Legendary Shirley MacLaine in a rare public appearance
The Hollywood star sent a message to the audience at a New York movie theater ahead of a re-screening of "Sweet Charity," in which she starred in 1969. 92-year-old MacLaine recalled the film, which was Bob Fosse's directorial debut, and showed self-deprecating humor when speaking honestly about the box office disappointment: "Between us, it wasn't that successful."
Today it is hard to imagine that a film featuring Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr., and Chita Rivera, directed by Bob Fosse, could have been considered a failure—but that is exactly what happened to Sweet Charity upon its release in 1969. The film, which marked Fosse's directorial debut, did not succeed at the box office and received mixed reviews. Nevertheless, it earned three Oscar nominations—for music, art direction, and costume design—and MacLaine was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
Almost six decades later, 92-year-old MacLaine can laugh at that early setback. In a video released by the Southampton Playhouse cinema in New York ahead of a re-screening of the film, she shared:
"I wish I could be with you. I would like to see 'Sweet Charity' again. Remember how hard we worked on it? Between us, it wasn't that successful, so I hope you will like it."
In the film, MacLaine played Charity Hope, a dance hall dancer in Times Square searching for love. The movie was an adaptation of Fosse's 1966 musical, which was itself based on Federico Fellini's 1957 film, Nights of Cabiria. Fosse later went on to achieve massive success with films like Cabaret and All That Jazz.
In December 2025, MacLaine won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Dance Hall of Fame ceremony, and the award has been named in her honor ever since. "Receiving an award for dance is the most important recognition I could have received," she said at the ceremony. "My mother took me to a dance class when I was three because I had weak ankles, and I fell in love with it. But it also included discipline, a love for music, collaboration with others—and arriving on time. I would say that dance, and what I learned from being a part of it, is the reason I am still here."
MacLaine won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Terms of Endearment in 1984. This was her only win out of six Oscar nominations, which included roles in Some Came Running (1958), The Apartment (1960), Irma la Douce (1963), The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir (1975), and The Turning Point (1977). In recent years, she has appeared in the 2022 film American Dreamer and in two episodes of Only Murders in the Building, and she is reportedly set to star alongside Ansel Elgort in the upcoming film Lucy Boomer.
