated in a Southampton Playhouse video promoting its August 25 screening of the 1969 musical comedy Sweet Charity — pictured in 1965
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for MacLaine for further comment.
Terms of Endearment actress previously opened up about her impressive longevity while speaking with People last year.
She credited her decades-long devotion to dance – which she began studying at just three years old when her mother enrolled her in ballet classes – for helping her to remain spry at her advanced age.
‘I started my dance training at age three and stopped at about 67. It taught me discipline, loving music, working with people and dealing with pain,’ she shared.
Shirley also said she was thankful that she could ‘keep working’ even in recent years, adding: ‘I have my friends and I am really healthy.’
Shirley, who was joined by an aide at the restaurant, was said last year to be searching for an assistant who could make a daily cocktail at 5pm and who didn’t mind sharing one with her.
Insiders told Our News Outlet that MacLaine had asked friends if they could recommend someone who was a big enough fan of her movies that they could chat together over drinks about her lengthy career.
Sources added that the actress had promised to be ‘very generous’ with the assistant’s compensation.
Shirley’s astounding run of screen credits goes all the way back to 1955, when she made her debut – in one of the lead roles – in Alfred Hitchcock’s black comedy The Trouble With Harry, though she had already become a Broadway star with stints in Oklahoma. and The Pajama Game.
Wearing spectacles and a blue shirt and red vest, MacLaine said, ‘I would like to see Sweet Charity again… Remember how hard we worked’
The star fondly looked back on her movie classic from 1969
‘I was this little pixie out of the chorus that didn’t know what I was doing,’ she told W Magazine in 2017.
Although she later came to believe Hitchcock was more focused on casting ideal actors than shaping their performances, it worked out for her because she was ‘perfect for that character.’
Awards bodies agreed, and she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress for The Trouble With Harry.
She had a one-two punch that same year when she had a major romantic role in Frank Tashlin’s classic Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy, Artists And Models, in which she played Jerry’s bumbling love interest.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that she won her only Oscar in the Best Actress category for the beloved romantic dramedy Terms Of Endearment (1983), which costarred Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson – pictured 1987
Despite a run of hits and classics in the 1950s and ’60s – including Some Came Running (1958), Ask Any Girl (1959), The Apartment (1960), The Children’s Hour (1961), Irma la Douce (1963), Sweet Charity (1969) and Two Mules For Sister Sara (1970) – it wasn’t until the 1980s that she won her only Oscar in the Best Actress category for the beloved romantic dramedy Terms Of Endearment (1983), which costarred Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson.
The hit film also won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Nicholson.
Some of her later performances include Bewitched (2005), Bernie (2011) and The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013).
