Photo:Frazer Harrison/Getty
Frazer Harrison/Getty
Shirley MacLaineandWarren Beattyare both well-respected actors in Hollywood — and they’re siblings. MacLaine is Beatty’s older sister, and the pair grew up going to the movies together and developing a love of acting when they were young.
“Warren was the beautiful one in the family,” MacLaine toldThe Guardianin 2007. “That was the given. I didn’t see myself that way.”
MacLaine is one of the last remaining stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, revered for her acting, singing and dancing skills. She has appeared in classics likeWhat a Way to Go!andThe Apartment,as well as modern hits likeTerms of EndearmentandSteel Magnolias. Beatty rose to fame in movies likeBonnie and ClydeandSplendor in the Grass,and found success as a writer, director and actor for movies likeReds.
The pair have neverworked on a project together, but they’re supportive of each other’s careers. And even as an adult, MacLaine is still very much a big sister to her little brother. “I’m three years older and I’m protective,” she toldUSA Todayin 2017.
Read on to learn about their sister-brother relationship and their careers in Hollywood.
They were born in Richmond, Virginia
Bettman
MacLaine was born Shirley MacLean Beaty on April 24, 1934. Henry Warren Beatty, né Beaty, was born on March 30, 1937. When they began acting, MacLaine adapted her middle name as her stage name and Beatty altered the spelling of their last name. Their parents, Ira Owens Beaty and Kathlyn MacLean Beaty, named their daughter afterShirley Templeand Beatty after a great-great-grandfather.
“I was lucky to grow up with a feminist mother and afeminist sister. We’re very close,” Beatty once told PEOPLE.
With their parents’ encouragement, they both began working in entertainment in high school: Beatty worked at a theater in Washington, D.C., and MacLaine appeared in the chorus ofOklahoma!on Broadway. “I would say that both of them encouraged a high level of self-esteem in both kids,” Beatty toldThe Guardianin 1999. “Shirley and I didn’t have parents who were engaged in pointing out limitations.”
They’ve both won Academy Awards
MacLaine has been in more than 50 movies and many theater productions, including some on Broadway. Beatty has been in more than 25 films and has written and directed several, includingLove AffairandDick Tracy.
They’ve both won Academy Awards.MacLaine won Best Actressin 1984 forTerms of Endearment, and Beatty won Best Director forRedsin 1982 and theIrving G. ThalbergMemorial Award for his career in producing in 1999.
MacLaine and Beatty both have children of their own
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MacLaine was married to the late Steve Parker from 1954 to 1982. They welcomed a daughter, actress Sachi Parker, and had an unconventional relationship for the time.
“We were friends, and I guess you could saypracticed an open marriage, in 1954, which was another lifetime,” she told PEOPLE in 2016. “No one understood it, we did. He lived in Japan basically, I lived in America working, and this and that.”
Beatty dated stars likeDiane Keaton,Julie ChristieandMadonnabefore marryingAnnette Bening. When he first met his future wife at lunch in preparation for their upcoming movieBugsy, he told directorBarry Levinson, “I’mgoing to marry her.”
They married in 1992 and have since welcomedfour children.
They have opposite priorities when it comes to work
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Speaking about her own work ethic, MacLaine told PEOPLE in 2019, “I don’t want toquit acting— I really don’t. Even at my age, I have four pictures to do next year.”
But Beatty has devoted most of his time in the past 30 years to his family. “People always ask why I don’t work more,” he told PEOPLE in 2016. “The truth is, it’s becauseI’ve also had a life.”
Beatty continued: “The biggest thing that’s ever happened to me ismy children and Annette. That’s bigger than fame, and it came not a moment too soon.”
They haven’t always seen eye to eye
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MacLaine isn’t just an actor — she has written many best-selling books about metaphysics and spirituality, and has spoken extensively about her belief in past lives. Beatty, she toldThe Guardianin 2007, was less open to alternative philosophies, and there were times when the siblings weren’t on speaking terms.
“Now is not one of them,” she said. “We are fine now. I think we’ve been through a couple of lifetimes together. He’s going through his left-brain intellectual lifetime now. He’s on a very different path to me. But his kids are very interested in what I’m saying.”
MacLaine has also been critical of Beatty’s past romantic decisions. “You know, we are both old people now, and he is respectful to his old lovers,” she added. “I like to remind him as often as possible that I am the senior here, so you’d better listen to me.”
They are still protective of each other
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Beatty and co-presenterFaye Dunawayfamously flubbedthe Best Picture announcement at the 2017 Oscars after the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers gave them the wrong envelope. The pair announcedLa La Landas the winner — and the whole cast and production team came up on stage — before the film’s producer,Jordan Horowitz, correctly identifiedMoonlightas the real winner.
The firm later took responsibility for the error, but in the moment, it looked like Beatty and Dunaway had made a major mistake. MacLaine was in the audience that night, having presented an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
“I think we’re all processing the horror of it,” she toldUSA Todayof the ordeal. “I’m still dealing with it.”
source: people.com
