One of the most respected actresses of the golden age of Hollywood. Although she didn't have stunning looks, she competed against the best of them. She proved to everyone that great work would never go unnoticed. She wrote several "tell all" biographies that ruffled a few feathers throughout the industry. She was known for being very vocal about her opinions, even if that means offending a few people. She studied at The Actor's Studio in New York.

Her father was Jonas Schrift, her mother was Rose Schrift, and her sister was Blanche Schrift.Her early acting training was under the tutelage of actor Charles Laughton.Was roommates with Marilyn Monroe when they were both starting out in Hollywood.Taught Marilyn Monroe how to "act" pretty by tilting her head back, keeping her eyes lowered and her mouth partly openedBorn at 12:05am-CDTGodmother of actor Sally Kirkland. Kirkland, also an ordained minister, conducted the wedding ceremony between Winters and Gerry DeFord ten hours before Winters died.Made her Broadway debut as Ado Annie in "Oklahoma!" - five years into its run.Has the distinction of currently being the highest ranked female performer on The Oracle of Bacon's list of the top 1000 performers based upon their "center of the film universe" average number. Winter's average link number is 2.696842, placing seventeenth on the list. This places her well above Kevin Bacon, who is currently ranked 1161st, despite being the original focus of the quirky game of linking actors through their co-stars.Measurements: 37-26 1/2 -36 (as a pin-up starlet in the 1950s)Godmother of Laura Dern.She donated her Oscar for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) to the Anne Frank museum.In The Poseidon Adventure (1972), she plays an award winning swimmer and in A Place in the Sun (1951), she can't swim and drowns.Daughter with Vittorio Gassman, Vittoria Gassman AKA Vittoria-Gina is a physician.Played the Marx Brothers' mother Minnie in the Broadway musical "Minnie's Boys," which ran at the Imperial Theatre for 80 Performances from Mar 26 to May 30, 1970. It was the penultimate performance of her eight Broadway appearances. She appeared in only one more Broadway show, "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds," which ran at the Biltmore Theatre for 16 performances March 14-26, 1978.In her most important films such as A Place in the Sun (1951), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Lolita (1962), A Double Life (1947), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and many others, her character is murdered.Fan of the TV show "Babylon 5" (1994).Suffered a heart attack on October 14, 2005.On the 6 July, 1972 episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962), she grew tired of Oliver Reed's attitude towards women. They had a heated conversation and, after Winters told Reed what she thought of his opinions, she left the set. The show continued with Reed going on about women while Johnny Carson looked at him in a daze. Shortly afterward, Winters appeared from stage left, unannounced to Reed and to the shock of Carson. She was carrying a champagne bucket of ice and water and surprised Reed by dumping it over his head. Reed was furious over this and tried to attack her but crew members intervened. The show broke for commercial break. When it resumed, both actors were gone.Her marriage to Anthony Franciosa broke up when he had an affair with Lauren Bacall. During their affair, Bacall called up Winters and complained, "I've been waiting for Tony for an hour. Where the hell is he?" Shelley said, "You're complaining to me because my husband is late for a date with you?" Bacall answered, "If your husband doesn't respect your marriage, why should I?"She had a part in Always (1985) and filmed a few scenes, but at one point she had a tantrum and left the set. Her agent pleaded with her to go back and resume her role, but she refused and her character was replaced. She does not appear in the final film.Shirley Schrift took her mother's maiden name (Winter) as her stage name and added Shelley for her favorite poet. When she saw the call sheet for A Double Life (1947) she discovered that Universal had added an "s", making her Shelley Winters.Attended Thomas Jefferson High School in New York City.Showed up drunk on her first day of shooting of The Linguini Incident (1991) and was fired by director Richard Shepard.When Shelley and Marilyn Monroe were roommates in the late 1940s in Hollywood, Shelley said that one day she had to step out and asked Marilyn to "wash the lettuce" for a salad they were to share for dinner. When she got back to the apartment, Marilyn (aparently new to the art of cooking) had the leaves of lettuce in a small tub of soapy water and was scrubbing them clean.In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by either Lidia Simoneschi, Dhia Cristiani or Rosetta Calavetta. She was once dubbed by Wanda Tettoni in Cry of the City (1948) and once by Miranda Bonansea in Behave Yourself! (1951). Gabriella Genta lent her voice to Winters in the role of Belle Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure (1972).