Biography
Michelle Pfeiffer was an American actress born on April 29, 1958 in Santa Ana, California. The second of four children, including sister and fellow actress Dedee Pfeiffer, Pfeiffer attended Golden West College before deciding to embark on an acting career. After participating in a number of California beauty pageants, Pfeiffer secured an agent and began auditioning for television and movies. She made her acting and TV debut in an episode of "Fantasy Island" (ABC, 1977-1984) in 1978, and her film debut in "The Hollywood Knights" (1980). Just before landing the female lead role in "Grease 2" (1982), Pfeiffer married fellow actor Peter Horton. Her role as Stephanie Zinone in "Grease 2" almost cost her an audition for Brian De Palma's "Scarface" (1983), since De Palma apparently did not like the movie, but in the end, she played Elvira Hancock for her breakout role. This began a string of hit movie roles that made Pfeiffer one of the leading actresses of the 1980s and '90s. She starred in George Miller's "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987), one of her most iconic roles. Pfeiffer has been nominated for three Academy Awards; her roles in "Dangerous Liaisons" (1988) and "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989) earned her two of those nominations. Pfeiffer and Horton divorced in 1990 due to the stresses of their respective careers. She starred as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Tim Burton's superhero sequel "Batman Returns" (1992), one of her most well-known performances that also served to create one of the most vivid interpretations of the comic book character. Pfeiffer was nominated for her third Oscar with "Love Field" (1992) and starred in Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence" (1993). She married TV writer and producer David E. Kelley in 1993. The couple adopted a newborn daughter, Claudia Rose, the same year, and Pfeiffer gave birth to a son, John Henry, in 1994. She lent her voice to DreamWorks' second animated film, "The Prince of Egypt" (1998), and began a four-year hiatus from acting in 2003 that concluded with her appearance as the villainous Velma Von Tussle in the musical hit "Hairspray" (2007). After another four-year acting hiatus that began in 2013, Pfeiffer had a critically acclaimed 2017 thanks to her parts in "Mother!," "Murder on the Orient Express," and the HBO TV movie "The Wizard of Lies." For the latter, she was nominated for her first Emmy Award as Ruth Madoff opposite Robert De Niro as Bernie Madoff. Pfeiffer then joined the pantheon of characters brought to the screen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Janet Van Dyne in "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018). A relatively private star whose dislike of interviews was public knowledge, Pfeiffer also received significant media attention as an example of exceptional Hollywood beauty. Pfeiffer was critically regarded as one of the greatest actresses of her generation, playing a versatile range of characters across diverse genres and eras.
