02:22 PM EDT 04/13/2013
Shirley MacLaine
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Which Oscar Winner Should Guest Star on Downton Abbey?
Originally posted 02/26/2013 02:20PM
Shirley MacLaine came – and just as quickly went – on Downton Abbey this season, but her breezy cameo got us thinking.
Now that the Terms of Endearment Oscar winner has broken down the barrier, who among Academy Award winners and nominees should next make a guest appearance on the popular PBS series?
And just what sort of character should he or she play? Upstairs or down?
Here, then, are some recent Oscar-caliber actors who might suitably fit the bill. Please be so kind as to select your favorite. (And, in the comments section, do cast them in suitable roles.) Ta.
Shirley MacLaine's Only Daughter Pens a Shocking New Tell-All
Originally posted 02/07/2013 01:40PM
Seeing her mom, Shirley MacLaine, play a saucy septuagenarian on Downton Abbey, Sachi Parker couldn't help but smile.
"She was true to form," Parker says of MacLaine, 78, whose zinger-slinging turn as Lady Grantham's American mom shook up the big house this season. "It certainly hit home."
Hearing about Parker's relationship with MacLaine makes it easy to understand why.
Raised mostly by her dad, Parker grew up feeling distanced from her movie-star mother. She yearned for MacLaine's attention – so much so that when Parker, 56, also an actress, became a mom herself (to Frank Jr., 16, and Arin, 14, her kids with ex-husband Frank Murray), "I overcompensated," she tells PEOPLE. "But being a great mom is healing for me."
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Downton Abbey: 5 Best Moments from Season 3 Premiere
Originally posted 01/07/2013 09:35AM
Downton Abbey is back!
Sunday's two-hour premiere was full of developments – upstairs, downstairs and outside of the Crawleys' sprawling country home. As Mary and her fiancé Matthew prepare for their wedding, Lord Grantham gets word that his wife Cora's fortune has disappeared thanks to a bad investment in a Canadian railroad company. At the same time, Matthew has learned that he may become the heir to his late fiancée's father's inheritance. And so just when the problem of finding a practical heir to Downton is resolved, the future of the estate is once again in question. Anna is as loyal a wife as ever, working to free Bates from spending life in prison; Lady Edith continues to pursue the much older Sir Anthony; and housekeeper Mrs. Hughes may have cancer!
But that's just the tip of the iceberg that sank the Titanic. Here are the best moments from the season 3 premiere:
Downton Abbey: Maggie Smith & Shirley MacLaine Face Off in Season 3 Promo
Originally posted 08/20/2012 11:40AM
Season 3 of Downton Abbey won't air in the U.S. until Jan. 6, but Britain's ITV is already promoting the return of the hit costume drama.
In the first of two 20-second clips, the Granthams are discussing the arrival of Lady Cora's mother Martha Levinson, played by Shirley MacLaine, from America.
"I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again," says Lady Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, played by Maggie Smith. "When I'm with her I'm reminded of the virtues of the English."
"Isn't she American?" asks Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens.
"Exactly," quips Smith.
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Shirley MacLaine Didn't Know What Downton Abbey Was Before She Filmed It
Originally posted 07/24/2012 01:30PM
British TV import Downton Abbey has found many fans in the States, but until recently Shirley MacLaine was not one of them.
"I walked in to my hairdresser lady's place in Malibu and they were talking about [the show]," MacLaine told reporters Saturday at the TCAs in Los Angeles. "I said, 'What do they mean?' Then I saw [the show], and I had three months of [filming] it."
The screen legend, 78, is joining the hit PBS series for its third season – playing Martha Levinson, the American mother of Elizabeth McGovern's character, Lady Grantham. The third season kicks off on PBS January 2013.
"I didn't know anything about Martha Levinson, but my hairdresser did," MacLaine said about her character, who was referenced to but never seen in the first two seasons. "Along with the great acting and writing that is why I [took the part] – to see if my hairdresser was right!"
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John Travolta Makes First Public Appearance Since Sex Scandal
Originally posted 06/08/2012 04:00PM
John Travolta returned to the spotlight Thursday for the first time since sexual abuse allegations against him made headlines last month.
At the 40th American Film Institute Life Achievement Awards in L.A., the actor turned up as a surprise speaker to pay tribute to the night's honoree, Shirley MacLaine.
When it came to '70s movie musicals, it was MacLaine who helped get the ball rolling with her 1970 Golden Globe nominated performance in Sweet Charity. Travolta, meanwhile, capped off the decade with his robust 1977 Saturday Night Fever and 1978 Grease.
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Taylor Swift and Dianna Agron Play Birthday Dress-Up (Again!)
Originally posted 04/30/2012 12:15PM
You don't have to ask Taylor Swift and Dianna Agron twice to put on crazy costumes for a birthday party.
The pair have done so twice in the past week, and Tweeted pics of the results.
Last Tuesday, the pop star and the Glee actress dressed up "full-time fancy," in Swift's words, and went out with friends to dinner to celebrate Shirley MacLaine's 78th birthday.
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Shirley MacLaine Sends Dispatches from the Downton Abbey Set
Originally posted 02/24/2012 07:45AM
She'll add some sass to the class.
The welcome news that Shirley MacLaine is joining the British bluebloods for Season 3 of the TV hit Downton Abbey has speculation running high on just how she'll fit in.
To her own eye, it appears to be just fine. Set to play an American character named Martha Levinson, who is the mother of Cora, Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), the 77-year-old Oscar winner Tweeted from the set in England this week.
"Everything is going well. We shot outside in wind and rain. Love the cast and crew," MacLaine said Wednesday, before adding on Thursday: "Amazing day on Downton Abbey set. I love the British humor and temperament and functionality. Maggie [Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess] is so subtle and so much fun!"
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Shirley MacLaine Joins the Cast of Downton Abbey
Originally posted 01/30/2012 05:15PM
Look who's coming to Downton!
Shirley MacLaine will join the cast of British period drama Downton Abbey for its third season, producers confirmed Monday.
MacLaine, 77, will play Martha Levinson, the American mother of Elizabeth McGovern's wealthy countess, Lady Cora Grantham. The Oscar-winning screen legend will go toe to toe with Maggie Smith, who portrays the tart-tongued Dowager Countess Violet, according to the show's producers.
Gareth Neame, managing director of Carnival Films, which produces the series, said the new character "will be a wonderful combatant for Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess and we are excited at the prospect of Shirley MacLaine playing her."
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Anne Hathaway Had No Time to Be Nervous
Originally posted 02/23/2009 09:10AM
During the Oscar show, Prince Charming – in the guise of host Hugh Jackman – swept Anne Hathaway into his arms. And, afterwards, she went to the ball.
The Academy's Governors Ball, that is, immediately following the Sunday night ceremony in the Kodak Theatre. The evening was so rich that the Rachel Getting Married Best Actress nominee, 26, told PEOPLE she had a hard time singling out a favorite moment.
"There's so many," she said before quickly amending her answer to, "I'd have to say being in Hugh Jackman's arms and him carrying me on stage!"
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