The Five Best Shirley MacLaine Performances

1. The Apartment (1960) - While Shirley MacLaine often played strong, independent women later in her career, her finest performance was as the vulnerable, lonely, and borderline-desperate Fran Kubelik in Billy Wilder’s classic comedy-drama. Fran is smart enough to guess that the slimy business executive, played by Fred MacMurray, has no intention of leaving his wife. Yet, the scene where she admits this to herself is poignant and tragic. It helps, too, that MacLaine and Jack Lemmon make a near-perfect onscreen couple, with her cynicism evenly balanced by his earnestness.

2. Terms of Endearment (1983) - After four previous Best Actress nominations, Shirley MacLaine won the Oscar for playing an independent-minded mother opposite an equally feisty daughter (Debra Winger) in James L. Brooks' popular hit. MacLaine has called Terms a "singularly difficult experience" in which "maybe the shooting circumstances contributed to its artistic success." She is referring, of course, to her on-set friction with Debra Winger. The on-screen result is an incredibly natural mother-daughter relationship that allows MacLaine to show the full range of her acting talent as a dramatic actress and (especially in her scenes with Jack Nicholson) as a comedienne.

Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.

3. The Children's Hour (1961) - William Wyler's underrated drama stars Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine as two teachers who are accused of being in a lesbian relationship by a student. While it is untrue, MacLaine's character harbors unspoken love for her colleague and friend. The scene is which she openly admits her feelings for the first time is the most emotionally-wrenching scene in MacLaine's career.

4. Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) - I suspect many readers consider this is an odd choice. The reality, though, is that Shirley MacLaine may have been Clint Eastwood's best female co-star. She is certainly tough enough to go toe to toe with him and their interplay is the highlight of the film. Director Don Siegel once said that Shirley was "a hard, hard woman." Although she now speaks highly of Eastwood, MacLaine and Siegel routinely clashed on the set. Perhaps, this is another case of off-screen friction leading to on-screen success.

In one of her "roles" in Gambit.

5. Gambit (1966) - This may seem like another offbeat selection, but hear me out. It makes the list because it features what amounts to two delightful Shirley MacLaine performances. In the first half of the film, con man Michael Caine imagines a heist that features Shirley as an accomplice who doesn't have a word of dialogue. MacLaine's acting consists solely of facial expressions and gestures--and she's marvelous. In the film's second half, she plays a talkative accomplice who's much smarter than Caine's character. Her performances are masterful examples of light comedy and serve as a reminder she could have been a much bigger star if that was her goal.

Honorable Mentions: The Turning Point, Irma La Douce, Some Came Running, and Steel Magnolias.