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• Jessica Lange is an American stage and film actress who became famous for her early roles in the movies The Postman Always Rings Twice and Tootsie. With over 50 stage and screen credits, Lange was won two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes. She also won an Emmy Award in 2009 for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role in Grey Gardens.

  Lange was injured on March 17, 2009, at her cabin in Minnesota after taking a fall. She was treated for a broken shoulder, a broken collar bone, a dislocated arm and lacerations.TMZ: Jessica Lange Breaks Several Bones in Cabin Fall (March 18, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Full name: Jessica Phyllis Lange
  2. Born: April 20, 1949
  3. Birthplace: Cloquet, Minnesota
  4. Current residence: New York City, New York
  5. Has one child with Mikhail Baryshnikov
  6. Has two children with Sam Shepard
  7. Was one of the Wilhelmina Models
  8. Beat out Meryl Streep for the role of Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams
  9. Lived in Paris to study mime
  10. Current goodwill ambassador for UNICEF
  11. Was married to Paco Grande

• Early Life

  Born to a teacher and salesman, Lange studied at the University of Minnesota and then in Paris where she worked with Etienne Decroux as a mime. In 1973, she returned to New York City and took acting lessons while modeling and waitressing. It wasn't until 1976 that she was cast in her big screen debut, a remake of King Kong. While the movie was panned and her career almost destroyed before it began, she was given a second chance in a remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice in 1981.

• Memorable Roles

  Known at times to play women on the edge, Lange's performance as Frances Farmer in Frances earned the actress her first Academy Award nomination in 1982. In the same year, she was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Tootsie. She continued with challenging roles playing Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams, a volatile wife of an Army engineer in Blue Sky and the wife of a husband about to transition into becoming a woman in Normal.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Sam Shepard | King Kong | All That Jazz | Tootsie | Bonneville | Sybil | Tammy Blanchard

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