Fans around the world wished they were as stunning as Debra Winger when Naval Officer Zack Mayo swept factory worker Paula off her feet and away from her job in a classic love story.
For fans lost in their dreams, the unforgettable scene from the romantic movie An Officer and a Gentleman—with Richard Gere playing Officer Zack Mayo, the handsome hero in his navy uniform—set the bar for love stories.
Debra Winger made many jealous because she got to work with the most attractive men in Hollywood.
At 67 years old, Winger still looks stunning today. She has been sharing pictures of herself on Instagram over the past few years. She first had brown hair and now has natural wavy gray hair.
Winger made her film debut in 1976 as Drusilla, the younger sister of Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman character, Diana Prince. This led to a role in the popular TV series Wonder Woman (1979). Winger was offered more appearances on the show but turned them down because she was worried about being typecast.
She doesn’t regret that decision; soon after, she found success in the early 1980s.
She earned nominations for the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for her roles in three major movies of the 1980s when her career was booming.
She starred alongside John Travolta in Urban Cowboy in 1980, during the time when he was famous for Grease (1978) and Saturday Night Fever (1977) for his dancing. She also played Paula in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Emma, a young woman dying of cancer, in Terms of Endearment (1983), alongside Shirley MacLaine as her overbearing mother Aurora.
Despite her great success, Winger took a break from acting for a while. Even now, more than 40 years after she became famous, there are still rumors about why she left.
There are often rumors about conflicts between Winger and her co-stars.
It’s been said that Winger was tired of working with the handsome Richard Gere on set, even though fans loved him.
Louis Gossett Jr., who played Sgt. Emil Foley, wrote in his book “An Actor and a Gentleman,” as excerpted on ABC News: “They had great chemistry on screen, but off camera, things were different. They kept their distance from each other.”
Gossett also claims that Winger didn’t think highly of Gere’s acting and once called him “a brick wall.” She also criticized the movie’s director, Taylor Hackford, calling him “an animal.”
It wasn’t just the characters in the movie that she found upsetting.
Also, Shirley MacLaine, a seasoned and glamorous veteran, clashed with Winger, who was known for her free-spirited nature both in real life and as her character Emma.
Their first meeting set the tone for their relationship.
In an interview with People magazine, MacLaine said, “I was wearing all my leftover fur coats from movies to get into character.” “There was Debra, wearing a miniskirt and combat boots… and I had a ‘Oh my goodness’ moment.”
This scene later became the source of Hollywood’s most famous rumors, according to People. Winger was seen as wanting more attention. According to reports, one of them even hit the other.
When both were nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars, the two women were pitted against each other.
Upon receiving the award, MacLaine said in her acceptance speech, “I deserve this!”
Despite the rumors, Winger insists that she took a break from Hollywood for personal reasons, not because of work.
“I wasn’t interested in the roles that were coming my way. I had already done them or they didn’t challenge me enough. I wanted something that pushed me more, so I focused on my personal life,” Winger told People magazine.
After starring alongside Billy Crystal in the romantic comedy Forget Paris in 1995, Winger took a break from acting for six years. During that time, she moved to New York City and married actor Arliss Howard in 1996. She became a stepmother to Howard’s son Sam, from a previous marriage, and they had a son together named Gideon Babe, born in 1997. She also has another son, Noah Hutton, whom she raised from 1986 to 1990 during her first marriage to Timothy Hutton.
Her husband directed and produced the 2001 film Big Bad Love, in which Winger co-starred with Rosanna Arquette. Her next project was the 2002 documentary Searching for Debra Winger, where Arquette explored why Winger stepped away from her career at its peak.
Winger gained attention for her roles in The Lovers (2017), Rachel Getting Married (2008), starring Anne Hathaway, and Kajillionaire (2020).
In 2021, she appeared in the anthology drama film With/In, Volume 2, in a segment titled Her Own. Her husband also starred in and directed this segment.
Reflecting on Hollywood, Winger said, “I don’t really know what Hollywood is anymore. I live beneath the sign and just find it amusing. Hollywood is a place, but I don’t think of it that way… There might be some insider circles I’m not aware of.”
