Michelle Pfeiffer

Early life

Born in Santa Ana, California and raised in Midway City, Orange County, California (about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles) to Richard Pfeiffer and Donna Taverna, she is the second of four siblings: an older brother, Rick Pfeiffer, and two younger sisters, Dedee Pfeiffer (b. Pfeiffer's paternal grandfather, William Pfeiffer, was of German ancestry, while her maternal grandfather, Jacob Bernhard Taverna, was of Swiss descent, and her maternal grandmother, Delma Lillian Hill, was of Swedish descent.

Pfeiffer attended Fountain Valley High School and graduated in 1976. Although unsuccessful in claiming the title, the young Pfeiffer won herself an agent and roles in TV commercials and cameos before making her mark in Hollywood.

Career

Pfeiffer's first major screen role was in the film sequel, Grease 2. Over the course of the 1980's and 1990's, Pfeiffer starred in a string of box-office and critical hits as Ladyhawke, The Witches of Eastwick, Married to the Mob, Tequila Sunrise, The Russia House, Frankie and Johnny, Batman Returns, The Age of Innocence, Dangerous Minds, and One Fine Day. Pfeiffer received her second Best Actress Academy Award nomination in 1992's Love Field, which also won Pfeiffer the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1993. Pfeiffer's performance gained another Academy Award nomination as Best Actress, as well as honors from the Hollywood Foreign Press, New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics, and the National Society of Film Critics and Board of Review. Critics compared Pfeiffer's performance, much known for her scorching rendition of "Makin' Whoopee" atop of a piano, as being in the ranks of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, and the young Katharine Hepburn. In her rave review of the film, Pauline Kael recalled Pfeiffer's performance as having "the grinning infectiousness of Carole Lombard and the radiance of the very young Lauren Bacall."

In 1995, Pfeiffer was given the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award by Harvard University for her contribution to the performing arts.

Since then, Pfeiffer has continued to maintain her status as one of the film world's reigning screen goddesses, despite working much less in recent years. In 2000, Pfeiffer starred with Harrison Ford in one of the biggest box office hits of the year, Robert Zemeckis's thriller What Lies Beneath. In 2001, Pfeiffer starred opposite Sean Penn in I Am Sam and in 2002 alongside Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn in White Oleander, which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress.

After a long break from the spotlight, Pfeiffer returned to acting in 2006.

In an August 2006 In Style interview, her first given in many years, Pfeiffer discussed her return to making movies.

Personal life

In 1981 Pfeiffer married Thirtysomething actor Peter Horton, but they divorced in 1988 at the height of her career. Earlier that year, before she met Kelley, Pfeiffer adopted a daughter, Claudia Rose, who was adopted by Kelley after their marriage.

Currently, Pfeiffer and Kelley divide their time between homes in Los Angeles and Northern California.

Filmography

TV work