Editing Shirley MacLaine (section)

=== 1977–1984: Career comeback and Academy Award win ===
MacLaine started a career comeback with the drama ''[[The Turning Point (1977 film)|The Turning Point]]'' (1977), portraying a retired ballerina. Her performance in the film received critical acclaim, earning her a fourth nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She was awarded the [[Women in Film Los Angeles|Women in Film]] [[Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards#THE CRYSTAL AWARD|Crystal Award]] in 1978 for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wif.org/past-recipients |title=Past Recipients of Crystal Award |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110630083646/http://wif.org/past-recipients|archive-date=June 30, 2011 |website=wif.org}}</ref>

In 1979, she starred alongside [[Peter Sellers]] in [[Hal Ashby]]'s satirical film ''[[Being There]]''. The film received widespread acclaim with [[Roger Ebert]] writing that he admired the film "for having the guts to take this totally weird concept and push it to its ultimate comic conclusion". MacLaine received a [[British Academy Film Award]], and [[Golden Globe Award]] nomination for her performance.

In 1980, MacLaine starred in two other films about adultery, ''[[A Change of Seasons (film)|A Change of Seasons]]'' alongside [[Anthony Hopkins]] and [[Bo Derek]], and ''[[Loving Couples (1980 film)|Loving Couples]]'' with [[James Coburn]] and [[Susan Sarandon]]. Neither film was a success, with [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' calling ''Loving Couples'' "a dumb remake of a very old idea that has been done so much better so many times before, that this version is wretchedly unnecessary ... the whole project smells like high-gloss sitcom."<ref>[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19801031/REVIEWS/10310301/1023 ''Chicago Sun-Times'' review]</ref>

MacLaine and Hopkins did not get along on ''A Change of Seasons'' and the film was not a success; critics faulted the screenplay. MacLaine, however, did receive positive notices from critics. [[Vincent Canby]] wrote in his ''[[The New York Times]]'' review that the film "exhibits no sense of humor and no appreciation for the ridiculous ... the screenplay [is] often dreadful ... the only appealing performance is Miss MacLaine's, and she's too good to be true. ''A Change of Seasons'' does prove one thing, though. A farce about characters who've been freed of their conventional obligations quickly becomes aimless."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/movies|title=Movie Reviews|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 1, 2019}}</ref>

In 1983, she starred in [[James L. Brooks]]'s [[Comedy drama|comedy-drama]] ''[[Terms of Endearment]]'' (1983) playing [[Debra Winger]]'s mother. The film focuses on the strained relationship between mother and daughter over 30 years. The film emerged as a critical and commercial success at the box-office, grossing $108.4&nbsp;million, emerging as the [[1983 in film#Highest-grossing films (U.S.)|second-highest-grossing film of the year]]. The film received a leading 11 nominations at the [[56th Academy Awards]], and won five, including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. Both MacLaine and Winger earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, with the former winning the award, her first and only win in the category. Her performance also won the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}