Cybill Shepherd

A series of less-successful roles followed, including The Lady Vanishes, a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 film.

Already sitting in on an acting class taught by Stella Adler, Shepherd was offered work at a dinner theater in Norfolk, Virginia, and turned to friend Orson Welles for advice.

He encouraged her to get experience on stage in front of an audience, anywhere but Los Angeles or New York City, away from the harsh big-city critics so she moved back to her home town of Memphis to work in regional theatre.

Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model.

Shepherd was born February 18, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee.

She is the second of three children.

She had an older sister, Terry, and has a younger brother, William.

Cybill was named with a blend of her grandfather Cy and her father Bill's names.

While attending East High School, Shepherd won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" title and represented the city at the 1966 Miss Teenage America pageant at age 16, where she won the congeniality award.

She competed at the 1968 "Model of the Year" contest at age 18, resulting in fashion model assignments through high school and afterwards.

According to Shepherd's autobiography, a 1970 Glamour magazine cover caught the eye of film director Peter Bogdanovich.

Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges.

His then-wife, Polly Platt, claimed that when she saw the cover in a check-out line in a Ralphs grocery store in southern California, he said "That's Jacy," referring to the role Bogdanovich was casting—and ultimately given to Shepherd—in The Last Picture Show (1971).

Her first film was The Last Picture Show, also starring Jeff Bridges and Timothy Bottoms.

The film became a critical and box office hit, earning eight Academy Awards nominations and winning two.

Shepherd was nominated for a Golden Globe.

She also had roles as Kelly in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Betsy in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), and Nancy in Woody Allen's Alice (1990).

In 1972, Shepherd was cast opposite Charles Grodin in The Heartbreak Kid.

She played Kelly, a young woman for whom Grodin's character falls while on his honeymoon in Miami.

Directed by Elaine May and written by Neil Simon, it was another critical and box office hit.

Also in 1972, Shepherd posed as a Kodak Girl for the camera manufacturer's then-ubiquitous cardboard store poster displays.

In 1974, Shepherd again teamed up with Peter Bogdanovich for the title role in Daisy Miller, based on the Henry James novella.

The film—a period piece set in Europe—was a box office failure.

That same year, she launched a singing career, releasing a studio album Cybill Does It...To Cole Porter for MCA Records.

It was panned by Village Voice critic Robert Christgau, who wrote: "Her voice is surprisingly pleasant, but you'd never know how these songs sparkle. Since Cole didn't like to . . . do it with (or 'to') women very much, maybe the 'do' is as hostile as it sounds."

In 1975, she made At Long Last Love, a film musical directed by Bogdanovich, but, like Daisy Miller, it flopped.

Shepherd returned with good reviews for her work in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976).

According to Shepherd, Scorsese had requested a "Cybill Shepherd type" for the role.

She portrayed Betsy, a volunteer for a presidential candidate with whom Robert De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, becomes infatuated.

In 1982, Shepherd returned to New York and to the stage when she played alongside James MacArthur in a theatre tour of Lunch Hour by Jean Kerr.

On television, her first major role was as Colleen Champion in the one season of the night-time drama The Yellow Rose (1983).

The following year, Shepherd went back to Los Angeles and was cast as Colleen Champion in the NBC television drama The Yellow Rose (1983), opposite Sam Elliott.

Although critically acclaimed, the series lasted only one season.

Shepherd played Madeline Hayes on the detective comedy-drama Moonlighting (1985–1989) opposite Bruce Willis, for which she won two Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical TV Series out of three such nominations.

A year later, Shepherd was cast as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting (1985–1989), a role that defined her career.

The producers knew that her role depended on having "chemistry" with her co-star, and involved her in the selection of Bruce Willis.

A lighthearted combination of mystery and comedy, the series won Shepherd two Golden Globe Awards.

She starred in Chances Are (1989) with Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan O'Neal, receiving excellent reviews.

She later starred as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill (1995–1998), for which she won her third Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical TV series.

Her later television roles included Phyllis Kroll on The L Word (2007–2009), Madeleine Spencer on Psych (2008–2013), Cassie in the television film The Client List (2010), and Linette Montgomery on The Client List (2012–2013).