Oscar winner Shelley Winters died on January 14 of heart failure at the Rehabilitation Centre of Beverly Hills, California. She was 85, according to an Associated Press report.
Winters was born Shirley Schrift on August 18, 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri. She moved to Brooklyn, New York at the age of nine. Winters began her career modeling, soon moving on to acting, starting with summer stock productions. She later graduated to the Great White Way--appearing on Broadway in The Night Before Christmas, Rosalinda, Oklahoma!, A Hatful of Rain, Girls of Summer, The Night of the Iguana, Under the Weather, Minnie's Boys and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Winters also wrote short plays; a series of her one-acts was produced off-Broadway in 1970 under the title, One Night Stands of a Noisy Passenger.
Winters is best known for her film performances. She received her first Oscar nomination in 1952 for A Place in the Sun. She won Oscar gold for supporting roles in 1959's The Diary of Anne Frank and in 1965's A Patch of Blue. She was also nominated in 1973 for her performance in The Poseidon Adventure. One of Hollywood's most respected actresses, Winters had a long list of film credits. They include The Great Gatsby, My Man and I, Lolita, Playgirl, The Treasure of Pancho Villa, The Night of the Hunter, Wives and Lovers, The Three Sisters, Arthur! Arthur!, Alfie, Next Stop, Greenwich Village, Poor Pretty Eddy, Journey Into Fear, King of the Gypsies, City on Fire, Fanny Hill, The Delta Force, An Unremarkable Life, Stepping Out, Heavy, Jury Duty and The Portrait of a Lady. She also worked extensively on the small screen and wrote two autobiographies.
Winters had been hospitalized since an October heart attack. According to The New York TInes, Winters is survived by her companion of 19 years, Jerry DeFord, her daughter, Vittoria Gassman, and two grandchildren.
