Many remember Sibylle Shepherd on the brilliantly played her role in the series “Moonlight Detective Agency”. But few people know that once the actress was disappointed in the profession and even returned to her hometown, which she left for the sake of career. Survived Sibylle and health problems, but they only made her stronger.
The girl was born in the family of a housewife and a small businessman. While still a schoolgirl, Sibylle won a small town beauty contest. Then won a number of other titles and actively built a career as a model.
It is not known whether Shepherd wanted to star in a movie, but by chance she became an actress. In 1970, director Peter Bogdanovich, standing in line at the supermarket, saw a beautiful girl on the cover of Glamour magazine. It was Sibylle.
Peter immediately said to his wife: “That’s Jacy!” So he found the performer of the main role for his movie “The Last Picture Show”, the heroine of which was named Jacy. This tape was the debut for Shepherd. The picture was admired by both critics and ordinary viewers, and Shepherd was nominated for a Golden Globe.
By the way, on the set the girl had a romance with Peter Bogdanovich. Relationships of the couple lasted 8 years. Subsequently, Shepherd starred in several more films of her lover, but all of them were waiting for a commercial failure. Detractors began to say that her career came to an end, but, as it turned out later, they were wrong.
By the way, according to the actress’s confession, Bogdanovich was the first person who treated her as an intellectually equal person. And it was he who helped her become the person she is now.
Shepherd went on to star in some not very successful films, including Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes. The movie “The Return”, which was about cows in space, she called her most unsuccessful work in life. As the actress recalled, after a series of failures, she called her mother, the latter told her to return home, which she did.
In her hometown, she began a relationship with auto parts dealer David M. Ford. She became pregnant and married. In 1979 a daughter Clementine was born, and 3 years later the couple divorced.
The actress returned to Hollywood in 1983, her first work after the break was the series “The Yellow Rose”. Despite high ratings, the series decided not to renew for a 2nd season.
Crazy popularity fell on the actress in 1985, after the release of the series “Moonlight Detective Agency”. “Chemistry” between her and Bruce Willis was so strong that it is simply amazing how the TV sets of that time did not melt from the heat of passion. One of the actors of the series admitted that with Bruce and Cybill was well very difficult to work. The series ran until 1989. The actress received for it 2 awards “Golden Globe”.
It was in “Moonlight Detective Agency” Shepherd loudly declared her comedic talent. Although once her candidacy was rejected by the director of “Traveling with my aunt”. He considered that Sibylle could not be a comedic actress. According to the actress, she was very upset by this assessment, but she was not going to give up:
“I gave up many times, but this state lasted a week or two. I always go where I need to go. No public or private humiliation has ever stopped me.”
Five years after her divorce, she married chiropractor Bruce Oppenheim. The couple had twins Ariel and Zachariah. However, after 3 years of marriage, they divorced.
In 1990, Sibylle played in the movie of her former lover Bogdanovich “Texasville”. The picture was related to the plot of “The Last Picture Show”, but the action unfolded 33 years later. In the 90’s she appeared in Woody Allen’s “Alice”, in Eugene Levy’s “Once a Lawbreaker” and a number of other films and TV series.
In 2000, the actress released a rather candid memoir, “Sybil’s Defiance,” which became a bestseller. She told about her path in the movie, weaving into the plot of romantic relationships and motherhood.
In the noughties, Shepherd continued to actively shoot. Then came out such hits with her participation, such as “The Martha Stewart Story”, “Dew East”, “Criminal Minds” and others.
Soon Sibylle began to have health problems – she was diagnosed with skin cancer. In addition, the woman was found to have chronic irritable bowel syndrome, she had to make 4 surgeries. When she was in the ambulance, all she could think about was whether she would survive at all.
In 2013, the woman admitted that she found it very difficult to pick up roles:
“I’ve been struggling for the last decade. It’s been very difficult for me to find something interesting.”
In 2012, she made her Broadway debut. At the same time, Cybill became engaged to psychologist Andrei Nikolaevich. However, in 2015, the couple broke off the engagement.
Now the actress continues to star in movies and give interviews. In one of the recent conversations with a journalist, she speculated on the topic of age (this year she turned 73):
“Every time I cross a certain age threshold, I think, ‘This is the best time for me as a woman.’ If you really love yourself, you will find it easier to accept any age-related changes. Getting older is about avoiding old mistakes. All of life becomes a spiritual journey.”
The actress is always open to new things. She believes that one should take risks and try things that one didn’t have the courage to do before.
In 2023, Cybill starred in How to Kill Your Husband and will soon be seen in The Beating Heart, starring Shepherd. We look forward to seeing this amazing woman on the big screen again.
