Oscar-nominated Debra Winger is one of the most enigmatic actresses of her generation. She burst onto the film scene in 1980 with “Urban Cowboy” and in the course of the next three years, she was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards (for “Urban Cowboy” twice, “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Terms of Endearment”) as well as two Oscar nominations (for “Officer” and “Terms”). To many female moviegoers in particular, Winger embodied the kind of tough, self-sufficient woman that they aspired to become, yet there was always room within Winger’s characters for love with the right person.
Post-1983, Winger continued to work steadily, earning a fifth Golden Globe nod for 1993’s “A Dangerous Woman” as well as a third Oscar nomination and second BAFTA nom for 1993’s “Shadowlands.” However, after 1995’s romantic comedy “Forget Paris,” Winger virtually disappeared from high-profile films, choosing a semi-retirement with occasional film work now and then. The idea of retiring at the peak of one’s career was almost unheard of at that time and even inspired Rosanna Arquette‘s 2002 documentary “Searching For Debra Winger.” She made a triumphant return to high-profile movies in 2008 as Anne Hathaway‘s mother in Jonathan Demme‘s “Rachel Getting Married.” Winger is currently co-starring in Netflix’s comedy series “The Ranch.”
So let’s raise a glass to an actress who has been determined to do things her own way and has had enormous success doing it. Tour our photo gallery featuring her 10 greatest screen performances, ranked worst to best.
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10. BETRAYED (1988)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Costa-Gavras. Writer: Joe Eszterhas. Starring Debra Winger, Tom Berenger, John Heard, John Mahoney.
Winger is always at her best playing conflicted characters, and few are more conflicted than FBI agent Cathy Weaver/aka Katie Philips who goes undercover in a small farm town to investigate a potential white supremacist group. She is befriended by (and falls in love with) family man Gary Simmons (Tom Berenger) only to realize too late that Gary is the actual leader of the neo-Nazi group. She wants out of the assignment, now being torn between her love of Gary and her love for the country. Under Costa-Gavras’ direction, Winger communicates every bit of her character’s emotional anguish in one of her better performances from this period.
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9. THE SHELTERING SKY (1990)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Bernardo Bertolucci. Writers: Bernardo Bertolucci, Mark Peploe, from the novel by Paul Bowles. Starring Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott, Jill Bennett, Timothy Spall.
Bernardo Bertolucci’s film version of the Paul Bowles novel is set in 1947 when an American couple Port (John Malkovich) and Kit Moresby (Winger) accompany their tourist friend George Tunner (Campbell Scott) on a trek to Algeria and into the Sahara Desert. The state of the marriage of the Moresbys, who plan to stay a year in Algeria, is shaky at best and the presence of the attractive Tunner only serves to make Kit more emotionally fragile. Winger effectively makes Kit a woman who can’t quite decide whether she wants to save her marriage or would rather be done with it entirely.
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8. LEAP OF FAITH (1992)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Richard Pearce. Writer: Janus Cercone. Starring Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich, Liam Neeson.
Phony faith healer Jonas Nightengale (Steve Martin) and his friend and manager Jane Lawson (Winger) find their truck has broken down in a small Kansas farming town. The local farmers whose crops are dying because of a lack of rain are praying for a change of weather that they believe that Jonas can provide. Local sheriff Will Braverman (Liam Neeson) sees through Jonas’ scam and tries to warn his neighbors. Meanwhile, Jane is beginning to tire of bilking innocent people and sees in Will a good man with whom she might consider settling down. While Jonas is the big flashy role in “Leap of Faith,” Winger’s Jane has the biggest character arc, and she makes the most of it.
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7. A DANGEROUS WOMAN (1993)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal. Writer: Naomi Foner. Starring Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, Gabriel Byrne, David Straihairn, Laurie Metcalf.
Winger earned her fifth Golden Globe nomination in this romantic drama as Martha Horgan, a mentally challenged young woman whose disability has kept her from holding a steady job. Martha lives with her Aunt Frances (Barbara Hershey) who is busy having her front porch repaired by handyman Mackey (Gabriel Byrne). Martha mistakes Mackey’s kindness toward her as being attracted to her, which he is, but he doesn’t want to take advantage of her. Still, Mackey’s walls of resistance soon come down. Winger never overplays Martha’s mental challenges, keeping her real so that her work doesn’t come off as a “performance.”
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6. FORGET PARIS (1995)
Image Credit: Castle Rock Entertainment/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Billy Crystal. Writers: Billy Crystal, Lowell Manz, Babaloo Mandel. Starring Billy Crystal, Debra Winger, Joe Montegna, Julie Kavner.
Although Winger can be very funny in many of her performances, she had never tackled a high-profile romantic comedy until she was paired with Billy Crystal in this, his second directorial effort. Winger plays Ellen, an airline employee working in Paris who helps NBA ref Mickey (Crystal) find the mislaid casket of his father. They soon fall in love, but the demands of each of their jobs seem to conspire to keep them apart. In addition to being very funny, Winger has a warmth and appeal that helps to make for great chemistry with Crystal, which adds enormously to the film’s feel-good vibe.
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5. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008)
Image Credit: Marc Platt Productions/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: Jonathan Demme. Writer: Jenny Lumet. Starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt. Bill Irwin, Debra Winger.
It took 13 years after “Forget Paris” for Winger to return to the world of high-profile films, here taking a strong supporting role in Jonathan Demme’s look at the effects of drug addiction on a family. Drug rehab patient Kym Buchman (Anne Hathaway) has a temporary furlough to attend her sister Rachel’s (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding, and her presence is not exactly welcomed in some quarters of the family. It seems that Kym was held responsible for her younger brother’s death, as she was driving while high and plunged their car into the water where her brother drowned. Kym blames her mother Abby (Winger) for allowing her to drive while high, and Kym’s excuse-making leads Abby to launch a diatribe against her daughter. It is at that moment that it became clear that Debra Winger is back.
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4. SHADOWLANDS (1993)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Richard Attenborough. Writer: William Nicholson, based on his play and TV film. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger, Edward Hardwicke.
Based on the television film and stage play by screenwriter William Nicholson, “Shadowlands” examines the romantic relationship between famed author C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) and married American poet Joy Davidson Gresham (Winger). The formality of their first meeting gradually relaxes into genuine feeling for one another, resulting in their marriage. But when Joy is diagnosed with cancer, Lewis finds that his Christian faith is put to the test, even as Joy tries to prepare him for her eventual death. For her performance as Joy, Winger earned her third Academy Award nomination and earned her second BAFTA nod.
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3. URBAN COWBOY (1980)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: James Bridges. Writers: James Bridges, Aaron Latham. Starring John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, Barry Corbin.
Winger burst onto the worldwide movie scene in James Bridges’ film in which Winger co-stars as Sissy, an independent young woman who meets (and eventually marries) Bud (John Travolta) at Gilley’s, the famed honky-tonk bar in Pasadena, TX where construction workers by day dress up and pretend to be cowboys at night. Winger likely fulfilled many moviegoers’ fantasies as being the first woman onscreen to be able to conquer John Travolta. For her performance as Sissy, Winger was nominated for her first two Golden Globe Awards (for Best Supporting Actress and as Best New Star of the Year) as well as getting her first nod for a BAFTA Award.
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2. AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Taylor Hackford. Writer: Douglas Day Stewart. Starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith, Louis Gossett Jr.
One of the most iconic images of the 1980s is aviation officer Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) scooping up factory worker Paula Pokrifki (Winger) in his arms and carrying through her workplace to a new life with him. Winger’s Paula is facing a dreary future with factory life, and although female workers there have the reputation of trying to trap officers into marrying them so they can better their lives, Paula finds that she has genuine feelings for Zack, who is having his own problems at the Academy with his hard-nosed instructor (Louis Gossett, Jr. in his Oscar-winning performance). For her performance as Paula, Winger earned her first Academy Award nomination and received her third nomination for the Golden Globe.
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1. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983)
Image Credit: Zade Rosenthal/Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Writer/Director: James L. Brooks. Starring Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, John Lithgow, Danny DeVito.
Arguably Winger’s greatest screen triumph was in James L. Brooks’s film, which won the Oscar as the Best Picture of 1983. Winger stars as Emma Greenway, a young woman who is feeling smothered by her controlling mother Aurora (Shirley MacLaine in her Oscar-winning performance) so she impulsively marries immature college professor Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) and moves far away from her mother. Still the bond that ties mother and daughter together is so strong that it can never be broken, particularly when tragedy strikes the Greenway family. For her performance as Emma, Winger received her second Academy Award nomination and earned her fourth Golden Globe nod.
