About Debra Winger
Debra Lynn Winger, born in 1955 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio (the poor thing), and into an Orthodox Jewish family to boot (no comment) is a U.S. actress with a great many credits to her name, but best remembered for a relative handful of roles. Probably the best-remembered is AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982) against a rather forgettable leading man, but she was also in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983) and SHADOWLAND (1994), and all of these roles earned her Oscar nominations (though no wins) as Best Actress.
She did, however, accumulate such awards as the National Society of Film Critics Award for best actress for her turn in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and the Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for A DANGEROUS WOMAN (1993). Some of her other film roles have included URBAN COWBOY (1980), LEGAL EAGLES (1986), and BLACK WIDOW (1987). My fellow film fans, please note the DATE of the foregoing film; it had nothing at all to do with the MCU version! She was also in BETRAYED (1988), FORGET PARIS (1995), and RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008). Now, given the DATE (again) of the previously mentioned film, I guess it's remotely possible she was simply taking over the role of Rachel Green(e), but she SO WASN'T.
In 2012, in true late-bloomer fashion, she debuted on Broadway in the official production of the David Mamet play, THE ANARCHIST. (Just to be clear, that's ANARCHIST, okay?)
TRIVIA AND MINUTIAE: Over the years, Debra has apparently told some real whoppers in some of her media interviews. She frequently stated that she volunteered at an Israeli kibbutz, and on a number of occasions she even expanded this to her training with the IDF (Israel Defense Force). However, in a 2008 interview, she ultimately admitted that she had simply been part of a normal youth tour group that just visited that kibbutz.
One non-whopper from her personal history is this: At the age of 18 (after returning to the U.S. in no-better-trained condition), she was involved in a rather serious car crash, in which she received a cerebral hemorrhage. As a result, she was both partially paralyzed and blind for 10 months or so. Initially, she was told she might never recover. With a great deal of time on her hands, she thought over her life and its decisions, and decided that if she ever did recover, she would move to California and become an actress. And I assure you, that's what finally came to pass. (So, a happy ending both for her and for us.)
(Dress size 8. Shoe size 9.5. Holy cow, those are some big clodhoppers!)
