DEBRA WINGER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Debra Winger was born on May 16th, 1955 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with the birth name Mary Debra Winger.  Her father, Robert was a meat packer and her mother, Ruth worked as an office manager and she was raised in a family of practicing Orthodox Jews.  When she was five years old her family relocated to California and she became interested in acting during school.  At the age of fifteen she graduated from high school and traveled to Israel joining the children's army.  When she returned back to the United States she enrolled in college with the initial goals to earn a degree in criminology.     
 
When she was involved in a car accident and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, she thought all her dreams had been shattered.  She was initially partially paralyzed, lost her vision and was told she would never see again.  However, Winger chose not to believe the doctors and she made a full recovery and decided she was going to follow her dreams and pursue a profession as an actress.
 
Winger began with working as a commercial actress and had a number of small guest star roles on such television series as, "Police Woman: Task Force: Cop Killer: Part 1" (1976), "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman" (1975) and soon followed with her film debut in, "Slumber Party '57" (1976).
 
Debra's next two film roles did not benefit her career, but it was her role in the film, "Urban Cowboy" (1980) starring alongside John Travolta that gave her the real jump start she needed in Hollywood.  Her next film role also received major critical acclaim when she was the voice for, "E.T: The Extra Terrestrial" (1982) followed by a role in, "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) with Richard Gere and Louis Gossett Jr. for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. 
 
Later in her career she received two more Oscar nominations for Best Actress for her roles in, "Terms of Endearment" (1983) and "Dangerous Woman" (1993).  After she appeared on the big screen in the film, "Forget Paris" (1995) she took a six year break from the industry.  She was burnt out and Hollywood was even ready to take a break from her saying she was quite difficult to work with on set.
 
In 2001, Winger returned for a role in, "Big Bad Love".  Then in 2005 she earned an Emmy Award for her role on the television film, "Dawn Anna".  As her career progressed, she began to focus more on television and appeared on such series as, "Law & Order" (2010), "In Treatment" (2010) and soon to release in 2013 the film, "Lola Versus"  
 
Debra Winger has been married twice.  Her first husband was Timothy Hutton whom she wed in 1986 and after having one child, Emmanuel Noah Hutton, the marriage ended in 1990.  She then married Arliss Howard in 1996 and she is the step mother to Sam Howard and they have a son, Babe Howard together as well.  In 2008, Winger wrote a book titled, Undiscovered, which was about her personal recollections.
 
She continues to work in the industry and has a huge fan base.  Many hope that someday soon, Winger will be honored with a long overdo Academy Award.  

Filmography

2013 Lola Versus
2011 How It Ended
2010 In Treatment 
2010 Law & Order 
2008 Rachel Getting Married
2005 Sometimes in April
2005 Dawn Anna
2004 Eulogy
2003 Radio 
2001 Big Bad Love
1995 Forget Paris 
1993 Shadowlands 
1993 A Dangerous Woman 
1993 Wilder Napalm 
1992 Leap of Faith
1992 Sesame Street 
1990 The Sheltering Sky 
1990 Everybody Wins 1988 Betrayed 
1987 Made in Heaven 
1987 Black Widow 
1986 Legal Eagles 
1984 Mike's Murder 
1983 Terms of Endearment 
1982 An Officer and a Gentleman 
1982 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 
1982 Cannery Row 
1980 Urban Cowboy 
1979 French Postcards 
1978 James at 16 
1978 Thank God It's Friday
1978 Police Woman
1978 Special Olympics
1977 Szysznyk
1976-1977 The New Adventures of Wonder Woman
1976 Slumber Party '57