Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Commonly referred to by the media as the “Goddess of Pop”, she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry. Cher is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment, as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances throughout her six-decade-long career.
Cher gained popularity in 1965 as one-half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher after their song “I Got You Babe” peaked at number one on the US and UK charts. By the end of 1967, they had sold 40 million records worldwide and had become, according to Time magazine, rock’s “it” couple. She began her solo career simultaneously, releasing in 1966 the transatlantic top three single “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”. She became a television personality in the 1970s with her CBS shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, watched by over 30 million viewers weekly during its three-year run, and Cher. She emerged as a fashion trendsetter by wearing elaborate outfits on her television shows.
The two starred together in the comedy Good Times (1967), which was the feature directorial debut of William Friedkin. She then starred in the film Chastity (1969), written by Bono. Although the movie overall received poor notices, Cher did receive some positive reviews for her acting.
Cher then appeared in Robert Altman’s Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), with Sandy Dennis, Mark Patton, Karen Black, Sudie Bond, and Kathy Bates; based on the play that she had previously made her Broadway debut in. She won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting actress for Mike Nichols’s Silkwood (1983), with Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell. She then received a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Drama for Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask (1985), with Sam Elliott, Eric Stoltz, Dennis Burkley, Laura Dern, Estelle Getty, and Richard Dysart.
Her nexts films were George Miller’s The Witches of Eastwick (1987), with Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Veronica Cartwright, and Richard Jenkins; Peter Yates’s Suspect (1987), with Dennis Quaid, Liam Neeson, John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna, Fred Melamed, and Philip Bosco; and Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck (1987), with Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia; the latter she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Other notable films include Richard Benjamin’s Mermaids (1990), with Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder, Michael Schoeffling, and Christina Ricci; Paul Mazursky’s Faithful (1996), with Chazz Palminteri and Ryan O’Neal; the TV movie anthology If These Walls Could Talk (1996), with Demi Moore, Shirley Knight, Catherine Keener, CCH Pounder, Sissy Spacek, Xander Berkeley, Anne Heche, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eileen Brennan, Lindsay Crouse, Craig T. Nelson, and Rita Wilson; Franco Zeffirelli’s Tea with Mussolini (1999), with Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, and Lily Tomlin; Burlesque (2010), with Christina Aguilera, Eric Dane, Cam Gigandet, Julianne Hough, Alan Cumming, Peter Gallagher, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Dianna Agron, Tyne Stecklein, and James Brolin; and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), with Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeremy Irvine, Josh Dylan, Hugh Skinner, Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Andy García, and Streep.
She’s appeared as herself in The Player (1992), with Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Gallagher, Brion James, Cynthia Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dean Stockwell, Richard E. Grant, and Sydney Pollack; Ready to Wear (1994), with Katarzyna Figura, Anouk Aimée, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Kim Basinger, Stephen Rea, Lauren Bacall, Julia Roberts, Robbins, Lili Taylor, and Sally Kellerman; and Peter & Bobby Farrelly’s Stuck on You (2003), with Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eva Mendes, and Seymour Cassel.
She also did voice work in Zookeeper (2011), with Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, and Leslie Bibb, and the voices of Nick Nolte, Sylvester Stallone, Adam Sandler, Don Rickles, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, and Faizon Love; and Bobbleheads: The Movie (2020), with Brenda Song, Karen Fukuhara, Julian Sands, Khary Payton, Grey Griffin, Luke Wilson, and Jennifer Coolidge.
Each review will be linked to title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Wild on the Beach (1965) – directed by Maury Dexter – cameo as herself
- Good Times (1967) – directed by William Friedkin
- Chastity (1969) – directed by Alessio de Paola
- Cher… and Other Fantasies (1979) – directed by Art Fisher – also co-writer – TV special
- Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) – directed by Robert Altman
- Silkwood (1983) – directed by Mike Nichols
- Mask (1985) – directed by Peter Bogdanovich
- The Witches of Eastwick (1987) – directed by George Miller
- Suspect (1987) – directed by Peter Yates
- Moonstruck (1987) – directed by Norman Jewison
- Mermaids (1990) – directed by Richard Benjamin
- The Player (1992) – directed by Robert Altman – cameo as herself
- Ready to Wear (1994) – directed by Robert Altman – cameo as herself
- Faithful (1996) – directed by Paul Mazursky
- If These Walls Could Talk (1996) – also co-directed with Nancy Savoca – TV movie
- Tea with Mussolini (1999) – directed by Franco Zeffirelli
- Stuck on You (2003) – directed by Peter & Bobby Farrelly – cameo as herself
- Burlesque (2010) – directed by Steven Antin
- Zookeeper (2011) – directed by Frank Coraci
- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) – directed by Ol Parker
- Bobbleheads: The Movie (2020) – directed by Kirk Wise
- Artist in Residence (202-) – directed by Raymond De Felitta
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