As Naval Officer Zack Mayo snatched factory worker Paula from her job and threw her into his arms, fans all over the world wished they were Debra Winger.
The famous scene from the romantic classic An Officer and a Gentleman, in which Richard Gere played Officer Zack Mayo, the dashing hero in navy whites, set the bar for love stories for daydreamers.
Many people wished they could work with the sexiest guys in Hollywood like Debra Winger did.
Winger is still beautiful at age 67. In the past few years, Winger has posted pictures of herself on Instagram. At first, she had dark hair, and more recently, she has had natural gray waves.
The first movie Winger was in was Slumber Party ’57, which came out in 1976. She played Drusilla, the younger sister of Lynda Carter’s Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. Because of this, she got a part in the famous TV show Wonder Woman (1979). Winger was asked to make more appearances, but she turned them down because she was afraid that her part would pigeonhole her.
That decision wasn’t regretted; the rising star would be successful in the early 1980s.
She was nominated for several Academy Awards and Golden Globes for her roles in three important movies in the 1980s, when her career was at its peak.
She shared the lead role in the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy with John Travolta. At that time, his smooth dance moves in Grease (1988) and Saturday Night Fever (1977) were thrilling people. In Officer and a Gentleman (1982), she played Paula, and in Terms of Endearment (1983), she played Emma, a young woman who is dying and whose mother Aurora, played by Shirley MacLaine, is too controlling.
Winger took a short break from acting, even though she was very successful. More than 40 years after she became famous, stories are still going around about why she left.
Most of the time, these reports are about problems between Winger and her co-stars.
Most people say that Winger had had enough of the beautiful Gere on the set, even though fans couldn’t get enough of him.
A part that was shown on ABC News says that Louis Gossett Jr., who played Sgt. Emil Foley’s co-star, wrote a book called “An Actor and a Gentleman.” There was great chemistry between them on TV, but things were very different when the camera was off. They were not allowed to get too close to each other.
Also, Gossett says Winger didn’t think much of Gere’s act and that she wrote about him as “a brick wall” at one point. She also said that Taylor Hackford, who directed the movie, was a “animal.”
She wasn’t just mad at the movie’s characters.
MacLaine, who was busy, glamorous, and a seasoned professional, had problems with Winger, who was a free spirit in real life and as Emma.
The first time they met laid the groundwork for their bond.
“I was wearing all my leftover movie star fur coats to see how my character would feel,” MacLaine told People. “Debra was there in a miniskirt and combat boots…A “Oh my goodness” moment happened to me.
People says that the scene became the source of some of Hollywood’s most popular stories. Winger wanted the attention. News stories say that one hit the other.
The women were put up against each other when they were both nominated for best actress at the Oscars.
“I deserve this!” MacLaine said in her acceptance speech after winning the award.
Winger says she “pushed the pause button” on Hollywood for personal reasons, not work-related ones, despite reports to the contrary.
It wasn’t interesting to me what was coming next. I had either done it or felt it before. I was looking for a challenge. Winger told People, “I dove into my life, because it pushed me more than the pieces did.”
After being in the love comedy Forget Paris with Billy Crystal in 1995, Winger didn’t do much for six years.
At that time, she moved to New York City and focused on getting married to actor Arliss Howard in 1996. Sam is Howard’s son from a previous marriage, and she is his stepmother. They also have a boy together named Gideon Babe. Sam was created in 1997. She has a second biological child named Noah Hutton. She raised him from 1986 to 1990 while she was married to Timothy Hutton, her first husband.
Aside from starring in the movie with Winger and Rosanna Arquette, her husband also directed and produced it. The movie Searching for Debra Winger came out in 2002. As the film’s director, Arquette tries to show why Winger took a short break from her career when it was at its peak.
Winger became famous for her parts in The Lovers (2017), Rachel Getting Married (2008), and Kajillionaire (2020). Ann Hathaway played Rachel in Rachel Getting Married.
In 2021, she was in the section of the anthology drama picture With/In, Volume 2 called “Her Own.” Writer and director of the scene was her husband, who also stars in the movie.
I actually don’t know what Hollywood is. Now that I live under the sign, all I do is laugh and look at it. And Winger added, “There must be some in-crowds that I just don’t know about.” Hollywood is a place, but Winger doesn’t really think of it as such.
Hollywood would not be the same without Debra Winger, and we hope she wins an Oscar soon! Which Winger movies are your favorites?