Editing Cher (section)

=== 1982–1987: Broadway debut, acting breakthrough and musical hiatus ===
With declining record sales and radio airplay, Cher shifted her focus to acting.{{sfn|Berman|2001|p=49}} Despite earlier aspirations, her only film credits, ''Good Times'' and ''Chastity'', were critical and commercial failures, and Hollywood did not take her seriously as an actress.{{sfn|Berman|2001|p=49}} Reflecting on this period, Cher said, "I was dropped by my [label] and couldn't get a job&nbsp;... [so] I went to Las Vegas", which she likened to an "[[elephant's graveyard]]" for fading stars.<ref name=iheart>{{Cite magazine |last=Garcia |first=Thania |date=April 2, 2024 |title=Meryl Streep Praises Cher's 'Open, Battered, Giant Heart,' Beyoncé Talks ''Cowboy Carter'' at iHeartRadio Music Awards |url=https://variety.com/2024/music/news/meryl-streep-cher-beyonce-iheartradio-awards-2024-1235957510/ |access-date=December 20, 2024 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409091109/https://variety.com/2024/music/news/meryl-streep-cher-beyonce-iheartradio-awards-2024-1235957510/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite her success performing there, she felt unfulfilled: "I was making a fortune&nbsp;... but I was dying inside."{{sfn|Wheway|2018|p=31}}

In 1982, Cher moved to New York to study acting with [[Lee Strasberg]] at the [[Actors Studio]], but skipped enrollment after auditioning for and being cast in [[Robert Altman]]'s Broadway production ''[[Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (play)|Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean]]''.<ref name=Wilson-2000/> Co-starring with [[Karen Black]] and [[Sandy Dennis]], she played a [[James Dean]] fan club member at a 20-year reunion, earning unexpectedly positive reviews.{{sfn|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=151}} [[Frank Rich]] of ''The New York Times'' praised her "cheery, ingratiating nonperformance" as a refreshing contrast in a dull [[Ensemble cast|ensemble]], suggesting the play needed more of her and less of her co-stars.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Rich |title=Stage: Robert Altman Directs Cher |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/19/theater/stage-robert-altman-directs-cher.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 19, 1982 |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203200015/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/19/theater/stage-robert-altman-directs-cher.html |access-date=March 22, 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> Altman later cast her in the [[Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (film)|film adaptation]] of the same title.{{sfn|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=151}}

[[File:RickyCher1985.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=Cher, in a spiked hairstyle and dark outfit, signs an autograph while interacting with a man in a tuxedo.|Cher attending an autograph session in New York, 1985]]

Director [[Mike Nichols]], who had seen Cher onstage in ''Jimmy Dean'', offered her the part of [[Dolly Pelliker]], the lesbian roommate of [[Karen Silkwood]] (played by [[Meryl Streep]]) in the 1983 [[biopic]] ''[[Silkwood]]''.{{sfn|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=151}} Audiences initially questioned Cher's acting ability; she later recalled attending a [[film screening]] where the crowd laughed upon seeing her name in the [[opening credits]].{{sfn|Berman|2001|p=54}} For ''Silkwood'', Cher was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] and won a [[Golden Globe Award]] in the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|same category]].{{sfn|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=151}}

The biopic ''[[Mask (1985 film)|Mask]]'' (1985) marked Cher's first critical and commercial success as a leading actress,{{sfn|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=151}} reaching number two at the box office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=mask85.htm |title=''Mask'' (1985) – Weekend Box Office Results |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=January 17, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228021134/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=mask85.htm |archive-date=December 28, 2015}}</ref> During production, Cher clashed with director [[Peter Bogdanovich]], refusing to support his call to boycott the film's promotion in protest of [[Universal Pictures]]' edits to the final cut.{{sfn|Bego|2001|pp=165–166}} While promoting the film, she remarked, "From working with Peter, it's no surprise to me that he would serve his own interests before those of the film."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/15/movies/reporter-s-notebook-cannes-sans-sun-or-hit.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Reporter's Notebook: Cannes Sans Sun or Hit |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |author-link=Aljean Harmetz |date=May 15, 1985 |access-date=March 3, 2025 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524170403/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/15/movies/reporter-s-notebook-cannes-sans-sun-or-hit.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

For her portrayal of [[Rusty Dennis]], a drug-addicted biker raising a [[Roy L. Dennis|disfigured teenage son]], Cher won the [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress]].{{sfn|Parish|Pitts|2003|p=151}} Despite critical predictions, she was ultimately left off the Oscar nomination list.<ref>{{cite news |title=An Unusual Mother: Helping Her Children Face Down Death |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214173705/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/05/11/an-unusual-mother/ |date=May 11, 1986 |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/05/11/an-unusual-mother/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 3, 2025 |last=Witt |first=Linda}}</ref> Bego suggested that her public feud with Bogdanovich and unconventional image may have contributed to the Academy's decision.{{sfn|Bego|2001|pp=166–171}} At the [[58th Academy Awards]], she wore a dramatic, tarantula-like outfit, which ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''{{'s}} Esther Zuckerman later called Cher's "Oscar revenge dress".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Zuckerman |first=Esther |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/awards-insider-the-making-of-chers-oscar-revenge-dress |title=The Making of Cher's Oscar Revenge Dress |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=February 3, 2022 |accessdate=February 20, 2022 |archive-date=February 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204081714/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/awards-insider-the-making-of-chers-oscar-revenge-dress |url-status=live}}</ref> Presenting the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] nominees, Cher quipped,
"As you can see, I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress".<ref>{{cite web |first=Hannah |last=Lack |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/cher-remember-when/index.html |title=Remember when Cher wore a towering feather headdress at the 1986 Oscars? |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=May 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211233536/https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/cher-remember-when/index.html |archive-date=February 11, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The incident garnered her much publicity.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8557447.stm |title=Talking Shop: Designer Bob Mackie |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=March 18, 2010 |access-date=January 17, 2016 |last=Hassan |first=Genevieve |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131231928/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8557447.stm |archive-date=January 31, 2016}}</ref>

Cher's May 1986 guest appearance on ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'', during which she called [[David Letterman]] "an [[asshole]]", attracted much media coverage. Letterman later recalled, "It did hurt my feelings. Cher was one of the few people I've really wanted to have on the show&nbsp;... I felt like a total fool, especially since I say all kinds of things to people."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Late Night Letterman|url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-late-night-letterman-vol-26-no-2/|last=Hall|first=Jane|date=July 14, 1986|magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]|access-date=January 4, 2019|archive-date=July 26, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726133451/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20094089,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She returned in November 1987, reuniting with Sonny for the last time before his death for an impromptu performance of "I Got You Babe". Reflecting in 2015, ''Rolling Stone''{{'s}} Andy Greene wrote, "They weren't exactly the best of friends at this point, but both of them knew it would make for unforgettable television. Had [[YouTube]] existed back then, this would have gone insanely viral the next morning."<ref>{{cite news|title=David Letterman's Top 10 Musical Moments|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/david-lettermans-top-10-musical-moments-172461/sonny-cher-i-got-you-babe-1987-162565/|last=Greene|first=Andy|date=May 6, 2015|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=January 4, 2019|archive-date=June 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620101111/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/david-lettermans-top-10-musical-moments-172461/sonny-cher-i-got-you-babe-1987-162565/|url-status=live}}</ref> That same month, Cher released ''[[The Ugly Duckling (audiobook)|The Ugly Duckling]]'', an [[audiobook]] adaptation of the [[The Ugly Duckling|1843 fairy tale]]. ''The Washington Post'' praised her as "a warm, unaffected storyteller" whose voice was "particularly suited for very young listeners".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/11/27/off-the-beaten-kiddie-tracks/8e630d63-e18a-4453-ad26-238d3aae718a/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |title=Off the Beaten Kiddie Tracks |date=November 26, 1987 |first=Dorothy |last=MacKinnon |access-date=April 19, 2025 |archive-date=February 26, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250226132126/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/11/27/off-the-beaten-kiddie-tracks/8e630d63-e18a-4453-ad26-238d3aae718a/ |url-status=live}}</ref>