Shirley MacLaine has opened up about her love life in her upcoming memoir.
The 90-year-old actress, who wrote her best-selling autobiography “Out on a Limb” in 1983, will publish her new book “The Wall of Life: Pictures and Stories” on October 22nd. It will be released on the day.
In an interview with People magazine ahead of the memoir’s publication, MacLaine, who had an open marriage with her husband of 28 years, Steve Parker, revealed that she had affairs with all of her major men except for two: Jack Nicholson and Jack Lemmon. He claimed that there was
McClain and Nicholson played lovers in James L. Brooks’ 1983 film Terms of Endearment, but the Emmy Award winners said their relationship remained platonic in real life. I explained the reason.
“He always made me laugh. He was one of my favorite people,” she said. “I don’t think he was the type to have an affair anyway. He laughs too much.”
In the film, McClain starred as Aurora Greenway, a widow who embarks on a romance with Garrett Breedlove (Nicholson), a promiscuous former astronaut who lives next door.
Nicholson won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for her performance in the film, while MacLaine finally won her first Best Actress Oscar for her role as Aurora after four previous nominations.
In his acceptance speech, MacLaine said he had looked forward to working with Nicholson, quipping, “It was the joy of middle age to have him in my bed.”
MacLaine co-starred with Lemmon in 1960’s The Apartment and 1963’s Irma La Douce. Although the two played lovers in both romantic comedies, McClain admitted there was never a spark between them off-screen.
“Lemon was like a sister to me. He was a lovely person,” she said. Lemon passed away in 2001 at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer.
McClain told the outlet that she had an affair with Robert Mitchum. The two co-starred in 1962’s Two for the Seesaw and 1964’s What a Way to Go.
“He was very intelligent. Hidden, but very, very intelligent,” she recalled. “He didn’t have much of a sense of humor.”
Mitchum died in 1997 at the age of 79 due to complications from lung cancer and emphysema.
McClain admitted that her May-December romance with Nicolas Cage, her co-star in the 1994 film The Guarding Tess, never existed.
The 60-year-old played Doug Chesnick, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect former First Lady Tess Carlyle, who is in high maintenance.
“Oh, I love Nicholas. I love Nicholas,” McClain said. “He listened to my advice about being a star. Yeah, I really liked him, but he wasn’t attracted to me.”
MacLaine’s only marriage was to Parker, who died in 2001 at the age of 79.
The actress and film producer has a daughter, Sachi (68).
