Candice Bergen Biography

Candice Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress best known for her starring role on the television sitcom Murphy Brown.
She was born in Beverly Hills, California, the daughter of Frances Westerman and radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (whose parents, Johan Henriksson Berggren and Nilla Svensdotter Osberg, were Swedish-born immigrants who Anglicized their surname).
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As a child Candice was often referred to as "Charlie McCarthy's Little Sister", which irritated her (Charlie McCarthy being one of her father's dummies). She is also a vegetarian.

Career

She began her career as a fashion model, but soon began appearing as an actress in such films as Carnal Knowledge and Starting Over, for which she received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress. She attended the University of Pennsylvania. Bergen owned 10050 Cielo Drive but in 1969 she sold it to her friend, Sharon Tate. Tate was later murdered there.

Bergen was the first female guest host on Saturday Night Live. On Murphy Brown she played a tough television reporter. Although the show was a successful comedy, it tackled important issues: Murphy Brown, a recovering alcoholic, became a single mother and later battled breast cancer. After Murphy Brown, Bergen has appeared in character roles in films, most notably Miss Congeniality as the sweet-yet-demented pageant host, Kathy Morningstar. She also portrayed the mayor of New York in the movie Sweet Home Alabama.

In 2003, she appeared in the movie View from the Top. In January, 2005, Bergen joined the cast of Boston Legal as Shirley Schmidt, a founding partner in the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. She has also done guest appearances on the show Family Guy.

Private life

On at least one occasion, Bergen dated Henry Kissinger. In 1981, she married French film director Louis Malle. They had a daughter, Chloe Malle, in 1985 and remained married until his death by cancer in 1995.

On May 19, 1992, then Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, California. During his speech, he criticized the Murphy Brown character for ignoring the importance of fathers and bearing a child alone. His remarks caused a public discussion on family values which culminated in an episode where the television characters reacted to Quayle's comments including Brown arranging for a truck load of potatoes to be dumped in front of Quayle's residence in retaliation (a reference to an incident in which Quayle was unable to spell the word "potato").

CANDICE BERGEN PICTURES

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CANDICE BERGEN BIOGRAPHY