Cybill Shepherd Biography

Birth Name : Cybill Lynne Shepherd 

Date of Birth : 18 February 1950, Memphis, Tennessee, USA 

Height : 5' 8" (1.73 m) 

Occupation : Actress, singer

Cybill Lynne Shepherd was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Patty, a homemaker, and William Shepherd, a small business owner. Named after her grandfather Cy, and her father, Bill, Shepherd's career began at a young age in modeling, when she won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" contest in 1966 and the "Model of the Year" contest in 1968. She became a fashion icon and went on to grace the cover of every major magazine as well as famously act as spokesperson for L'Oreal. This lead to her acting and on screen debut in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show. 

Shepherd's blonde beauty soon caught the eye of another Hollywood name - up-and-coming director Peter Bogdanovich first saw her face on the cover of Glamour magazine and soon after, sought her out to play a small-town temptress in his new film, "The Last Picture Show" (1973). A huge hit with audiences and critics alike - and the winner of several Academy Awards - "Show" offered a remarkable showcase for Shepherd's allure, most notably in a pair of highly erotic nude scenes.

However, Shepherd got another chance to rebuild her career when director Martin Scorsese cast her in "Taxi Driver" (1976), playing a savvy political campaign worker who goes on a disastrous date with Robert De Niro's murderous Travis Bickle. The positive reaction did not last long - according to many in Hollywood, Shepherd's celebrity status was due to her relationship with Bogdanovich, and top directors were reluctant to cast her in quality projects. A string of flops soon followed, including "Silver Bears" (1978), "Americathon" (1979), and an ill-advised remake of "The Lady Vanishes" (1979). By 1980, Shepherd was reduced to starring in a low-budget science fiction film called "The Return" with Jan-Michael Vincent. Her romance with Bogdanovich had also come to an end, due in no small part to a rekindled fling with Elvis Presley. But that too came to a halt, and Shepherd returned to Memphis, where she married a local car dealer, David Ford, and gave birth to a daughter, Clementine, in 1980 - all but washed up at the age of 30.