Aurora Starchild
Word on the street is that Michelle Pfeiffer is retired, however, it’s thankfully untrue. While the blonde bombshell did once take a 5-year hiatus, it was many years ago. The Golden Globe winner and thrice Oscar-nominated actress is still very much sharing her talents in the Hollywood studios, having just starred in The First Lady and with more projects in the works.
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Michelle Pfeiffer’s Early Career Began With a Beauty Pageant
The 64-year-old Witches of Eastwick actress has had a 45-year-long acting career. Born April 29, 1958 in Santa Ana, California, Pfeiffer’s Hollywood career began when she was still a sophomore at Golden West College. After winning the Miss Orange County beauty contest and placing 6th for Miss California in 1978, she landed a casting agent and immediately started getting hired. How could she not?
Michelle first popped onto America’s screens in a single episode of Fantasy Island in 1978 (although she returned for a second episode in 1981). The next year, she was cast in the TV series The Delta House. Her character was quite accurately named “The Bombshell.” After that, Pfeiffer was cast in several TV series and TV movies including The Solitary Man, CHIPs, and Enos. Her first feature film was a comedy called The Hollywood Knights in 1980. Pfeiffer played Samantha in 10 episodes of the TV series B.A.D. Cats that same year, followed by Cordelia in the 1981 murder mystery Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen.
From TV to Cult Classics, Pfeiffer Has Wowed Audiences in Nearly Every Genre and Theme
After being cast in three more TV movies in 1981, Pfeiffer played Stephanie, the leader of the Pink Ladies, in Grease 2. It was considered a flop upon release but later became a cult classic. But any feelings of disappointment in Pfeiffer surely were quickly assuaged when she starred as Elvira in Scarface. From that point on, she was in cult classic after cult classic. She played Isabeau, the woman who was a hawk for 12 hours a day, in 1983’s Lady Hawk, costarring with the hunky Rutger Hauer as well as Matthew Broderick.
Michelle Pfeiffer was in The Witches of Eastwick in 1987 and Dangerous Liaisons in 1988. She co-starred with Al Pacino in Frankie and Johnnie in 1991. Then she was Catwoman in Batman Returns in 1992. She was the ultimate femme fatale, slaying Hollywood and hearts everywhere. At one point, she even starred in Coolio’s music video for “Gangsta’s Paradise.” She played the vixen fairy Queen Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rita in I Am Sam, Ingrid in White Oleander.
The Truth Behind Michelle Pfeiffer’s “Retirement”
And then she disappeared. For five whole years, Michelle Pfeiffer was nowhere to be found, at least not in the movie theatres. For as prolific an actress as she, to drop out of the spotlight so suddenly raised many an eyebrow. Word on the street was that she’d retired.
But it turns out that there was a very good reason for Michelle Pfeiffer’s hiatus, or mini-retirement, so to speak. That reason can be explained with one word: Motherhood.
It wasn’t even that she’d become pregnant. In fact, she had been pregnant but managed to bring her kids with her to work for quite some time.
In 1981, Michelle Pfeiffer married actor and director Peter Horton, but they divorced in 1988. Then she entered into a three-year relationship with a Twelfth Night costar (from the NY Shakespeare Festival, not a film) Fisher Stevens. Fisher’s mom, Sally, once told People that the couple were very “affectionate” and thought about having children. But when their relationship ended, without children, Pfeiffer decided to take matters into her own hands and adopt.
Claudia Rose Pfeiffer Was Adopted in 1993
She adopted Claudia Rose in March of 1993, when Claudia was just a newborn. But adoption proceedings tend to take some time, so by the time Michelle could officially call the baby her own, she had fallen in love with TV writer and producer David Kelley. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pfeiffer and Kelly fell madly in love after a blind date and got married shortly after. Claudia was 8 months old at their wedding.
“The adoption process was already in motion when he and I met,” Pfeiffer told Good Housekeeping in 2007. “So, when she came, he and I had only been together for about two months. So, we had this child with us right away, and most people don’t have that. But I really got to see him in a situation that certainly would separate the boys from the men.”
John Henry Kelley II Was Born in 1994
The producer and actress soon had a biological child together. John Henry Kelley II was born in August of 1994, making him just over a year younger than his sister Claudia. This puts a bit more perspective into just how hard Michelle Pfeiffer worked for her career. She had not one but two very little children while she was filming everything between The Age of Innocence and White Oleander.
“They went everywhere with me,” Pfeiffer told THR. But after a point, her children needed to be in school, and it was no longer feasible to force them to be nomadic. She told THR that it became a hassle. “‘Well, I’ll only shoot in the summer, and I’ll only shoot here, and I’ll only blah, blah, blah, blah,’ and finally it was just too much trouble to hire me,” she said.
That’s when Michelle dropped out of the Hollywood scene. It was from 2002 to 2007. She was staying at home, being a momma to her two growing children. During that time, the paparazzi had also become unbearable and were making Pfeiffer and her family feel uncomfortable. So, they packed up and left Los Angeles, relocating closer to the Bay Area.
Pfeiffer Didn’t Like Hearing That She’d Retired
“I would start to hear that I had retired,” she told THR. “And I’d be like, ‘Wait, no.’”
She returned as Rosie in the Rom-Com I Could Never Be Your Woman. Then came Hairspray, Stardust, Dark Shadows, and an induction into the Marvel Universe with Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: End Game. She was Queen Ingrith in Maleficent, starring alongside Angelina Jolie. More recently, Pfeiffer played Betty Ford in the TV series The First Lady. And there is more to come, including another Ant-Man sequel.
“The kinds of roles you’re offered change as you get older and, in many ways, they’re a lot more interesting now,” she told THR. “Like, I’m in Marvel world, who would have thought?”
These days, Pfeiffer’s children are grown adults in their late 20s. She’s still with David and they’re approaching their 30-year anniversary. And as for Pfeiffer’s retirement? That doesn’t seem to be happening any time soon. This is her second wind.
