Candice Bergen

Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress who achieved widespread recognition for playing the title role in the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown and attorney Shirley Schmidt on the ABC drama series Boston Legal. Over her career, she has won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, alongside nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award.

Bergen was born on May 9, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, to Frances Bergen, a model, and Edgar Bergen, a ventriloquist, comedian, and actor. Raised in Beverly Hills, she attended the Westlake School for Girls and made early radio and television appearances with her father. She later attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she was elected Homecoming Queen and Miss University. After failing two courses, she left during her sophomore year, though the university awarded her an honorary doctorate in 1992. Before pursuing acting full time, she worked as a fashion model, appearing on Vogue covers, and trained at New York City's HB Studio.

Bergen made her feature film debut in Sidney Lumet's ensemble drama The Group (1966). She quickly followed this with roles in major films such as The Sand Pebbles (1966), The Day the Fish Came Out (1967), Live for Life (1967), and The Magus (1968). Through the early 1970s, she built her screen resume with appearances in The Adventurers (1970), Getting Straight (1970), the Western Soldier Blue (1970), The Hunting Party (1971), Carnal Knowledge (1971), T.R. Baskin (1971), 11 Harrowhouse (1974), Bite the Bullet (1975), and The Wind and the Lion (1975).

Her film career earned critical acclaim in 1979 when she starred in the romantic comedy Starting Over, receiving Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress. In 1982, she portrayed photographer Margaret Bourke-White in Gandhi, earning a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Her subsequent film credits include Rich and Famous (1981), Miss Congeniality (2000), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), The Women (2008), Bride Wars (2009), Book Club (2018), and Let Them All Talk (2020).

In 1988, Bergen landed her signature role as television reporter Murphy Brown. The sitcom ran for ten seasons, earning her seven Emmy nominations and five wins, as well as two Golden Globe Awards, before she reprised the role in a 2018 reboot. In 2005, she joined Boston Legal as founding partner Shirley Schmidt, earning two additional Emmy nominations across five seasons. Bergen was also the first female host of Saturday Night Live and the first woman to join its Five-Timers Club. She hosted the talk show Exhale on Oxygen and guest-starred on shows including Sex and the City, House, Seinfeld, and Will & Grace.

Beyond screen roles, Bergen made her Broadway debut in Hurlyburly (1984) and returned for revivals of The Best Man (2012) and Love Letters (2014). She has worked as a photojournalist, painted custom designs on handbags for charity, and published two memoirs, Knock Wood (1984) and A Fine Romance (2015). Throughout her life, she has also engaged in political activism, supporting George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign and participating in notable public demonstrations.