Faye Dunaway: the life of an icon in photos

The gorgeous actress was born in 1941 in Bascom, Florida. Her mom was a housewife and her dad was an officer in the army. Her father's profession meant her childhood was spent traveling the US and Europe, though she managed to squeeze dance and singing lessons into her life.

Although it wasn't extremely common in her day, Faye went to college in Florida and Boston University, where she graduated with a degree in theater. She spent the summer of her senior year performing in Harvard's theater company.

In her memoir 'Looking For Gatsby: My Life,' she writes: "I wasn't some brainless beauty, and I didn't ever want to give anyone a chance to draw that conclusion."

"The theater has always been my home," she writes in her memoir. "I wanted to be in the theater and become a great stage actress, and I still want that." Indeed, the theater is where she got her start in the 1960s, but she was soon scouted after giving a mesmerizing performance in 'The Crucible.'

Before becoming famous, she dated the infamous stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce in 1962.

This is how she describes her entrance into Hollywood in her memoir. She appeared in her first film 'The Happening' in 1967 — the same year she began filming 'Bonnie and Clyde.'

Image: 'The Happening,' Colombia Pictures

Warren Beatty had doubts about casting Dunaway as Bonnie because she was unknown and because of her too "extraordinary bone structure." However, he was eventually convinced, and she only had a few weeks to prepare for the role, which included basically not eating to get into the Depression-era look.

The "glorification of violence" in 'Bonnie Clyde' was loathed by many, but not Hollywood. Instead, the role got Faye a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars and turned her into a major star.

Her next film was 'The Thomas Crown Affair' in 1968, where she starred alongside Steve McQueen, who was also initially hesitant that she was right for the part. He later praised her as the best actress he'd ever worked with.

After such an incredible start, her next films were not big commercial hits. She took a more experimental route, appearing in the Italian film 'A Place For Lovers' and 'Puzzle of a Downfall Child,' which got her a Golden Globe nod.

At this time, she had a "forbidden romance" with Italian star Marcello Mastroianni, who she remembers as her greatest romantic love in her memoir. But he was married at the time, so the affair was cut short. Mastroianni also told People magazine that Faye "was the woman I loved the most… I was whole with her for the first time in my life."

Her lukewarm films ended with 1974's neo-noir thriller 'Chinatown.' It got her a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars, but she hated working with Polanski, who she called an "autocrat" and "sadistic." She said he was always trying to humiliate her. But, at the end of the day, she loved the film.

In 1974, she starred in 'The Towering Inferno,' the highest-grossing film of the year. She also married Peter Wolf, the lead singer in the rock group 'The J. Geils Band.' She was exhausted and took time to focus on her marriage, though the couple would divorce five years later.

In 1977, she won her first Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in 'Network,' where she played a ruthless TV executive willing to do anything for higher ratings. Those close to her warned her not to take the role as it could damage her reputation, but she loved the script.

In 1980, she had her first and only child with the British photographer Terry O'Neil, who she married in 1983. She remembers him helping her grow, but they divorced in 1987. She had initially said she had the child, but O'Neil shared that he was actually adopted.

In 1981, Fayne performed in another of her most iconic role. When she walks onto the set of 'Mommie Dearest,' some people who had worked with Joan Crawford told her it was like "seeing Joan herself back from the dead." She blamed the role for hurting her career, as she thought people began thinking of her as Joan Crawford.

Everyone agrees she takes acting extremely seriously and is a perfectionist. Still, some, like Polanski, describe her as a "pain" and Bette Davis said she was "totally impossible" to work with. Others praise her as "brilliant, intelligent and strong-willed" like Director Elia Kazan, or "uncompromising" like Johnny Depp did.

After her career began to wane a bit, another comeback after mommie dearest was in the 1987 film 'Barfly.' She was widely praised for playing an alcoholic opposite Mickey Rourke. She said this was one of her favorite films, and after this, she became much more choosy about the roles she would take on.

In 1993, she starred in the TV movie 'Columbo: It's All in the Game' which was part of the hit detective series. This snagged her an Emmy and made her one of the few stars who had won an Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe.

While she was still filming some select films, a couple of hits wih Johnny Depp, she dived back into the theater in the mid-90s, playing famed opera singer and original diva Maria Callas in what she said was one of her favorite roles of all time. Faye later praised Callas as "uncompromising," and many parallels between the two women have been drawn.

After being a protestant, she converted to Catholicism in 1996. In a rare interview with Esquire in 2015, she said: "I love the church; I love mass. I go every morning at 6:30. When I'm on the right track spiritually and emotionally, things happen in my life. It's mysterious."

In a 2016 interview with Harper's Bazaar, she described herself as "a loner" who likes to focus on work. Although she said she was single, she said she was still open to relationships. That same year, when she was 75, she said she would sign up for an improv class.

In 2022, her film, 'The Man Who Drew God' was released. It was the first to feature Kevin Spacey since the misconduct allegations against him. In 2019, Faye Dunaway also returned to the theater in 'Tea at Five' playing Katharine Hepburn. However, within weeks, she was replaced, reportedly due to altercations with crewmembers, as The New York Post reported.