Biography
Who is Debra Winger?
Early life and background
Mary Debra Winger was born on May 16, 1955, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She grew up in an Orthodox Jewish family with her parents, Robert Winger and Ruth Felder. As a young adult, she attended California State University, Northridge, where she studied criminology and sociology without completing a degree.
At age 18, she suffered a severe head injury from a truck accident that left her partially paralyzed and blind for ten months. During her recovery, she decided to move to California and pursue a career in acting.
Acting career highlights
Debra Winger began her acting career with roles in television and film during the late nineteen seventies. She gained widespread recognition for her major film roles in Urban Cowboy in 1980 and An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982. Her performance in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
She received two additional Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her work in Terms of Endearment in 1983 and Shadowlands in 1993. Over the decades, she appeared in numerous other feature films, including Legal Eagles, Black Widow, Betrayed, and Rachel Getting Married. She also starred in the Netflix television series The Ranch from 2016 to 2020.
Personal life and family
Debra Winger was married to actor Timothy Hutton from 1986 to 1990, and they had a son together. In 1996, she married actor and director Arliss Howard, and they had a son in 1997. She is also a stepmother to her second husband's son from a prior marriage.
Throughout her life, she has pursued various educational and activist interests, including serving as a teaching fellow at Harvard University and supporting reconciliation efforts in Israel.
Birthday and age
Debra Winger was born on May 16, 1955, which makes Debra 71 years old today. That birthday falls under the Taurus sign. Debra shares the date with 37 other famous people.
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