After All These Years, Debra Winger Still Can't Stand Shirley MacLaine's Guts
It's been 25 years since Terms Of Endearment arrived in the multiplexes of America, turning virtually everyone who saw it into an emotional basketcase. And while the film swept most of the major awards at the 1984 Academy Awards, there was one integral member of the cast who left the L.A. County Music Center that night less than thrilled. That person was Debra Winger, who was none too pleased that her co-star and arch rival Shirley MacLaine took home the coveted Best Actress Award. Not only were the two on-set rivals (one potentially tall tale had Winger farting in MacLaine's face), but MacLaine famously shouted "I deserve this!" when her name was called over Winger's that night.
Flash forward to today's episode of The View, which featured an appearance from none other than Winger herself. Being the gossipy yentas that they are, The Ladies Of The View weren't about to let an opportunity to grill Winger on one of Hollywood's most famous rivalries pass them by. Well, you know the old saying that "Time heals all wounds"? Let's just say that it's not applicable in this case.
When Joy raises the issues of Debra Winger's notorious reputation in Hollywood, both Elisabeth and Sherri pile on in an attempt to get Debra to spill the beans about the legendarily cantankerous kook. But instead of taking the opportunity to be the bigger person and diffuse the situation by saying words to the effect of "what's done is done", Winger stood defiant by refusing to turn the other cheek. And proving that her case of sour grapes isn't solely limited to her narrow Oscar loss, Winger almost let us in on the (seemingly not-so-pleasant) secret of what really turned little Troy Bishop Huckleberry Fox into a blubbering mess on set. While it sadly appears that we'll never find out how many licks it took to get to the center of that Tootsie Pop, we can only speculate that it had something to do with threats of broken wind.