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Debra Winger
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Debra Winger was one of the most successful actresses of her generation, following Oscar-nominated roles in Terms of Endearment, An Officer and a Gentleman and Shadowlands. She surprised the film industry when she decided, at 40, to retire at the height of her career, to spend more time with her family and not succumb to the pressures of Hollywood to maintain a youthful appearance. She was looking for balance in her life and was unwilling to fight for the very few roles that Hollywood creates for women. Winger's story prompted Arquette, a well-know actress herself, to interview Winger and many other successful actresses about the pressures and drawbacks of working in the film industry.
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Born 17 May 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, Debra Winger was six years old when her family moved to California.. Graduating from high school at age 15, she went to Israel for a year and, a child of Orthodox Jews, applied for Israeli citizenship, worked on a collective, and joined the Israeli army for three months before returning to Los Angeles and attending California State University to pursue a degree in sociology. A near-fatal auto accident in 1973 left her in a coma. For several months she was blind in one eye and partially paralyzed. Once recovered, she embarked on an acting career, signing up for Michael Gazzo's acting workshop.
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Debra Winger has a reputation in Hollywood for being abrasive or difficult. However, her acting work has received acknowledgement and critical acclaim. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment in 1983, and Best Actress for Shadowlands, in 1988 film "Betrayed" co-staring with Tom Berenger who commented, "doesn't let anything interfere with her performance, which is the way it should be.", in 1993 for which she ... received her second BAFTA award nomination. In 1995, Winger began a hiatus from the film industry, during which she spent a semester as a teaching fellow at Harvard University. In 2001, a critically acclaimed documentary film titled
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The daughter of a Kosher frozen-food distributor, American actress "Debra Winger" dropped out of high school at 16 in order to join an Israeli kibbutz. Upon returning to the U.S., she studied criminology and sociology at California State University, but before long she had dropped out and became a tour guide at the Magic Mountain amusement park. A serious accident suffered on the job at age 18 gave "Winger" time to contemplate her future, and it was then that she settled upon an acting career. Her first taste of fame was as the superpowered younger sister of "Lynda Carter" in the fantasy TV series "Wonder Woman". But "Winger" chafed at the impositions placed on her by tight TV filming schedules and she retreated to theatrical films, where she made a most inauspicious debut in the award-losing "Slumber Party '57" (1977).
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Debra Winger and her husband, Arliss Howard, in "Big Bad Love," from 2002, screened at the Port Townsend Film Festival. Winger, joined by Howard, returned to Port Townsend for the first time since the filming of "An Officer and a Gentleman" in 1981.
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Since her stunning breakthrough in Urban Cowboy, Debra Winger has long been acknowledged as one of the screen’s finest actresses. Her roles in Shadowlands, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Terms of Endearment all garnered Winger Academy Award nominations, as well as praise from critics and others. Ms. Winger’s films of the 90's include Bernardo Bertolucci’s Sheltering Sky, Paramount Pictures’ Leap of Faith with Steve Martin, Castle Rock’s Forget Paris, with Billy Crystal and Wilder Napalm with Arliss Howard and Dennis Quaid. Winger received a Golden Globe nomination for her role in A Dangerous Woman and her third Oscar nomination for her performance in Shadowlands with Anthony Hopkins.
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Debra Winger