Deborah Brace Winters (born November 27, 1953) is an American film and television actress and realtor who has appeared in films such as ''

Kotch ''Kotch'' is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Jack Lemmon and starring Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman, and Ellen Geer. Adapted by John Paxton from Katharine Topkins' 1965 novel of the same name, the ...

'', '' The People Next Door'', ''

Class of '44 ''Class of '44'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film based on the memoirs of screenwriter Herman Raucher. Directed by Paul Bogart, it is structured as a sequel to the 1971 film '' Summer of '42'' which recounted the events in th ...

'' and the television miniseries '' The Winds of War''.

Early life

Deborah Winters was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, the daughter of Ralph Winters, head of television casting for

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

for 28 years, and actress Penny Edwards.New York Times (Deborah Winters)
/ref> She began her film and television career at age five after moving to New York, where she attended the

Professional Children's School Professional Children's School (PCS) is a not-for-profit, college preparatory school geared toward working and aspiring child actors and dancers in grades six through twelve. The school was founded in New York City in 1914 to provide an academic ed ...

. She later commenced professional training at the

Stella Adler Studio of Acting The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (formerly Stella Adler Conservatory) is a prestigious acting school that was founded by actress and teacher Stella Adler.

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She returned to

in 1968, where she studied acting under

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Winters continued working, appearing in commercials for

Kinney Shoes The G.R. Kinney Company was an American manufacturer and retailer of shoes from until . Its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, symbol KNN, began in March 1923. The shoe concern was started by George Romanta Kinney whose father ran a genera ...

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

, Lincoln-Mercury,

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. ...

, and others. In 1966, she received her first major screen role in the

Fred Coe Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe (December 23, 1914 – April 29, 1979) was an American television producer and director most famous for '' The Goodyear Television Playhouse''/''The Philco Television Playhouse'' in 1948-1955 and '' Playhouse 90'' from ...

comedy-drama, ''

Me, Natalie ''Me, Natalie'' is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe about a homely young woman from Brooklyn who moves to Greenwich Village and finds romance with an aspiring painter. The screenplay by A. Martin Zweiback is based on an orig ...

''.

Film and television career

Winters was first cast in the 1968 motion picture ''

'', opposite

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awa ...

James Farentino James Farentino (February 24, 1938 – January 24, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in nearly 100 television, film, and stage roles, among them '' The Final Countdown'', ''Jesus of Nazareth'', and '' Dynasty''. Career Born in Brooklyn, N ...

, and

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Y ...

. She followed shortly afterwards with a second co-starring role opposite

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...

in his first film, the 1969 '' Hail, Hero!'', directed by David Miller. This was followed by a starring role in the ''

CBS Playhouse ''CBS Playhouse'' is an American anthology drama television series that aired on CBS from 1967 to 1970. Airing twelve plays over the course of its run, the series won ten Primetime Emmy Awards and featured many noteworthy actors and playwrights. ...

'' production of ''The People Next Door'' which led to the motion picture remake the following year. ''The People Next Door'' received positive reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

said in his ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' review, "Deborah Winters, is disturbing at first because you think she's too mannered. Gradually the mannerisms become indispensable to the characterization."

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadi ...

cast Winters as the female lead opposite

Walter Matthau Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), '' King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a ...

in his sole directorial project, ''

'' in 1971. ''Time'' wrote of Winters in its October 11, 1972, review, "Winters is one of the few young actresses with comic timing." Winters continued acting with starring roles in film and episodic television including '' Blue Sunshine'' (1978), ''

The Outing "The Outing" is the 57th episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. First aired on February 11, 1993 on NBC, it is the 17th episode of the fourth season. In this episode, a reporter publicly "outs" Jerry and George as a homosexual couple, and they stru ...

'' (1987), and ''

Lottery! ''Lottery!'' is an American anthologic drama that premiered on ABC on September 9, 1983. The series aired for one season of 17 episodes and starred Ben Murphy as Patrick Sean Flaherty, and Marshall Colt as Eric Rush. ''Lottery!'' centered on o ...

''.

Personal life

Winters is married to Warren Chaney. , she worked as a real estate agent.

Selected filmography

Film

*''

'' (1969) – Betty *'' Hail, Hero!'' (1969) – Becky *'' The People Next Door'' (1970) – Maxie Mason *''

'' (1971) – Erica Herzenstiel *''Cilali Ibo Teksas fatihi'' (1972) *''

'' (1973) – Julie *''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist metatheatric play about the relationship among authors, the ...

'' (1976) – The Ingenue *'' Blue Sunshine'' (1978) – Alicia Sweeney *''

'' (1987) – Eve Ferrell / Young Arab Woman / Old Arab Woman *''Behind the Mask'' (1992) – Annie Strayton

Television

*'' Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo'' (1977) – Cindy Beck *''Crisis in Sun Valley'' (1978) – Sandy *'' The Winds of War'' (1983) – Janice Lacouture Henry *'' Little Girl Lost'' (1988) – File Clerk

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Deborah 1953 births Living people American film actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from Houston American television actresses American stage actresses American voice actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American real estate brokers