Preston and Travolta's relationship was, by all accounts, a happy one for the nearly 30 years they were together. ''I had never really done a full-out comedy,'' Miss Winger says. Some film critics referred to the movie as a country music version of Saturday Night Fever. . Debra Winger is not here to play Andy Cohens games literally. Winger, it seems, wasnt really up to dishing it out on national TV especially when Cohen accidentally got a fact wrong in one of the questions. No! Its always exciting to get back in here again! Debra won the role over a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer and gave a star-making performance as John Travolta's wife. The film is at its most effective when Winger is caught between admiring the common man decency Berenger projects and the hatefulness of his ideology, attempting to find any sign that hes not in as deep as he is. Get a VIP pass to never-before-seen content, exclusive sweepstakes, and much more! Theater Owners Blame Box Office Blues This Summer on Lower Quality of Movies Wall Street Journal 8 July 1980: 15. When you get the ball, you're supposed to be able to run with it. The story centers on the love-hate relationship between Buford Uan "Bud" Davis (Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger). Drama Romance A young man must complete his work at a Navy Officer Candidate School to become an aviator, with the help of a tough Gunnery Sergeant and his new girlfriend. The two starred in several films together, including Urban Cowboy and An Officer and a Gentleman. Debra Winger starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s. Winger semi-retired in 1995, or she at least placed some lofty restrictions on herself and filmmakers that wanted to work with her. "I needed to be challenged.". While some fans might find themselves looking for Debra Winger, the former toast of Hollywood is still out there making movies they're just the kind of movies that interest or "scare" her. She had just wowed audiences as John Travolta's love interest in 1980's "Urban Cowboy." She would earn her first Oscar nomination for her work in "Officer and a Gentleman," playing a "townie" who falls for a Navy cadet . We just kept quiet about our relationship, and everyone around us respected it.''. She grew up in a Jewish family in Cleveland and moved to Los Angeles when she was 6 years old. The last big movie Winger starred in was the 1995 Billy Crystal romantic comedy Forget Paris. But as the trip drags on, their attempt at recovering what they once had seems futile. Get to Know 'The Girl from Plainville' Star's Girlfriend of 7 Years, Ethan Hawkes Current Wife of 14 Years Was Originally Hired by Ex-wife Uma Thurman as Nanny for Their Kids. Having spotted Bud (John Travolta) across a honkytonk dancehall floor, Sissy (Winger) ambles up to the bar, flirting first with an appeal to his manliness (I thought [your beard] looked good, you shouldnt have shaved it), then by asking him if he knows how to do a two-step. Some of them required a little more sucking in of the cheeks so as to simulate a tongue.. The film was the last attempt at repeating the success of music-filled hits with Travolta such as Saturday Night Fever and Grease, and it channeled the times boom of country music. Oh god, what were you doing 40 years ago? she asked Cohen. It is a strange experience to be soina certain world, and thennot. [16] On February 1, 2022, it was announced that a television adaptation was in development at Paramount+, with James Ponsoldt serving as director and co-writer alongside Benjamin Percy.[17]. After riding high with John Travolta in the hit 1980 film "Urban Cowboy," Winger scored back to back Best Actress Oscar nods for her roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Terms of Endearment" in 1982 and 1983, respectively. Winger also told The Telegraph that her "Terms of Endearment" co-star Shirley MacLaine isn't known "to tell the truth about anything," although she claimed the two are still "loving friends.". Along with Winger, the project, led by Jennifer Elster, also starred such disparate individuals as Terrence Howard, Rosie Perez, Marlo Thomas, Alan Cumming, Temple Grandin, and Yoko Ono. . The film alsoreflects the popularity of country music during the late 70s and early 80s. Nevertheless, she says, she disliked making that film and refused to do any publicity for it when it was released. ''Even when I was standing by the camera directing her, I didn't sense it. When she insists that she will and assumes Bud was jealous of her riding it better than he does, Bud slaps her and throws her out of the mobile home. Relationship history. Shes silent, but her expression is loud and clear: Are you really going to make me ask you? Instead, she turns her flirtation, and her question, into a way to challenge him, sticking her neck out: Wanna prove it?. Richard Gere wasn't the only person on "An Officer and a Gentleman" set with whom Debra Winger butted heads. In 2003, she had her first role in a big Hollywood movie in almost a decade, a supporting part in Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s widely maligned Radio. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Much of the action revolves around activities at Gilley's Club, a football-field-sized honky tonk in Pasadena, Texas. In December, Fox cancelled the pilot. ''I can't deny that we fought,'' Miss Winger says. For the Broadway musical of the same name, see. In her not-exactly-a-memoir Undiscovered, she writes: Although I have participated in the odd film project here and there over the last twelve years, I had no real desire to hop back on that merry-go-round. ''In my own life I've done some reckless things, and yet my mother's door was always open to me. Winger leans her back against the bar, not looking at him, and lets a full ten seconds pass, in which her body is still but her eyes dart in three different directions. Also Read:Will Kichcha Sudeepa Be Cast In Telugu Remake Of 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum'? As she admitted a couple of years ago, ''My life is a little wild sometimes.'' Its as if she saw the late-film exchange between Aurora and Emma (I always think of us as fighting. Thats just from your end) and applied it throughout, giving an unconventional performance in a conventional film. Urban Cowboy is a romantic Westernfilm that was directed by James Bridges. After being given little more to play than the idea of a Hepburn-esque half of a romantic-comedy pairing in Legal Eagles, Winger made a greater impression as an FBI agent, twice, in Bob Rafelsons Black Widow and Costa-Gavras Betrayed. In the first, shes the only person in her office who gives a damn about Theresa Russells femme fatale apparently murdering a series of older husbands. Shes proven herself as far from fragile while reminding him of what hes missing. The film's screenplay was adapted by Aaron Latham and James Bridges from an article by the same name in Esquire written by Latham. Debra Winger has been vocal about her on-set clash with Gere. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Country Rocker and Fiddler Charlie Daniels Dies at Age 83", "Dew Westbrook: The original Urban Cowboy is still looking for love", "Patsy Swayze, mother of Patrick Swayze, dies at 86", "A Look Back at How Gilley's and Urban Cowboy Affected the Houston Area", "Looking back on the Houston premiere "Urban Cowboy" 35 years later", "Inside Country Music's Polarizing 'Urban Cowboy' Movement", "RIAA Searchable Database: Urban Cowboy", "Various - Urban Cowboy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs", "Music: Urban Cowboy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (CD) by Johnny Lee, Kenny Rogers, Jimmy Buffett, Boz Scaggs, Linda Ronstadt, J.D. But I was co-author of the screenplay, which was based on a magazine story I'd written in 1978 for Clay. She refuses to speak to him, so Bud retaliates by dancing with a beautiful girl named Pam, the daughter of a rich oilman. Winger quipped. I mean, cmon. #Oscars. Those roles were mostly rehashes of ones she's already portrayed, and, as far as she was concerned, why bother? I was furious with her, but then I looked at the scene and realized that there was something wrong with the dialogue. In one scene, her supervisor (Terry OQuinn) gives an exhausted Winger a neck massage before interpreting her comment about young women with older men (about Russell) being an invitation, sliding his hand to her breast. Her battles were with her co-star, Shirley MacLaine. It helps that this movie has a solid story line, which was especially important to me coming off 'Legal Eagles,' where the story has so many holes. The producer, Robert Evans, and the studio executives initially did not want her for the part of John Travolta's frisky bride, and even the director, Mr. Bridges, was unimpressed when she did. She reminds me of Jack Nicholson in the way she works. Andy Warhol, Jerry Hall and many other celebrities attended the premiere in Houston. When taking into account an outright hostile situation like that on the set of An Officer and a Gentleman, Wingers combativeness seems outright heroic. Buford "Bud" Davis, a native of Spur, Texas, moves to Houston to take a job at an oil refinery where his uncle, Bob Davis, is employed. While staying with Bob and his family, Bud embraces the local nightlife, including spending many nights at Gilley's, a bar and nightclub in Pasadena. ''I'm glad that some people are enjoying it,'' Miss Winger goes on. She objected to changes in the script and also to the way she was treated on the set. But why walk away from that Tinseltown life? Bud is a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a Houston bar. Debra Winger news, gossip, photos of Debra Winger, biography, Debra Winger boyfriend list 2023. Urban Cowboy: Directed by James Bridges. Lets try to get something straight. But that just meant she didn't make as many movies as other major actresses might have. Debra Winger: To cast John and Jamie Lee . Pam arrives while Sissy is still there, but Sissy leaves shortly thereafter. WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, THERE'S A FIERY ACTRESS NAMED DEBRA WINGER, https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/06/movies/where-there-s-smoke-there-s-a-fiery-actress-named-debra-winger.html. She also had a role opposite Oscar-nominated Anne Hathaway in the harrowing Rachel Getting Married. Actress Debra Winger talks about the sexual tension that she had with her "Urban Cowboy" co-star John Travolta and says why the same sparks were not there with Richard Gere in "An Officer. They fall in love, marry soon after and move into a brand-new mobile home. Those odd film projects havent always been worthy of her talents (her husbands Big Bad Love, Eulogy, Lola Versus), but at least three of her supporting roles in the last decade have been events. Studios don't have much patience for stars who don't want to play this game, and Debra Winger is that kind of star she can be bluntly honest about her movies. Her return to a lead role has been a long time coming, but she never really went away. The two undergo a terrible crisis in their marriage. It didn't even take any elaborate machinations. After completing ''Black Widow,'' Miss Winger plans, as she says, to ''take a break and be married for a while.'' Urban Cowboy is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. It also included songs that were hits from earlier years such as #1 "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band and "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles. '', Unlike Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda or Barbra Streisand, Miss Winger has not yet played superwomen or heroic figures. Her every word and gesture seems designed to slightly challenge Lewis, not out of spite, but just enough to puncture the dead air of politeness and get to his heart. They reconcile, but after seeing Sissy's bruised face, a furious Bud goes after Wes, and a fight ensues inside the bar. Gere also admitted there was "tension" between him and his leading lady, per IMDb, while Winger once called Gere "a brick wall co-star," viaHarper's Bazaar. The action was . Her new film represents a change of pace for her, but as Vincent Canby wrote, ''Within certain limits, it's just possible that Debra Winger can do anything.'' John was seen essaying the role of Bud Davis in the film. She's like the Carole Lombard of the 80's. She fought Gere (calling him a brick wall), director Taylor Hackford (an animal) and producer Don Simpson (who called her not fuckable enough). Closer in demeanor to the Winger of old (even teasing Byrnes therapist about a possible attraction he might feel for her), she nevertheless self-excoriates for being a bad daughter to her now deceased mother, a bad sister, a bad mother, while relishing in addressing the ageism and sexism that fiftysomething actresses face. [7] Variety wrote: "Director James Bridges has ably captured the atmosphere of one of the most famous chip-kicker[definition needed] hangouts of all: Gilley's Club on the outskirts of Houston. Here, shes a woman looking for anything other than emptiness, and she wont pretend shes not lost when she sees it. She once called the film's director, Taylor Hackford, "an animal," per The Guardian.