Debra Winger's BiographyHer role as Drusilla the Wonder Girl in TV series Wonder Woman
May 16, 1955(Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA)
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Background:
The public first noticed actress Debra Winger with her portrayal of Wonder Girl
in the 1970's television series Wonder Woman. She was later recognized for
acting in such films as Terms of Endearment (1983), Shadowlands (1993) and A
Dangerous Woman (1993).
Winger, who stands just 5' 4" inches tall and has the measurements of 34B-23-34,
was once linked to actor Nick Nolte (1982) and married to actor Timothy Hutton
(1986 - 1990). Now the wife of actor Arliss Howard, Winger at one time was
connected to senator Robert Kerry from 1983 to 1985.
Having once suffered temporary blindness due to a serious accident, Winger is
currently the emissary for Sight Savers International, a British organization
that supports deprived countries in the giving of treatment and rehabilitation
to aid the blind. On her charity work Winger said, "Through the years I have
been asked to do this sort of thing and have always found either the cause, or
my passion for it, wanting. This was different. This had a personal note to it.
It had to do with sight and the loss of it. It was a subject that went straight
to my heart."
Surviving Partial Blindness
Childhood and Family:
On May 16, 1955 Mary Debra Winger was born to grocery distributor Robert and
office manager Ruth Winger (died March 19th, 1996). The youngest child of the
family, Debra has one older sister named Marla and older brother Marc.
Sixteen-year-old Debra dropped out of high school, moved to Israel and spent
three months in the Israeli army. After relocating to the U.S., Debra attended
California State University (majored in Criminology and Sociology), then later
dropped out and worked for Magic Mountain. While working there Debra was
involved in a serious accident in the amusement park that placed her in a coma.
Upon awakening, Debra suffered partial paralysis, and blindness in one eye, for
several months.
"I was never afraid of failure after that because I think, coming that close to
death, you get kissed. With the years the actual experience of course fades, but
the flavor of it doesn't. I just had a real sense of what choice do I have but
to live fully?" Debra Winger
Winger's marriage to actor Timothy Hutton lasted only four years (1986-1990).
During the marriage son Emmanuel Noah Hutton was born on April 29,1987. Three
years later Winger met her current husband, actor Arliss Howard. The two married
on November 1996 and on June 15, 1997 their son Gideon was born.
"Inside every great marriage is a divorce waiting to happen." Debra Winger.
Winger's Terms
Career:
Winger debuted on television in the 1976 series Wonder Woman, where she played
Lynda Carter's kid sister Wonder Girl. Winger then wasted her time playing the
part of Debbie in the movie Slumber Party '57 (1977). In 1978 Winger followed up
with Thank God It's Friday and French Postcards in 1979.
Urban Cowboy (1980), in which Winger teamed up with talented actor John
Travolta, helped her catapult her career. Other well-acted characters surfaced
with the highly praised An Officer and a Gentleman (1982, Richard Gere) and the
hit Terms of Endearment (1983, Shirley MacLaine) for which Winger was nominated
for an Academy Award. After these triumphs, Winger starred in the less popular
Mike's Murder (1984), Black Widow (1986) and Betrayed (1988).
During 1990s Winger was cast in several well-received films: Bernardo
Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky (1990), Shadowlands (1993), Leap of Faith
(1992), Wilder Napalm (1993), A Dangerous Woman (1993), and Forget Paris (1995,
co-starring Billy Crystal).
More recent work included Big Bad Love (2001), Radio (2003), Eulogy (2004), TV's
movie Dawn Anna (directed by husband Arliss Howard) and well received Sometimes
in April.
Known for her careful choosing of films (and turning down prime parts) nearing
50 Winger commented, "I've been trying to think of films that were out in that
period with women [characters] my age. What do you do? You wear the polo neck,
you have the [face lift] or you play someone's mother. When people say, 'You
haven't worked for seven years?' I say, 'Tell me the film I should have done
because I'd love to hear about it."
Awards:
- Tokyo International Film Festival: Best Actress Award,
A Dangerous Woman, 1994
- National Society of Film Critics: Best Actress, Terms
of Endearment, 1984
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