Debra Lynn Winger is a legendary American actress who became one of the top Hollywood actresses in the 1980s.
She appeared in several hit movies, including An Officer and a Gentleman, Legal Eagles, Terms of Endearment, Urban Cowboy, Shadowlands, Black Widow, The Lovers, Betrayed, Forget Paris, The Warriors, Radio, Leap of Faith, Everybody Wins, Made in Heaven, Thank God It’s Friday, Boychoir, Big Bad Love, and Women Make Film.
Throughout her career, Winger has repeatedly stepped away from the movie industry to live life on her own terms. Despite becoming a part of various blockbuster movies, she still considers herself an outsider to Hollywood.
Debra was born in Cleveland, Ohio, into an orthodox Jewish family. Her father, Robert Winger, was a meat packer, and her mother, Ruth, used to work as an office manager. After spending the first six years of her life in Cleveland, she relocated with her family to California.
Once she finished high school, the Legal Eagles star traveled to Israel, where she worked as a kibbutz and served in the army for nearly three months. The actress returned to America in the early 1970s, where she pursued her college education.
Debra was still in college when she took a job at an amusement park, where she suffered a severe accident and went into a coma. During her recovery period in the hospital, she thought of becoming an actress.
She started her career by appearing in several commercials before landing the role of Debbie in the 1976 film Slumber Party ’57. The actress then went on to appear in ABC’s TV series, Wonder Woman and played the role of Drusilla which opened more avenues for her.
Her first breakthrough role in the film industry was in Urban Cowboy a 1980s film in which she played a lead role opposite John Travolta. Following the film’s success, Winger became Hollywood’s mainstream actress and continued working in hit movies one after the other.
As for her personal life, the actress married twice after having several affairs with multiple men, including Andrew Rubin, Bob Kerrey, and Nick Nolte.
Her first marriage was with actor Timothy Hutton – the couple stayed together for four years from 1986 to 1990 and welcomed one son together. The marriage ended in divorce.
Six years after her first marriage, Debra tied the knot with actor and director Arliss Howard after meeting him on the set of 1993 movie, Wilder Napalm.
In 1997, Winger welcomed her second son with Arliss. She is also a stepmother to Howard’s son from his previous marriage.
Today at the age of 67, Debra Winger looks as stunning as ever – the actress is quite active on her Instagram account, where she posts her old and new photos quite frequently.
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