Multi-dimensional and nicely seasoned by Susan Swartz

The morning before I talked to Shirley MacLaine I spotted a
bumper sticker that said  “Multi-dimensional and loving it.” It all
seemed so synchronistic, so meant to be.
Of course I live in Sebastopol and the famous
actress/author/channeler lives in Santa Fe. Places that are
comfortable with the woo-woo.
But she said, oh no. It’s everywhere. In fact as she does her
one woman show around the country, performing in Santa Rosa last
week, the audience asks her more about mystical stuff than the
movies.
“I show them film clips of the Rat Pack and talk about Dean and
Frank. And what do they want to ask me about?  About the things in
my books. They want to know what does this memory mean? Why am I
here?
“You know why? Because the world’s in a terrible mess. The
civilization is faltering. Everyone’s looking for answers.”
I like Shirley. I loved her playing gin rummy with Jack Lemmon
in The Apartment.
And as the fierce mama in Terms of Endearment. I like that while
many scoffed at her claims of reincarnation and books on psychic
searching she helped nudge the mainstream into considering what
else is out there.
I also love that she’s 77 and vibrant. And still has those long
legs and that delighted laugh that belongs to the grinning
twinkling face we’ve known for years. As a friend says “that woman
had cute down pat.”
At her age, however, cute is not big enough. More like nicely
seasoned. Now she’s written a book called I’m Over All That.. and
Other Confessions. It’s her 13th book. Together, she’s sold 20
million books. She said she’d rather write books than make movies
but she’s still doing that too. She’s made 63 films including a new
one called Bernie with Jack Black. It’s about a funeral director in
Texas.
“I play the town bitch,” she bragged.
She also just won the Legion of Honor in France which is that
country’s most prestigious  cultural award. For those looking for
role models on how to stay passionate, relevant and visible Shirley
MacLaine will do.
She personally vows “to never stop asking why.” In France she
told a reporter that Americans are too caught up in material
things. “Everyone knows there’s something more. But in our culture
it’s considered a luxury to reflect.”
On more earthly matters she’s adamant about daily exercise –
yoga, tai chi, stretching exercises for her hips -“you have to take
care of your hips.” She lives alone with her dog, Terry, a rat
terrier, prefers hanging out with friends to Hollywood parties, had
a face lift at 50 and colors her hair red to match her spirit which
is one of the best rationalizations I’ve ever heard for covering
the gray.
Another beauty tip: “No overhead lights. They make you look like
Grandma Moses.”
Her role as Aurora, the controlling mother in Terms of
Endearment, is the one she best relates to personally. “Impossible
at times, all over the map with her emotions, funny, judgmental,
loving.” I complimented her on the scene where her hospitalized
daughter needs pain meds and no one brings her any until Aurora
rages after them. They’re delivered and she quietly says “thank
you.”
“We did that in one take,” she said. “I don’t know if that was
pure Aurora or pure Shirley MacLaine.
About the men she’s bedded, it felt so People Magazine-y to ask.
But of course I checked out that part in her book. Yes on Robert
Mitchum and Yves Montand. No on Jack Lemmon. Too nice. And Jack
Nicholson, too dangerous.
I told her that my husband says the shot of her in Irma le Douce
walking up the stairs in her green tights is forever etched in his
mind.
That brought the famous laugh.
Susan Swartz is an author and journalist in Sebastopol. You can
also read her at www.juicytomatoes.com and hear her Another Voice
commentary on KRCB-FM radio on Fridays. Email is


su***@ju***********.com