1. Michelle Pfeiffer was one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s, and her performances have earned her numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Michelle Pfeiffer received her first of six consecutive Golden Globe Award nominations for Married to the Mob.
Michelle Pfeiffer produced several of her own features through her company Via Rosa Productions, including Dangerous Minds.
Michelle Pfeiffer has played Janet van Dyne in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2018, beginning with Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer was born on April 29,1958, in Santa Ana, California, the second of four children of Donna Jean, a housewife, and Richard Pfeiffer, an air-conditioning contractor.
Michelle Pfeiffer has an older brother, Rick, and two younger sisters, Dedee and Lori.
The family moved to Midway City, another Orange County community around seven miles away, where Michelle Pfeiffer spent her early years.
Michelle Pfeiffer worked as a check-out girl at Vons supermarket, and attended Golden West College where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
Michelle Pfeiffer won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant in 1978 and finished sixth in the Miss California contest the same year.
Michelle Pfeiffer made her acting debut in 1978, in a one-episode appearance of Fantasy Island.
Michelle Pfeiffer transitioned to film with the comedy The Hollywood Knights, with Tony Danza, appearing as high school sweethearts.
Michelle Pfeiffer subsequently played supporting roles in Falling in Love Again with Susannah York and Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen, none of which met with much critical or box office success.
Michelle Pfeiffer obtained her first starring film role as the female lead in Grease 2, the sequel to the smash-hit musical film Grease.
The film was a critical and commercial failure but Michelle Pfeiffer's performance was noted as a standout.
Michelle Pfeiffer was cast as cocaine-addicted trophy wife Elvira Hancock.
Michelle Pfeiffer finally scored a major box-office hit as Sukie Ridgemont in the 1987 adaptation of John Updike's novel The Witches of Eastwick, with Jack Nicholson, Cher, and Susan Sarandon.
Michelle Pfeiffer was cast against type, as a murdered gangster's widow, in Jonathan Demme's mafia comedy Married to the Mob, with Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell and Mercedes Ruehl.
Michelle Pfeiffer then appeared as chic restaurateuse Jo Ann Vallenari in Tequila Sunrise with Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell, but experienced creative and personal differences with director Robert Towne, who later described her as the "most difficult" actress he has ever worked with.
At Demme's personal recommendation, Michelle Pfeiffer joined the cast of Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons, with Glenn Close and John Malkovich, playing Madame Marie de Tourvel, the virtuous victim of seduction.
Nothing is harder to play than virtue, and Michelle Pfeiffer is smart enough not to try.
Michelle Pfeiffer's porcelain-skinned beauty, in this regard, is a great asset, and the way it's used makes it seem an aspect of her spirituality.
Michelle Pfeiffer then accepted the role of Susie Diamond, a hard-edged former call girl turned lounge singer, in The Fabulous Baker Boys, which starred Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges as the eponymous Baker Boys.
Michelle Pfeiffer underwent intense voice training for the role for four months, and performed all of her character's vocals.
Critic Roger Ebert compared her to Rita Hayworth in Gilda and to Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, adding that the film was "one of the movies they will use as a document, years from now, when they begin to trace the steps by which Michelle Pfeiffer became a great star".
In 1990, Michelle Pfeiffer formed her own film production company, Via Rosa Productions, with business partner Kate Guinzburg, whom she had met on the set of Sweet Liberty.
Michelle Pfeiffer was under a picture deal with Touchstone Pictures, a film label of The Walt Disney Studios.
That year, Michelle Pfeiffer began earning $1 million per film, and took on the part of the Soviet book editor Katya Orlova in the film adaptation of John le Carre's The Russia House, with Sean Connery, a role that required her to adopt a Russian accent.
Michelle Pfeiffer then landed the role of damaged waitress Frankie in Garry Marshall's Frankie and Johnny, a film adaptation of Terrence McNally's Broadway play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, which reunited her with her Scarface co-star, Al Pacino.
The casting was seen as controversial by many, as Michelle Pfeiffer was considered far too beautiful to play an "ordinary" waitress; Kathy Bates, the original Frankie on Broadway, expressed disappointment over the producers' choice.
Michelle Pfeiffer herself stated that she took the role because it "wasn't what people would expect of [her]".
Michelle Pfeiffer received unanimous critical acclaim for her portrayal, which is often referred to as the greatest performance of Catwoman of all time by critics and fans.
Reviewers embraced the film and The New York Times felt that Michelle Pfeiffer was "again demonstrating that she is as subtle and surprising as she is beautiful".
In Martin Scorsese's period drama The Age of Innocence, a film adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel, Michelle Pfeiffer starred with Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, portraying a Countess in upper-class New York City in the 1870s.
Michelle Pfeiffer starred with Jack Nicholson in the 1994 horror film Wolf, portraying the sardonic and willful interest of a writer who becomes a wolf-man at night after being bitten by a creature.
Michelle Pfeiffer's role is underwritten, but her performance is expert enough to make even diffidence compelling.
Michelle Pfeiffer voiced Tzipporah, a shepherdess who becomes the wife of Moses, in DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt, a musical adaptation based on the Book of Exodus.
Michelle Pfeiffer recorded the film's theme song "When You Believe", for which songwriter Stephen Schwartz won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Michelle Pfeiffer began to dissolve her film production company, Via Rosa Productions, in 1999, and moved into semi-retirement to spend more quality time with her children and family.
Michelle Pfeiffer handed her producing partner Guinzburg one final film to produce under the Via Rosa Productions header.
Michelle Pfeiffer then accepted the role of Rita Harrison, a highly strung lawyer helping a father with a developmental disability, in the drama I Am Sam, with Sean Penn.
Michelle Pfeiffer took on the role of a murderous artist, named Ingrid Magnussen, in the drama White Oleander, with Alison Lohman, Renee Zellweger and Robin Wright.
Michelle Pfeiffer, giving the most complex screen performance of her career, makes her Olympian seductress at once irresistible and diabolical.
Michelle Pfeiffer earned Best Supporting Actress Awards from the San Diego Film Critics Society and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
In 2003, Michelle Pfeiffer lent her voice for the character of goddess of chaos Eris in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, an animated film featuring Brad Pitt as the voice of Sinbad the Sailor.
Michelle Pfeiffer returned to cinemas in 2007 with villainous roles in two summer blockbusters, Hairspray and Stardust, which was hailed as a successful comeback by the media.
Michelle Pfeiffer's performance was critically acclaimed, with film critic David Edelstein of NPR calling her "sublime".
Michelle Pfeiffer starred in Amy Heckerling's romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman, with Paul Rudd and Saoirse Ronan, portraying Rosie, a 40-year-old divorced mother working as a scriptwriter and producer for a television show who falls in love with a much younger man.
Michelle Pfeiffer's reported salary was US$1 million, with an advance on 15 percent of the gross.
Michelle Pfeiffer played the role of aging retired courtesan Lea de Lonval, with Rupert Friend in the title role, with Kathy Bates as his mother.
Michelle Pfeiffer stated that her lack of acting throughout the 2000s was due to several reasons, including family matters and her approach to choosing roles.
Michelle Pfeiffer stated she was intending to "work a lot" once her children left for college, mentioning that she felt her best performance was "still in her", saying how that's what she felt kept her going.
Michelle Pfeiffer landed the role of Ruth Madoff for the HBO Films drama The Wizard of Lies, based on the book of the same name.
Michelle Pfeiffer played a widowed socialite in Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express, the fourth screen adaptation of Agatha Christie's 1934 novel of the same name.
Michelle Pfeiffer recorded the original song "Never Forget" for the film's soundtrack.
The New Yorkers Anthony Lane found that only Michelle Pfeiffer appears to be enjoying their material, while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle credited the film with reminding audiences that she is one of the industry's best actresses.
Michelle Pfeiffer debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Janet van Dyne, the original Wasp, in the Ant-Man sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp.
In 2019, Michelle Pfeiffer briefly reprised the role in Avengers: Endgame, and starred alongside Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning in the dark fantasy sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, playing the villainous Queen Ingrith.
Michelle Pfeiffer headlined the dark comedy French Exit, based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Patrick deWitt, directed by Azazel Jacobs.
Michelle Pfeiffer portrayed former First Lady Betty Ford in the anthology drama television series The First Lady, which premiered on Showtime in April 2022.
Michelle Pfeiffer is attached to star alongside Annette Bening in the psychological thriller, Turn of Mind, set to be directed by Gideon Raff.
On March 18,2024, it was announced that Michelle Pfeiffer had been cast in the Amazon MGM holiday comedy, Oh.
Michelle Pfeiffer said she sometimes feels fraudulent as an untrained actor due to her lack of conventional schooling.
Journalist James Kaplan reported that some critics feel Michelle Pfeiffer has undersold herself by choosing character roles instead of capitalizing on her beauty.
Michelle Pfeiffer has admitted she enjoys playing imperfect, evil, and "slightly trashy" women.
Michelle Pfeiffer's colleagues have described her as extremely committed, competent, and prepared, although she refuses to watch her own performances.
Michelle Pfeiffer has been called one of the greatest actresses of her generation.
In 2009, journalist Brian D Johnson argued that Pfeiffer had yet to demonstrate her true range, believing she could potentially be as revered as Meryl Streep if afforded the same acting opportunities, while film critic Mick LaSalle remarked that Pfeiffer's humility sometimes causes the public to overlook her as one of the industry's finest actresses.
Michelle Pfeiffer is particularly renowned for her versatility, having accrued a filmography that spans period, romance, fantasy, musical, comedy, and drama.
In 1995, The New York Times journalist Bernard Weinraub said Michelle Pfeiffer belongs to a group of respected actresses who are "not considered a big box-office draw".
Regardless, Michelle Pfeiffer was the sixth highest-grossing domestic box office star of 1990, and one of the few actresses whose salary corresponded with their box office appeal as of 1996, according to UPI.
Michelle Pfeiffer was awarded a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
Michelle Pfeiffer was honored by TCL Chinese Theater on April 25,2025 with a hand and footprints ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Michelle Pfeiffer has been described as one of the world's most beautiful and talented actresses.
In 1990, Michelle Pfeiffer appeared on the inaugural cover of People magazine's annual "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" issue.
Michelle Pfeiffer has been featured in the "Most Beautiful" issue a record-breaking six times throughout the decade.
Michelle Pfeiffer has been famously self-deprecating about her own appearance, at times mocking her trademark features.
At least two of her films, Stardust and Cheri, explore beautiful, youth-obsessed women struggling to accept aging, themes Michelle Pfeiffer personally identified with.
Several outlets have commented on Michelle Pfeiffer's perceived ability to physically age slowly.
Journalist Timothy Egan once likened profiling Michelle Pfeiffer to covering geology, which she outgrew by 1995.
In 2005, Michelle Pfeiffer served as the face of Giorgio Armani's spring campaign; the designer has often dressed her for public appearances.
In 2025, Michelle Pfeiffer fronted fashion house Yves Saint Laurent's Summer 2025 collection.
In 1988, Michelle Pfeiffer had an affair with John Malkovich, her co-star in Dangerous Liaisons, who at the time was married to Glenne Headly.
In 1993, Pfeiffer married television writer and producer David E Kelley.
Michelle Pfeiffer made a brief uncredited cameo appearance in one episode of Kelley's television series Picket Fences and played the title character in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, for which Kelley wrote the screenplay.
Michelle Pfeiffer had entered into private adoption proceedings before she met Kelley, and in March 1993 adopted a newborn daughter, Claudia Rose, who was christened on Pfeiffer's and Kelley's wedding day.
In 1994, Michelle Pfeiffer gave birth to a son, John Henry Kelley II, named for his grandfather and Michelle Pfeiffer's father-in-law, United States Hockey Hall of Fame coach John Henry "Jack" Kelley.
Michelle Pfeiffer experimented with a plant-based diet for a few years but later added meat to her diet and advocated a "paleoish" diet.
Michelle Pfeiffer has received three Academy Award nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Dangerous Liaisons ; and Best Actress for The Fabulous Baker Boys and Love Field.
Michelle Pfeiffer won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama for The Fabulous Baker Boys, and has been nominated seven more times for her performances in Married to the Mob, The Russia House, Frankie and Johnny, Love Field, The Age of Innocence, The Wizard of Lies, and French Exit.
Michelle Pfeiffer received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for The Wizard of Lies.