Jessica Lange: biography, filmography and personal life (photo)

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The beautiful blonde appeared on the screens back in the seventies of the twentieth century. But even now her roles attract the attention of many fans around the world. It seems that even a few decades have not been able to affect her exquisite beauty, and if her acting talent has changed, then only for the better. How did Jessica Lange achieve success and how does she live in her spare time? Read about this and much more in the article.

Childhood of the actress

Jessica Phyllis Lange (that's her full name) was born in a town called Cloquet. Her father was a traveling salesman, so the family constantly moved from place to place. During her childhood, Jessica changed eighteen different cities. But even the constant school changes did not prevent her from studying well. In her free time, the girl was engaged in drawing. Her father had a very emotional and positive nature. This significantly affected the worldview of Jessica, it always seemed to her that at any moment something could happen to her.incredible. After successfully graduating from school, the girl received a scholarship at the University of Minnesota and went to study drawing. But only a year passed before Jessica Lange quit her studies and went with the artist Francisco Paco Grande to travel around America. She did not like the life of a hippie with a young Spaniard for very long, and soon she decided to radically change everything by leaving for Paris. Even before the start of their trip to America, Jessica and Francisco got married, and although they broke up quite soon, the divorce would happen only in 1981, and the ex-husband managed to sue the successful actress for monetary compensation.

Years in France

In Paris, Jessica Lange decided to study acting, namely the art of pantomime. She entered the school where the famous mime Etienne de Croix taught. The talented girl soon began performing at the Opera Comic. Her appearance attracted photographers and fashion designers, so she sometimes worked as a model. But working in the fashion world is not what Jessica Lange dreamed of. Her personal life with the bohemian artist Paco Grande did not work out for her, but this did not stop her from enjoying painting in Paris. She herself returned to drawing again, and also took up photography. A couple of years after returning to America, she got a job as a waitress, along the way taking dance and acting lessons. She was invited to an American fashion agency. It was there that Lang's photo was seen by producer Dino De Laurentiis, who was looking for the main character for the film adaptation of King Kong. Jessica's beauty him immediatelycharmed.

First roles

Dino De Laurentiis invited Jessica to his film, and she played a frightened beauty faced with a giant monkey. Reviews from film critics were not very flattering, but Jessica Lange, whose biography had not been replete with bright moments before, finally became a real celebrity. She began to appear on the covers of popular magazines, she was named girl of the month. Jessica decided to continue her film career and starred in a 1979 film called All That Jazz. In 1980, there was the work “How to beat the high cost of living?”, Which did not become very successful, but allowed the actress to attract the attention of directors. She was invited to shoot the movie The Postman Always Rings Twice, where Jack Nicholson became her partner on the set. This dramatic role was an excellent success for the actress, and her talent was finally fully appreciated. At thirty-two, she became a recognized movie star.

Deserved Success

In the eighties, Jessica Lange, whose filmography up to this point consisted of not so many pictures, became truly in demand. In 1982, two successful tapes came out at once - "Francis" and "Tootsie". On the set, Jessica noticed that she lacked professional knowledge, so she studied the Stanislavsky system and the technique of actors of the thirties. The results were not slow to appear - the actress was twice nominated for an Oscar, this happened for the first time since 1943. The role in the movie "Tootsie" was the only romantic work of Jessica, after that she hadmostly images of tough and stubborn women with a difficult fate. With the advent of popularity, she herself could choose where to shoot, and dictated her terms to the directors.

Thoughts of career break

In 1996, Jessica Lange was going to leave the cinema immediately after the completion of work on the tape "A Streetcar Named Desire". But then she changed her mind. In 1997, her work in the film "A Thousand Acres" was released, and in 1998 her fans were pleased with three films at once: "Inheritance", "Cousin Betta" and "A Story from My Childhood". The following year, Jessica took part in the filming of a historical film called Titus - Ruler of Rome. In the new millennium, Prozac Nation came out on the screens, and it seems that Jessica Lange completely forgot about her plans. The career of the actress continued to develop steadily and further.

Working with Tim Burton

In 2003, The Show of the Century and Normal were released, but the main work of the period was the role in the film Big Fish, which was shot by the eccentric director Tim Burton. Despite the fact that the role of Jessica Lange was not very big, it seems that parts of the script were written specifically for this actress. She played a wife who cares for her traveling salesman husband. Maybe childhood memories of her eccentric father helped Jessica express her emotions on the screen especially expressively. Or maybe this is the strength of her acting talent. Anyway, the role came out very memorable.

Recent works

Jessica Lange,whose filmography is quite impressive, does not cease to appear on the screens at the present time. In 2004, she worked in the mini-series "Retrosexual: 80's", in 2005 she played in "Broken Flowers" and "Enter Without Knocking", as well as in a tape called "Loser". In 2007, Bonneville and Sybil were released. In 2009, the actress took part in the filming of the television film Gray Gardens. Her last notable work was the role in American Horror Story. For the appearance in this series in 2012, the actress received an Emmy. In addition, in 2012, she appeared in a cameo role in the romantic film The Vow, and in 2013, in a film called Therese Raquin.

At the moment, the filming of "The Gambler" with her participation, which is planned to be released in 2015, is underway. In addition, the sensational series still continues to be released, which means that the actress is busy working on the new season. Jessica spends most of her time on the stage of the theater, preferring productions rather than films. You can see her acting with your own eyes in New York.

Actress's personal life

Jessica Lange has three children. The eldest daughter, Alexandra, was born to the actress during a stormy romance with the famous Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. With playwright Sam Sheppard, she has a longer and more stable relationship, they have been living together for many years in a row. The children of Jessica Lange and Sam Sheppard are daughter Hannah and son Sam. The whole family lives on a ranch, in her free time from filming, the actress does housework.

UJessica has the same tattoo on her wrist as her daughter Alexandra has - an image of a Celtic cross. The actress is actively involved in the fight against AIDS and visits African countries as part of humanitarian missions. She works with UNICEF and is a goodwill ambassador.