Debra Winger Movies
The daughter of a Kosher frozen-food distributor, American actress Debra Winger dropped out of high school at 16 in order to join an Israeli kibbutz. Upon returning to the U.S., she studied criminology and sociology at California State University, but before long she had dropped out and became a tour guide at the Magic Mountain amusement park. A serious accident suffered on the job at age 18 gave Winger time to contemplate her future, and it was then that she settled upon an acting career. Her first taste of fame was as the superpowered younger sister of Lynda Carter in the fantasy TV series Wonder Woman. But Winger chafed at the impositions placed on her by tight TV filming schedules and she retreated to theatrical films, where she made a most inauspicious debut in the award-losing Slumber Party '57 (1977). Winger became a full-fledged audience favorite for her peppery role opposite John Travolta in Urban Cowboy (1980), which led to the most famous of her "working-class" roles in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Already balking at the "Hollywood Game," Winger made no secret of her discomfort in that film's famous nude love scene, nor of her failure to truly connect with co-star Richard Gere. The actress' next truly important part was as Shirley MacLaine's foredoomed daughter in Terms of Endearment (1983). Her resultant Terms performance was so good that it warranted an Oscar nomination. Winger never again had a box-office success to match Terms of Endearment, though she remained a darling of the film critics for her work in such little-seen epics as Mike's Murder (1984) and Black Widow (1986). As the actress' star stature diminished, media scrutiny of her private life increased thanks to her romance with Nebraska governor Robert Kerrey. Winger's roles became fewer and more unorthodox as she continued to seek out acting challenges -- never more so than when she popped up in a lengthy, unbilled male part (complete with goatee) in Made in Heaven (1987), which starred her then-husband, Timothy Hutton. Winger continued to appear in high-profile but low-grossing films into the 1990s, delighting critics and fans in such films as The Sheltering Sky (1990) and Shadowlands (1993). Winger missed out on appearing in one of the most profitable films of the 1990s when she was replaced by Geena Davis in A League of Their Own (1993); it was not temperament but personal injuries and a recurring back ailment that prevented Winger from participating in two other major moneymakers, Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Bull Durham (1988). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Richard Gere plays Zack Mayo, an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he's arrived at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense drill sergeant Emil Foley (Louis Gossett Jr.). Mayo --or "Mayonnaise," as he is dubbed by the irascible Foley -- is an excellent cadet, but a little cold around the heart. Foley rides Mayo mercilessly, sensing that the young man would be prime officer material if he weren't so self-involved. Zack's affair with working girl Paula Pokrifi (Debra Winger) is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself. Only after Mayo's best friend Sid Worsley (David Keith) commits suicide over an unhappy romance does Zack come out of his shell and mature into a real human being. Take away the R-rated dialogue and the sex scenes, and Officer and a Gentleman could have been a 1937 MGM flick, maybe with Robert Taylor as Zack, Wallace Beery as Foley, and Jimmy Stewart as Sid. An Officer and a Gentleman was nominated for 7 Oscars, with wins to Gossett and to the hit song "Up Where We Belong." The closing scene has surely become a classic of movie romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Debra Winger, (more)
Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when the world is a place of mysterious possibilities (some wonderful, some awful), and the universe seems somehow separate from the one inhabited by grown-ups. Henry Thomas plays Elliott, a young boy living with his single mother (Dee Wallace), his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and his younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Elliott often seems lonely and out of sorts, lost in his own world. One day, while looking for something in the back yard, he senses something mysterious in the woods watching him. And he's right: an alien spacecraft on a scientific mission mistakenly left behind an aging botanist who isn't sure how to get home. Eventually Elliott puts his fears aside and makes contact with the "little squashy guy," perhaps the least threatening alien invader ever to hit a movie screen. As Elliott tries to keep the alien under wraps and help him figure out a way to get home, he discovers that the creature can communicate with him telepathically. Soon they begin to learn from each other, and Elliott becomes braver and less threatened by life. E.T. rigs up a communication device from junk he finds around the house, but no one knows if he'll be rescued before a group of government scientists gets hold of him. In 2002, Steven Spielberg re-released E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in a revised edition, with several deleted scenes restored and digitally refurbished special effects. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, (more)
"You a real cowboy?" John Travolta traded disco for a mechanical bull in this adaptation by James Bridges and Aaron Latham of Latham's article on Western nightlife. Texas country boy Bud (Travolta) moves to Houston to work on an oil rig with his Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin), and he swiftly becomes indoctrinated in the nighttime rituals of drinking, dancing, and showing off cowboy duds at Gilley's, the enormous local honkytonk. There he meets and marries the sassy Sissy (Debra Winger), but the honeymoon quickly ends when Sissy starts spending too much time learning the men-only skill of mechanical bull-riding from ex-con Wes (Scott Glenn); Bud throws her out and hooks up with slumming Pam (Madolyn Smith). Under the paternal tutelage of Uncle Bob, Bud then learns not only how to master the bull but also what it takes to be a real man rather than just an ersatz cowboy. With a story, cast, and setting that were essentially Saturday Night Fever country-style, Urban Cowboy was poised to be a summer 1980 hit. Although its box office did not live up to Fever's legacy, Urban Cowboy did spawn a soundtrack album of country-and-western hits and helped spur a Western fashion vogue; people from all regions began sporting cowboy boots, and mechanical bulls started replacing passé disco floors. The first of Travolta's many comebacks, Urban Cowboy provided the star with a more "manly" image after his Moment by Moment (1978) fiasco, but it was neophyte co-star Winger who got even better notices. With its Western milieu and retro view of relationships, Urban Cowboy stands as a sign of the nascent Reagan era, as '70s icon Travolta learned bull-riding himself and replaced his white polyester with a black Stetson. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Debra Winger, (more)
A "critic's darling" of 1979, the modestly produced French Postcards has an appeal that goes beyond the wine and cheese crowd. Miles Chapin plays Joel, an American student in France on an exchange program. Joel's teacher, Mme. Tessier (Marie-France Pisier), is a "Miss Jean Brodie" type whose ideas of education are highly unorthodox. One of Mme. Tessier's extracurricular activities consists of a torrid romance with the impressionable Joel. Of interest to contemporary viewers are the supporting-cast appearances of future stars Debra Winger and Mandy Patinkin. The "coming-of-age" through-line of French Postcards was second nature to screenwriters Gloria Katz and Willard Hyuck, whose previous projects included American Graffiti. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miles Chapin, Blanche Baker, (more)
- 1978
This heart-warming made-for-television drama chronicles a widowed father's struggle to keep his family intact. He has three sons, and one of them is mentally retarded. The boy has a gift for sports and his father enrolls him in the Special Olympics. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
The Zoo is the hottest disco in town, and on the night of the big dance contest, a wild assortment of disparate characters find themselves out on the floor together. DJ Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte) is convinced that broadcasting the show live on the radio waves and having the Commodores as musical entertainment will boost his career, but when their equipment gets lost on the highway, he starts to lose his cool. Nicole (Donna Summer) is a bumbling but beautiful neophyte singer who schemes to earn her big break on the disco's stage. Frannie and Jeannie (Valerie Landsberg and Terri Nunn) are underage high school girls who need the contest prize money to buy Kiss concert tickets. A bored married couple (Mark Lonow and Andrea Howard) stumble into the Zoo on their anniversary; their relationship is tested by a wacky pill-popping vixen (Marya Small) and the disco's womanizing owner (Jeff Goldblum). A host of mismatched singles make the scene hoping for a chance at love (or at least a one night stand), though the exuberant Marv "Leather Man" Gomez (Chick Vennera) lives only to dance, and expounds on his philosophy at length. There's plenty of thumping disco action and nothing but happy endings in this colorful period comedy. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donna Summer, Valerie Landsburg, (more)
The premise of the ABC fantasy adventure series Wonder Woman is firmly established in the two-hour opener (telecast in 1975, just before the debut of the series proper), which is largely set on Paradise Island, home of a tribe of super-powered (and very attractive) Amazons. Played by 5'10" former "Miss World U.S.A." Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman is the island's princess, her great power emanating largely from her golden bracelets and belt, which have been fashioned from a magical substance called Feminum. Although WWII is raging elsewhere, Paradise Island is hidden from mortal view -- until American war hero Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) crash-lands on the island. Remaining with Amazons to fight off invading Nazis, Steve makes quite an impression on Wonder Woman, and after he returns stateside she shows up in the guise of Diana Prince, a USAF yeoman assigned as Steve's assistant. The rest of Wonder Woman's inaugural season consists of irregularly scheduled "specials," each seen in a two-part format on consecutive weeks. In the early adventures, Wonder Woman meets her match in the form of Fausta (Lynda Day George), a "superwoman" created by the Nazis; W.W.'s sister Drusilla (played by a very young Debra Winger) makes her first appearance in "The Feminum Mystique"; a Nazi-generated gorilla places the free world in jeopardy; a friendly space alien (played by Tim O'Connor) tries to warn W.W. of the imminent destruction of Earth; and on a trip to Hollywood, our heroine finds that there are even fifth columnists in Tinseltown. While the limited-run first season of Wonder Woman was popular with viewers, ABC decided to forego fashioning an "official" weekly series of the property. Fortunately, Wonder Woman was "rescued" by rival network CBS -- but not without several radical change in the format! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner, (more)
- 1976
Disregarding an unsold pilot film starring Cathy Lee Crosby as the title character, William Moulton Marston's celebrated comic-book superheroine Wonder Woman made her TV bow in the formidable person of Lynda Carter. Introduced on November 7, 1975, with the two-hour opener The New Original Wonder Woman, the ABC fantasy adventure series began its semi-weekly run on April 21, 1976. Initially set during the WWII years, the series chronicled the adventures of a legendary Amazonian princess who hailed from Paradise Island, where her forebears had fled from male persecution back in the third century B.C. Like the other female residents of Paradise Island, Wonder Woman had powers far beyond those of ordinary women, and was decked out with gold bracelets and a golden belt containing the miracle metal Feminum, enabling her to deflect bullets with her wrists. She also possessed a golden lasso with which she "wrangled" various villains. Assuming the "mortal" identity of Diana Prince, Wonder Woman joined the U.S. army air corps as a yeoman, the better to be near handsome pilot Major Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner), whom she'd met when his plane crash-landed on Paradise Island. Since "Diana" wore glasses and dressed more modestly than her "real" self, Steve never quite caught on that she and Wonder Woman were one in the same. Most of the first-season episodes found Diana Prince helping Steve battle Nazi spies and saboteurs, with our heroine transforming herself into Wonder Woman by twirling around and around at super speed. These early episodes also featured Wonder Woman's younger sister Drusilla (aka Wonder Girl), played by no less than Debra Winger; also, Beatrice Cohen appeared as Corporal Etta Candy, Diana's best friend.
When Wonder Woman moved from ABC to CBS for its second season, quite a few changes were imposed upon its format. First, the title was altered to The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. Second, the series' time frame was moved up from the 1940s to the 1970s, with Diana/Wonder Woman fighting contemporary baddies on behalf of the IADC (Inter-Agency Defense Command), headed by Joe Atkinson (Norman Burton). Finally, Steve Trevor was replaced by his lookalike son (and W.W.'s immediate superior), Steve Trevor Jr. (played again by Lyle Waggoner), who because Wonder Woman was "immortal" appeared to be the same age as the heroine -- or, more accurately, she appeared to be the same age as he. Other additions to the property included IADC's all-purpose computer I.R.A. (voiced by Tom Kratochzil) and Steve Jr.'s secretary, Eve (Saundra Sharp). In this revised form, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman survived on CBS until September 11, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When Wonder Woman moved from ABC to CBS for its second season, quite a few changes were imposed upon its format. First, the title was altered to The New Adventures of Wonder Woman. Second, the series' time frame was moved up from the 1940s to the 1970s, with Diana/Wonder Woman fighting contemporary baddies on behalf of the IADC (Inter-Agency Defense Command), headed by Joe Atkinson (Norman Burton). Finally, Steve Trevor was replaced by his lookalike son (and W.W.'s immediate superior), Steve Trevor Jr. (played again by Lyle Waggoner), who because Wonder Woman was "immortal" appeared to be the same age as the heroine -- or, more accurately, she appeared to be the same age as he. Other additions to the property included IADC's all-purpose computer I.R.A. (voiced by Tom Kratochzil) and Steve Jr.'s secretary, Eve (Saundra Sharp). In this revised form, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman survived on CBS until September 11, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner, (more)
- 1976
- R
When a group of teenage girls gather together for a slumber party, they spend the night relating stories of how they lost their virginity. Debra Winger makes her screen debut in this film. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noelle North, Bridget Hollman, (more)
