Jessica Lange

Born: 20 April 1949
Where: Cloquet, Minnesota, USA

Lange has transcended the bimbo image established by her notorious screen debut - as the scantily-clad playmate in 1976's King Kong remake - to become one of Hollywood's most respected actresses.

Born into a close family, Lange spent time living as a hippie in Paris and New York in the '60s before settling down to an acting career, and was 27 when she made her film debut.

It took Lange several years after her debut to find another screen role. Her then boyfriend Bob Fosse cast her as the Angel of Death in All That Jazz, and she co-starred in the comedy How to Beat the High Cost of Living.

But it was her turn in the Lana Turner role of a sultry femme fatale opposite Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson's remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice that made critics and audiences realize her abilities.

Lange finally proved her versatility and attained star status with two 1982 roles, as 1930s actress Frances Farmer in the biopic Frances and as Dustin Hoffman's love interest in Tootsie.

The first won her a Best Actress Oscar nomination and the second, the award for Best Supporting Actress.

She racked up three more nominations by the end of the decade: opposite her real life companion Sam Shepard in Country, which she also co-produced; as country music legend Patsy Cline in the biopic Sweet Dreams; and as the unsuspecting daughter of an alleged war criminal in Costa-Gavras' Music Box.

Devoting more time to a family, Lange worked less frequently in the late 1980s and early 90s.

She worked with Robert De Niro in two high profile noir remakes, Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear and Irwin Winkler's Night and the City.

Lange was widely acclaimed and received a second Oscar, as Best Actress, for her performance in Tony Richardson's Blue Sky.

She had two more successes with Losing Isaiah, as a social worker who adopts a crack baby, and Rob Roy, as the great love of the 18th-century Scottish freedom fighter played by Liam Neeson.

Since 1982, Lange has lived with playwright-actor Sam Shepard with whom she acted with in Frances, Country and Crimes of the Heart and who directed her in Far North.

In 1996, she made her London stage debut as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. A few years later she returned to features in the title role of Cousin Bette.

Lange tackled her first Shakespearean role as Tamora opposite Anthony Hopkins' in Julie Taymor's feature directorial debut, Titus.

She went on to appear in Prozac Nation, and joined an ensemble cast for the Bob Dylan-scripted feature Masked and Anonymous.

Recent work includes Tim Burton's Big Fish with Ewan McGregor and Billy Crudup.