Although Cher may be better known for her music and her television show with then-husband Sonny Bono, she has made several films, one of them Moonstruck (1987), for which she received an Oscar and a Golden Globe as Best Actress.
Cher's untypical looks, rarely associated with leading actresses, add to her manner and style that is offbeat and attractive. Born in El Centro, California, Cher lived with her mother until she left school at the age of 16 because of dyslexia. Cher took acting lessons in Los Angeles, where she met Sonny Bono, who was already an established performer. The two married, eventually made records (“I Got You, Babe” was their signature song), and then got a CBS television show. Because of their flamboyant outfits, their talent, and their casual banter, the show was a tremendous hit.
When Cher was 31, the show ended, as did their marriage. Cher’s first film was William Friedkin’s Good Times (1967), in which she and Sonny, taking advantage of their popularity, played themselves. It was 15 years before Cher appeared in another feature film, Robert Altman’s Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), in which she is one of five women who return for a 20-year reunion of their James Dean fan club. The following year, Cher appeared in Mike Nichols’s Silkwood, in which she played the part of Karen Silkwood’s (Meryl Streep) lesbian coworker. For her role in Mask (1985) she received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Because of her fine performances, she was offered better roles and in 1987 appeared in three films. In Suspect Cher played an overworked public defender with the task of defending a deaf-mute street bum in what seems to be an open-and-shut case, and in The Witches of Eastwick Cher is one of three women (the others are Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer) consorting with the devil, played by the inimitable Jack Nicholson. Her best performance, one that won the awards that year, was as the widow in Moonstruck. In this wonderful romantic comedy, replete with a full moon and the opera La Bohème, Cher is transformed by her relationship with the baker/opera buff played by Nicolas Cage.
In 1990, Cher played a mother who is used to “moving on” when a lasting relationship threatens in Mermaids and in 1995 played a housewife whose life is threatened in Faithful. After a role in If These Walls Could Talk (1996), she again had an excellent role, this time in Tea with Mussolini (1999). Although the cast included Joan Plowright, Dame Judi Dench, and Maggie Smith, it was Cher’s role as the eccentric Jewish American that won the plaudits.
Perhaps because of her singing career (Cher was the oldest woman ever to have a number-one hit), television work, and theatrical performances, Cher has not appeared in as many films as other actresses. Cher has, however, made some documentaries, including one about ex-husband Sonny as well as some workout tapes. In 2002–03 she made a national singing tour, performing in many cities.
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