The Oscar-winning Hollywood star Shirley MacLaine made a rare awards show appearance earlier this week at the inaugural Dance Hall of Fame induction ceremony. There, she revealed her secret to making it to the advanced age of 91.
MacLaine Wins Lifetime Achievement Award
On Wednesday night, MacLaine took the stage at the Gloria Kaufmann Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles. There, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award that will be named the Dance Hall of Fame Shirley MacLaine Lifetime Achievement Award moving forward.
This meant the world to MacLaine, as dancing has been her main secret to aging so gracefully.
“Getting an award for dancing is the most important acknowledgement I could have. I mean that,” MacLaine said in her acceptance speech. “This is beautiful, by the way, heavy and it’s beautiful.”
“My mother took me to dancing class when I was three because I had weak ankles and I fell in love with it,” she continued. “But here’s what it also included: discipline, love of music, a sense of cooperation with other people, being on time. And from that day on, I went to class every day until in my sixties. I would have to say that dance, what I’ve learned being part of it is why I’m still here.”
MacLaine went on to call on others to take up dancing, if they haven’t already.
“I would recommend if anybody out there is wondering what to do with their life, I would recommend ballet class,” she said. “I’m not kidding. That’s what I learned.”
“I would recommend that everybody take ballet for a while and you’ll see the meaning of life, the meaning of movement, the meaning of discipline, the meaning of art, the meaning of pain, the meaning of criticism, the meaning of applause, and the meaning of having a body,” the actress added. “I appreciate it all so much, and with everything I’ve done, I have to say the dancing is the most important.”
MacLaine’s History
MacLaine, who is the older sister of the Hollywood star Warren Beatty, made her big screen debut in the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock movie The Trouble With Harry. It was a strong debut, as it earned MacLaine the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. It also earned her a Best Actress nomination at the BAFTAs, which is the British version of the Oscars.
In the seventy years since then, MacLaine has accumulated 77 film and television credits, according to her IMDB page. She has been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar six different times. She finally won the coveted statuette on her sixth and final nomination in the 1983 movie Terms of Endearment.
MacLaine last appeared on the screen in the 2022 movie American Dreamer. That same year, she also appeared in two episodes of Only Murders in the Building. However, fans of MacLaine’s will be happy to learn that she has two projects in the works. One of them is in post-production, and the other is in pre-production.
MacLaine is a true living legend, and there will never be another one like her. If anyone deserves to have a lifetime achievement award named after them, it’s MacLaine.
God bless you, Shirley MacLaine!