Overview (3)
| Born | in Santa Ana, California, USA |
| Birth Name | Michelle Marie Pfeiffer |
| Height | 5' 7½" (1.71 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Michelle Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana, California, to Donna Jean (Taverna) and Richard Pfeiffer, a heating and air-conditioning contractor. She has an older brother and two younger sisters - Dedee Pfeiffer and Lori Pfeiffer, who both dabbled in acting and modeling but decided against making it their life's work. Her parents were both originally from North Dakota. Her father had German and British Isles ancestry, and her mother was of half Swiss-German and half Swedish descent.
Pfeiffer graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1976, and attended one year at the Golden West College, where she studied to become a court reporter. But it was while working as a supermarket checker at Vons, a large Southern California grocery chain, that she realized her true calling. She was married to actor/director Peter Horton ("Gary" of Thirtysomething (1987)) in 1981. They were later divorced, and she then had a three year relationship with actor Fisher Stevens. When that did not work out, Pfeiffer decided she did not want to wait any longer before having her own family, and in March 1993, she adopted a baby girl, Claudia Rose. On November 13th of the same year, she married lawyer-turned-writer/producer David E. Kelley, creator of Picket Fences (1992), Chicago Hope (1994), The Practice (1997), and Boston Public (2000). On August 5, 1994, their son John Henry was born.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Natica Jackson <natica@cris.com>
Spouse (2)
| David E. Kelley | (13 November 1993 - present) (2 children) |
| Peter Horton | (5 October 1981 - 1988) (divorced) |
Trivia (90)
Used to work in a clothing store.
Ranked #39 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Born at 8:11am-PDT.
She thought about looking for a man to father a child with "no strings attached," but decided to adopt instead. She adopted a daughter, 'Claudia Rose'.
Won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant.
Was voted Best Dressed Female Movie Star. [1997]
Studied acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse.
Michelle's name was misspelled as 'Michele' in the credits of her film, Callie & Son (1981).
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#3). [1995]
Does her own singing in Grease 2 (1982), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Hairspray (2007).
The character Catwoman/Selina Kyle, who she played in Batman Returns (1992), was voted #3 in Empire's "69 Sexiest Movie Characters of All Time". [2000]
While a teenage clerk at Vons Grocery Store in California, c. 1974, she learned to tie maraschino cherry stems in knots with her tongue.
Has an adopted daughter named Claudia Rose (born in 1993) and a son named John Henry (born in 1994) with husband David E. Kelley, named after David's father.
Studied acting under Geraldine Page at workshop at Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles.
Her first job as a performer was playing "Alice" from Alice in Wonderland (1951) at Disneyland in the Main Street Electrical Parade in the mid-1970s.
There was a study done of the faces of beautiful women, quantifying the ratio of the width of the mouth to the width of the nose, attempting to find the perfect proportions for the perfect face of feminine beauty (the ratio turns out to be something like 1.7). The movie star with the most perfect proportions for feminine facial beauty, based on this measure, turns out to be Michelle Pfeiffer.
Attended Fountain Valley High School in Fountain Valley, California and graduated in 1976.
Actor Val Kilmer wrote poetry for her.
Michelle's paternal grandfather was of German descent, and Michelle's paternal grandmother had English, Welsh, French, German, Dutch, and Irish ancestry. On her mother's side, Michelle is of Swiss-German and Swedish descent.
During an A&E; Biography (1987), she said that her Catwoman costume from Batman Returns (1992) was vacuum-sealed once she was fitted into it for scenes, so she actually had only a short amount of time to perform before she would have to have it opened or she could become light-headed and pass out.
Was chosen to be on the cover of the first ever "People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World" issue in 1990; appeared on the list a record 6 times (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999) and the first person to appear on the cover of the special issue twice (1990 and 1999).
Voted by Biography Magazine readers as the most beautiful woman of the 1990s.
Chosen by People Magazine as one of the most intriguing people of 1988 and 1989.
Turned down the role of the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005); she was the only major Hollywood star offered the role.
Was considered for the role of Eva Perón in Evita (1996), and when the film was to be directed by Oliver Stone, she even had taken a good few months voice training for the role.
In 1999, joined the "12 million dollar club".
In an Entertainment Weekly on-line poll, she placed second in the category of Best Modern Actress; beaten only by Meryl Streep [September 1999].
Was offered the role of Clarice Starling, in the movie The Silence of the Lambs (1991), that eventually went to Jodie Foster.
Received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 6, 2007.
Has been an an avid oil painter for most of her life.
Has worked with four live-action Batmans. First, she appeared in Batman Returns (1992), with Michael Keaton. She worked with Val Kilmer ABC Afterschool Specials (1972) {One Too Many (#13.7)} and The Prince of Egypt (1998). In One Fine Day (1996), she works with George Clooney, and in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), she works with Christian Bale.
Was nominated for 6 consecutive Golden Globe Awards from 1989-1994.
One of her favorite films is The Wizard of Oz (1939).
When she was in her twenties, strangers would come up to her thinking she was Debbie Harry from the band Blondie. Not surprisingly, Harry stated in an interview that if she could choose any actress to play her in a film, she would choose Pfeiffer.
Was voted by Empire Magazine as 13th Greatest actress of her time (out of 50 actresses) 2004.
Good friends with Ellen Barkin.
Empire Magazine voted her the 33rd sexiest movie star in December 2007.
According to her interview in Premiere Magazine in 1999, she would really like to work with: Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.
Turned down the role of Ginger McKenna in Casino (1995), because she had already played a similar role in Scarface (1983). The part eventually went to Sharon Stone.
In the mid-1990s, she was attached to star in a remake of The Innocents (1961) starring Deborah Kerr, based on the Henry James novel "The Turn of the Screw".
Was attached to star in two romantic comedies in 2004. One was "Taming Ben Taylor" (2004) with Kevin Costner and the other was "She's Gone" (2004), a romantic comedy about a couple whose marriage is at a crossroads. It was to be produced by Armyan Bernstein and Mark Johnson for Disney.
Said she wanted to star in a Grease remake with Jessica Simpson.
Was considered for a part in Working Girl (1988) along with Meryl Streep. The roles eventually went to Melanie Griffith (replacing Pfeiffer) and Sigourney Weaver (replacing Streep).
Before the role in Chéri (2009) went to Pfeiffer, Jessica Lange was attached to play the lead, and was attached to the project for a number of years. She has credit as a producer on the film.
Turned down the role of the Angel of death in A Prairie Home Companion (2006). The role went to Virginia Madsen.
Was tested and rejected by Franco Zeffirelli for the role of Jade Butterfield in Endless Love (1981). In the end, Zeffirelli chose Brooke Shields, a very young actress for the role, a decision she later wanted to regret.
Was considered for the role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) that was played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Passion of Mind (2000) was originally developed for Pfeiffer in the late 1980s, but by the time it was finally ready to go into production a decade later, she was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, and the film became a vehicle for Demi Moore.
A potentially very interesting role that got away from Michelle was "Mistress of the Seas", to be directed by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Jon Peters. It was to have centered around the true story of two female pirates, "Anne Bonny" and "Mary Read", who sailed the seas with "Calico Jack" in the Caribbean during the 18th Century. Michelle and Geena Davis were to be involved, but Geena had already signed up to do her own pirate flick, Cutthroat Island (1995), and Michelle, after meetings with Verhoeven, withdrew from the project, stating that all the conversations "were about how much skin I would show".
She was offered the role of Slim Keith in Infamous (2006). She turned down the role and it was then given to Hope Davis.
Pfeiffer had a film production company from 1990-2000 called, "Via Rosa Productions", where she had a number of film projects in development. They included such high profile projects as a biopic on singer 'Marianne Faithfull', artist 'Georgia O'Keeffe', as well as a sci-fi/alien abduction drama, a story on a female basketball coach, a project where she would play a tabloid journalist called "Privacy". Also included in the mix are one about the Rosewood Education Center in South Central Los Angeles, where gang members help and work with handicap kids. Another script in development was where she would play an undercover drug agent in a project called, "The Ice Queen", based on the true story of DEA agent Heidi Landgraf who posed as a drug queen and ended up sending 200 dealers to jail.
Was considered for the role of Golly in Nickelodeon's screen adaptation of Harriet the Spy (1996) that went to Rosie O'Donnell.
Empire Magazine voted her the 3rd sexiest movie star ever in 1995. 1st was Johnny Depp and 2nd was Marilyn Monroe.
Pfeiffer was already in the process of adopting a child by the time she met future husband David E. Kelley. They had only been together for two months when their daughter Claudia Rose was added to their family.
Kate Nelligan has been her co-star in three films: Frankie and Johnny (1991), Wolf (1994) and Up Close & Personal (1996).
Michelle was under serious consideration for the role of "Maria" in the big-screen adaptation of The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). Brian De Palma, who had directed the actress in Scarface (1983), was eager to work with her again. However, she instead opted for the role in another literary film adaptation, The Russia House (1990). Melanie Griffith was then cast as "Maria" and received a Razzie nomination as Worst Actress for the role, while Michelle went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.
Briefly considered taking on the lead role in the boxing drama Against the Ropes (2004). When Pfeiffer passed, Meg Ryan was cast in the film, which went on to become a failure at the box office.
Was the original choice for the female lead in City Island (2009).
Reportedly turned down the chance to star opposite Pierce Brosnan in the romantic comedy, Some Kind of Beautiful (2014).
After almost 20 years to the day, she has reunited with two former directors for new projects. Garry Marshall, who directed Pfeiffer in Frankie and Johnny (1991), is directing her in New Year's Eve (2011), and Tim Burton, who directed her in Batman Returns (1992), is directing her in Dark Shadows (2012).
Has been vegan since June 2012.
In March 2004 Pfeiifer was attached to star in a remake of Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957). She was attached to star as Marlene Deitrich's character Christine Helm Vole. Her husband David E. Kelley was penning and adapting the screenplay. Agatha Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard advised, "The role of Christine was written for someone like Michelle Pfeiffer. She'd be perfect in it. She's gorgeous, sultry and superbly talented. Would my grandmother approve? Definitely. It'll be one of the biggest films ever based on an Agatha Christie work." Unfortunately the project was put on hold.
Turned down the part of "Suzanne" in To Die For (1995).
Was offered a role in Lorenzo's Oil (1992) but backed out due to scheduling conflicts from Batman Returns (1992). The role ultimately went to Susan Sarandon.
Was considered for the part of Marilyn Lovell (née Gerlach, wife of astronaut Jim Lovell) in Apollo 13 (1995).
Was auditioned and rejected for the role of "Tiffany Wells" in Charlie's Angels (1976).
Shortly after coming to Hollywood, Pfeiffer was introduced to "Breatharianism", a cult which follows the belief that a person can live without food and water, receiving sustenance only from air and sunlight. She didn't realize anything was wrong until she met her first husband, Peter Horton, who was working on a documentary about Reverend Moon Sung Moon's Unification Church. She realized that the psychological manipulation described by former Moon-members was similar to her experience with "Breatharianism".
Turned down Still Alice (2014). Julianne Moore was cast instead and ended up winning an Oscar for the role.
Before moving to Northern California in 2003-2004, she lived in the affluent Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Her neighbors included Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, O.J. Simpson and Roseanne Barr.
Has twice missed the opportunity to work with one of her idols, Meryl Streep , first in Working Girl (1988) and then in A Prairie Home Companion (2006) , which she dropped out of to film I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007).
Michelle Pfeiffer turned down a string of known films that included: Casino, Mamma Mia, Evita, The Grifters, Basic Instinct, The Silence of the Lambs, Original Sin, Dick Tracy, Bugsy, Thelma and Louise, Casino Royale, A Prairie Home Companion, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Double Jeopardy, Catwoman, Pretty Woman, Chicago, Working Girl, Mystic River, The Bonfire of the Vanities, Against the Ropes, The Blue Lagoon, To Die For, Pulp Fiction, Lorenzo's Oil, Still Alice, Adventures in Babysitting, Batman, Under The Tuscan Sun, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Despite playing her granddaughter in The Age of Innocence (1993), Pfeiffer is just 17 years younger than Miriam Margolyes.
Claims she never watches any of her films after they've been completed.
Personal Quotes (35)
I still think people will find out that I'm really not very talented. I'm really not very good. It's all just been a big sham.
[on playing her part of Claire Spencer in What Lies Beneath (2000)] "I thought about Drew Barrymore in the first Scream (1996) - I mean, ultimately that movie was more funny than scary, but the opening sequence was quite terrifying, and she portrayed terror in a way I'd never seen an actress do."
[on wearing her costume in Batman Returns (1992) for the first time]: "I thought to myself 'I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't think. I'm unhappy. I can't act'."
[on cosmetic surgery] "If that nose or those jowls bother you, do it! But this epidemic of people losing sight of what looks good, the distortion that has been going on is creepy."
I act for free, but I demand a huge salary as compensation for all the annoyance of being a public personality. In that sense, I earn every dime I make.
Ultimately, I believe the only secret to a happy marriage is choosing the right person. Life is a series of choices, right?
I was shocked at the prejudice, voiced in some quarters, over my decision to adopt a mixed-race baby. It's really surprising that people still put so much emphasis on it. None of us are pure anything. We're all a mixture. Claudia is a beautiful child, and some of the most beautiful people I've seen in the world have been of mixed race. As mother of both an adopted child and my own birth-child, there is absolutely no difference in the huge amount of love I feel for both my children. I always knew I wanted to adopt a child and also have one of my own. There is no difference at all.
I have to say this singing was harder than any I've done before. The melodies are so fast that you can barely get a breath in. But once I got past the 'Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into' phase, it was so much fun to sing again.
For me, getting comfortable with being famous was hard - that whole side of it, the loss of anonymity, the loss of privacy. Giving up that part of your life and not having control of it.
Acting's an odd profession for a young person; it's so extreme. You work, and the conditions are tough and the process is so immersive, and then it stops, and then there's nothing. So you have to find ways of making you feel productive when you're not actually producing anything. For a young person, that's really challenging.
[on her role as "Velma Von Tussle" in Hairspray (2007)] It's a lot of fun to play mean and sinister - but you certainly put yourself at risk for scenery chewing. And, every once in a while, Adam [Adam Shankman, the director] would come over to me after a take and say, "Hey, Michelle - is there a chair leg in your teeth?"
(From Movieline magazine April 2002) People like Susan Sarandon and Meryl Streep have paved the way and our window of opportunity expands incrementally year by year. Obviously, the kind of roles I'm offered are different than before, but I feel like the roles have only gotten more interesting. I want to grow up to be Judi Dench or Ellen Burstyn. The older we get, the less we work, but look at the work just those two women are doing. It gets deeper.
It's my profound fear of embarrassment that's kept me going. That's the key to my success.
It seems that my leading men just keep getting younger the older I get. [at the Berlin Film Festival whilst promoting Chéri (2009)]
If you think hitting 40 is liberating, wait till you hit 50 - and I was surprised at how liberating it was. The anticipation of something is always much worse than the reality.
Interview with Movieline April 2002: (On being asked who do you find ravishing?) I find Cate Blanchett just so beautiful, so chameleon-like, so good in such different things. Brad Pitt is great looking. He's pretty cute and I'd like to work with him, too. There are people I love on- screen that I would love to work with. I adore George Clooney and I'd love to work with him again. I'd love to work with Ralph Fiennes. I'd love to work with Sean Penn again. I also find my husband very, very attractive.
[on having to turn down the part of Evita which eventually went to Madonna)] It was a very hard decision. I worked my ass off for that part. I was 6 months pregnant, doing Dangerous Minds (1995), taking voice lessons, and making demos on the weekend. Then, it got too expensive to keep the production in Los Angeles.
I look over and I've cut Al Pacino. This is the guy who already hates me. So, well, there goes that, I guess! But I actually think it's when he began to like me. And we've been good friends ever since. I got the job. (July 2007 Inside the Actors Studio (1994)).
[on George Clooney while on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001) BBC, 1 August 2007] He's just a great guy, great with kids. I bet him he would get married and he keeps inflating the bet - from 100 dollars to 100,000 dollars. I still think he will, he's a handsome devil.
I remember that I used to get on the phone with Ellen Barkin. We were both unemployed. Nobody would hire us. For every part that we wanted, Debra Winger would steal. We could not get a job and we'd be hysterical for hours on the phone, bitching and moaning and kvetching. [Interview in Esquire, 1990].
There's always those performances which are so inspiring they are reminders of why you're in this business, and what you strive for and they continue to raise the bar for everyone. Like seeing Daniel Day-Lewis in just about anything that he does. He continues to inspire me.
I love Robert Zemeckis. I would do the yellow pages if he was directing [October 2000 while promoting What Lies Beneath (2000)].
I can't see myself ever retiring. Ever. I started working part-time when I was 14 and still at school. And I've never stopped. From the moment I started, I loved it, and I feel like I always need to be productive in some way. But who knows? I may not always be acting; I hope I am. [2012]
I still think I'm going to be fired in the first week of every new job I take. Always. In fact, before I even start a movie I'll try to get myself fired or think of a reason I should quit. I guess it's fear of failure.
The loss of youth, the loss of beauty - it definitely plays havoc with your psyche. There's this transition from, 'Wow, she looks really young for her age,' to, 'She looks great for her age.' There is certainly a mourning process to that. I used to think I would never have surgery but it's really hard to say never.
I can't believe I'm saying this but I'd like to do an action movie. Yeah (I have done some action), but, I want to be like the Kiefer Sutherland character in 24. Jack Bauer? I want to be like him! I want to kick butt.
[on Anne Hathaway] Oh, I think she's great. I'm actually very much looking forward to seeing her in the role (Catwoman). I'm a big fan of hers and I think she has everything you need for that role. She has the humor, she can go to dark places, shes obviously very talented. I think she's going to be really good.
[on Shaquille O'Neal] He was so sweet to my son [John Henry, 14] at a game a few years ago. We have this great photo of him sitting by Shaq's feet, and I swear my son and his feet are the same size.
[on The Witches of Eastwick (1987)] We were a great team. There were no personality clashes whatsoever among the actors. We became very close. It was a difficult shoot, but not because we didn't get along. We started with an unfinished script, and then you get a lot of cooks in the kitchen and everyone's doing rewrites and it just became really stressful. But if anything, it made us stick together. It was like all the actors were in the trenches together. Working without a script doesn't work very well. We had a finished script but it wasn't one everyone was satisfied with. There were constant changes and there was a lot of drama. It's very rarely a positive to start without a solid foundation. It works sometimes.
[on Married to the Mob (1988)] It's a good one, I think. I had a great time on that with Jonathan Demme.
I didn't have any formal training. I didn't come from Juilliard. I was just getting by and learning in front of the world. So I've always had this feeling that one day they're going to find out that I'm really a fraud.
I really thought One Fine Day (1996) was a good movie. I know why it did badly. It was released at a bad time. Perhaps if it had been released at a better time it would have done better. But there are so many variables. It's just all a big crapshoot.
I'm very willful, you know. I'm a survivor. It's in my nature. I don't look so tough, but I am.
[on Johnny Depp] -- Johnny is one of the most iconic actors in cinema history. He was always on my bucket list.
(On Grease 2 (1982)) "That film was a good experience for me. It taught me a valuable lesson. Before it even came out the hype had started. Maxwell and I were being thrust down the public's throat in huge full page advertisements. There was no way we could live up to any of that and we didn't. So the crash was very loud. But it did teach me not to have expectations."
Salary (6)
| Frankie and Johnny (1991) | $3,000,000 |
| Batman Returns (1992) | $3,000,000 |
| Wolf (1994) | $6,000,000 |
| Dangerous Minds (1995) | $6,000,000 |
| The Deep End of the Ocean (1999) | $12,000,000 |
| What Lies Beneath (2000) | $10,500,000 |