Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (born April 29, 1958 in Santa Ana, California) is an American actress.
She was the ‘It Girl’ of film during the 1980s and 1990s, having become famous through her earlier roles like Grease 2 and Scarface. Then she was less active in the film industry in the late 1990s and in the 2000s, having taken time off to spend time with her children and second husband, David E. Kelley (married since 1993). Eventually, however, she began a rather rapid career revival in the 2010s.
Her sister is actress Dedee Pfeiffer.
Selected filmography:
- Delta House (1979) as The Bombshell
- The Hollywood Knights (1980) as Suzie Q
- Grease 2 (1982) as Stephanie Zinone
- Scarface (1983) as Elvira Hancock
- Into the Night (1985) as Diana
- Ladyhawke (1985) as Isabeau d'Anjou
- Sweet Liberty (1986) as Faith Healy
- The Witches of Eastwick (1987) as Sukie Ridgemont
- Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) as Brenda Landers
- Married to the Mob (1988) as Angela de Marco
- Tequila Sunrise (1988) as Jo Ann Vallenari
- Dangerous Liaisons (1988) as Madame Marie de Tourvel
- The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) as Susie Diamond
- The Russia House (1990) as Katya Orlova
- Frankie & Johnny (1991) as Frankie
- Batman Returns (1992) as Selina Kyle / Catwoman
- Love Field (1992) as Louise Irene "Lurene" Hallett
- Wolf (Mike Nichols) (1994) as Laura Alden
- Dangerous Minds (1995) as LouAnne Johnson
- One Fine Day (1996) as Melanie Parker
- The Prince of Egypt (1998) as Tzipporah (voice)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) as Titania
- What Lies Beneath (2000) as Claire Spencer
- i am sam (2001) as Rita Harrison Williams
- White Oleander (2002) as Ingrid Magnussen
- Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) as Eris (voice)
- Stardust (2007) as Lamia
- Hairspray (2007) as Velma Von Tussle
- I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007) as Rosie Hanson
- Chéri (2009) as Léa de Lonval
- New Year's Eve (2011) as Ingrid Withers
- Dark Shadows (2012) as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
- The Family (2013) as Maggie Blake
- Murder on the Orient Express (2017) as Mrs. Caroline Hubbard / Linda Arden
- Mother (2017) as Woman
- The Wizard of Lies (2017) as Ruth Madoff
- Marvel Cinematic Universe as Janet van Dyne / The Wasp I:
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) as Queen Ingrith
- The First Lady (2022) as Betty Ford
Her work provides examples of:
- Action Girl:
- She is quite skilled with a whip. She did her own whip scenes as Catwoman in Batman Returns, and her trainer, who also trained Harrison Ford for Indiana Jones, went on record saying she was better than him with one.
- She plays a retired action girl in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — the MCU's original Wasp. Flashbacks and action scenes in those movies depict her as still capable of looking after herself in dangerous situations.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Many of her characters have a tendency to be these. Ingrid in White Oleander might be the biggest example of this.
- The Cameo: Has an uncredited one on a Picket Fences episode (her husband was the producer).
- Career Resurrection:
- Managed to keep her role in Scarface, despite Grease 2 threatening to consign her to the Hollywood Hype Machine.
- She took some time off in the early 2000's to raise her children and just enjoy motherhood. She made a triumphant return to acting in 2007, with roles in Stardust and Hairspray.
- Pulled it off again for a third time in 2017 after taking some time off again in 2012 with roles in The Wizard of Lies, mother!, Murder on the Orient Express and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
- Creator Backlash: Considers several of her films (specifically Grease 2, A Thousand Acres, and I Could Never Be Your Woman) to be disappointments. She has also gone on record stating that as a rule she only watches her films once, and that is it. Averted with One Fine Day, which didn't do well but she believes it's a good movie nonetheless.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: In some of her films. i am sam for one, where she starts off as a pretentious bitch and becomes, well, much kinder in the end. Her role in Dark Shadows could be considered this too, as her attitude toward the protagonist becomes much warmer as the movie goes on. It was also attempted in Scarface.
- Doing It for the Art: Once famously said she would act for free, the money just being compensation for being in the public eye.
- Hidden Depths: If anyone watches her musical roles, they'll find that her singing voice is lovely.
- Shout-Out: Gets name-dropped in two separate hit songs from 2014-2015: "Riptide" by Vance Joy and "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson. She gleefully described how embarrassed her kids were by the latter.
- Star-Derailing Role: Grease 2 infamously almost cost her a role in Scarface.
- Those Two Actors: Did four films with Robert De Niro — Stardust, New Year's Eve, Malavita and The Wizard of Lies. She joked that she was excited to work with him the first two times... Only to discover they had no scenes together.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Was listed in People's annual "50 Most Beautiful People" issue a record six times, and was widely described as the most beautiful woman in the world in her heyday.
