About Me
Michelle Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana, California, the daughter of Donna (née Taverna), a homemaker, and Richard Pfeiffer, a heating and air conditioning contractor. She is of Swiss, Swedish, Dutch and German descent.She was raised in Midway City, Orange County, California, about thirty miles southeast of Los Angeles. Pfeiffer is the second of four siblings: an older brother, Rick Pfeiffer, and two younger sisters, Dedee Pfeiffer (b. 1964, also an actress) and Lori Pfeiffer (b. 1965). Pfeiffer attended Fountain Valley High School, graduating in 1976. She was Alice in Wonderland at Disneyland during her tenure, performing in the Main Street Electrical Parade. She briefly pursued a career as a court reporter at local Golden West Community College before dropping out to pursue a career in acting.[3] In 1978, Pfeiffer entered and won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant, and then entered the statewide competition for Miss California USA. Although unsuccessful in winning the title, Pfeiffer acquired an agent, who helped her secure TV commercial parts and small movie and television roles before making her mark in Hollywood.Her first major screen role was in 1980 in the films The Hollywood Knights and Falling in Love Again. However, both films failed to get her widespead notice. She tried a TV career when she starred in Great Yellow Bird, Fantasy Island, Callie & Son, Splendor in the Grass, and The Children Nobody Wanted. She returned to film in Grease 2; it was weakly received by critics and audiences, despite gaining a cult following.
It was not until 1983, when Pfeiffer co-starred with Al Pacino in Brian De Palma's gangster classic Scarface, that she caught the attention of Hollywood.[3] In 1985, she starred in the fantasy romance Ladyhawke, which gave Pfeiffer good reviews, but failed to become a box office success. In 1987 she starred in The Witches of Eastwick, which was a box office smash and a critical success. Through 1988 and 1989, Pfeiffer earned worldwide critical acclaim in Married to the Mob, Dangerous Liaisons, and The Fabulous Baker Boys; those films also earned her Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe award wins and nominations
through the 1990s Pfeiffer continued her Hollywood stardom: The Russia House, Frankie and Johnny starring Al Pacino, Batman Returns starring Michael Keaton & Danny Devito, The Age of Innocence, Wolf starring Jack Nicholson, Dangerous Minds, and One Fine Day starring George Clooney. She received her third Oscar nomination in 1993 for Love Field.
[edit] 2000s: Hiatus and renewed success
In 2000, Pfeiffer starred with Harrison Ford in one of the biggest box office hits of the year, Robert Zemeckis's supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath. In 2001, she starred opposite Sean Penn in I Am Sam and in 2002 alongside Renée Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn in White Oleander, which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress.[3]
Pfeiffer then took a lenthy hiatus from the spotlight but returned to acting in 2006. Her first projects teamed her with director Amy Heckerling in the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007, opposite Paul Rudd), as well as opposite Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, and Sienna Miller in the fantasy epic Stardust.[3] Pfeiffer co-starred in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Hairspray as Velma Von Tussle.[3] She will make a cameo appearance in The Prince and the Pauper, a film in which her sister Dedee stars. Pfeiffer received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 6, 2007, in front of the Hollywood & Highland Center.[5]
On her return to acting, Pfeiffer has said, "Now that I'm working again, I realize I really like this stuff."[6]
Pfeiffer's recently complete work on the romantic drama, Personal Effects with Ashton Kutcher, due in 2009.[7] Pfeiffer's next film is based on the French-period drama, Cheri. Kathy Bates, and Rupert Friend, will co-star. The film will be directed by, Stephen Frears. This is Frears' and Pfeiffer's second outing together. Frears' directed Pfeiffer in, Dangerous Liasons. Filming is set to begin in April 2008.
