Trivia

Does her own singing in Grease 2 (1982), Susie et les Baker Boys (1989), Le Prince d'Égypte (1998) and Hairspray (2007).

Accidentally cut Al Pacino with broken glass while auditioning for Scarface (1983).

During an A&E Biography (1987), she said that her Catwoman costume from Batman : Le Défi (1992) was vacuum-sealed once she was fitted into it for scenes, so she actually had only a short amount of time to perform before she would have to have it opened or she could become light-headed and pass out.

Has been an an avid oil painter for most of her life.

There was a study done of the faces of beautiful women, quantifying the ratio of the width of the mouth to the width of the nose, attempting to find the perfect proportions for the perfect face of feminine beauty (the ratio turns out to be something like 1.7). The movie star with the most perfect proportions for feminine facial beauty, based on this measure, turns out to be her.

Won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant in 1978.

When she was in her 20s, strangers would come up to her thinking she was Debbie Harry from the band Blondie. Not surprisingly, Harry stated in an interview that if she could choose any actress to play her in a film, she would choose Pfeiffer.

Had thought about looking for someone to father a child with "no strings attached," but decided to adopt instead. She adopted a daughter, Claudia Rose, born in 1993. Also that year, she married David E. Kelley, with whom she also had a son, in 1994.

Had a film production company from 1990-2000, Via Rosa Productions, which had a number of projects in development. They included a biopic on singer Marianne Faithfull, another on artist Georgia O'Keeffe, as well as a sci-fi/alien abduction drama, a story of a female basketball coach and another called "Privacy" in which she would play a tabloid journalist. Also included was a film about the Rosewood Education Center in south-central Los Angeles, where gang members help and work with handicap[ed kids. There was also a script in development called "The Ice Queen", in which she would play an undercover drug agent, based on the true story of DEA agent Heidi Landgraf, who went undercover as a drug trafficker and ended up helping send 200 dealers to prison.

Claims she never watches any of her films after they've been completed.

Was nominated for six consecutive Golden Globe Awards from 1989-94.

Was the original choice for Clarice Starling in Le silence des agneaux (1991), but her asking price was too rich for Orion Pictures.

Mentioned in the songs "Riptide" by Vance Joy and "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson.

She was under serious consideration for the role of "Maria" in the big-screen adaptation of Le bûcher des vanités (1990). Brian De Palma, who had directed her in Scarface (1983), was eager to work with her again. However, she instead opted for the role in another literary film adaptation, La maison Russie (1990). Melanie Griffith was then cast as "Maria" and received a Razzie nomination as Worst Actress for the role, while Michelle went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.

Val Kilmer wrote poetry for her.

Received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. on 8/6/07.

As a teenager working as a clerk at a Vons Grocery Store in southern California in 1974, she learned to tie maraschino cherry stems in knots with her tongue.

Barbara Walters called her and Julia Roberts the most beautiful people she has ever interviewed.

Replaced Annette Bening as Catwoman in Batman : Le Défi (1992), due to the former actress' pregnancy.

Has an adopted daughter named Claudia Rose (born in 1993) and a son named John Henry (born in 1994) with husband David E. Kelley, named after David's father.

Shortly after coming to Hollywood, she was introduced to "Breatharianism", a cult that follows the belief that a person can live without food and water, receiving sustenance only from air and sunlight. She didn't realize anything was wrong until she met her first husband, Peter Horton, who was working on a documentary about Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. She realized that the psychological manipulation described by former Moon members was similar to her experience with Breatharianism, and left.

One of her favorite films is Le Magicien d'Oz (1939).

Her first job as a performer was playing "Alice" from Alice au pays des merveilles (1951) at Disneyland in the Main Street Electrical Parade in the mid-1970s.

Turned down two roles that went to Sharon Stone: Catherine Trammel in Basic Instinct (1992) because she refused to do any nudity and Ginger McKenna in Casino (1995), because she had already played a similar role in Scarface (1983).

Turned down the Sharon Stone role in Basic Instinct (1992).

Turned down the Ashley Judd role in Double jeu (1999).

Was chosen to be on the cover of the first ever "People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World" issue in 1990; appeared on the list a record six times (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999) and the first person to appear on the cover of the special issue twice (1990 and 1999).

Was considered for the lead role in Mamma Mia! (2008) that eventually went to Meryl Streep.

Turned down the role of the White Witch in Le Monde de Narnia : Le Lion, la Sorcière blanche et l'Armoire magique (2005); she was the only major Hollywood star offered the role.

Was offered the Julia Roberts role in Pretty Woman (1990) because she didn't like the script's "tone".

Was considered for the role of Eva Perón in Evita (1996), and when the film was to be directed by Oliver Stone she had taken a few months of voice training for the role.

According to her interview in "Premiere Magazine" in 1999, she would really like to work with Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.

Was already in the process of adopting a child by the time she met future husband David E. Kelley. They had only been together for two months when they adopted daughter Claudia Rose.

After almost 20 years to the day, reunited with two former directors for new projects. Garry Marshall, who directed Pfeiffer in Frankie & Johnny (1991), is directing her in Happy New Year (2011), and Tim Burton, who directed her in Batman : Le Défi (1992), is directing her in Dark Shadows (2012).

Turned down Still Alice (2014). Julianne Moore was cast instead and ended up winning an Oscar for the role.

A role that got away from her was "Mistress of the Seas", to be directed by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Jon Peters. It was to have centered around the true story of two female pirates, Anne Bonney and Mary Read, who sailed with a pirate named Calico Jack in the Caribbean in the 18th century. Michelle and Geena Davis were to be involved, but Davis had already signed up to do her own pirate flick, L'Île aux pirates (1995), and Michelle, after meetings with Verhoeven, withdrew from the project, stating that all the conversations "were about how much skin I would show".

Was considered for the role in Ça chauffe au lycée Ridgemont (1982) that was played by Jennifer Jason Leigh.

In 1995 "Empire" Magazine made a list of the sexiest movie star of all time. She was third. First was Johnny Depp and second was Marilyn Monroe.

In 1998 joined the "12 Million Dollar Club" along with Meg Ryan and Jodie Foster (knocking Demi Moore off the list). Michelle would only earn this salary for one picture.

Took karate lessons from Mike Stone in preparation for the TV series B.A.D. Cats (1980). In a 2020 interview, Stone revealed that he and Michelle developed a romance that lasted several months.

She was considered for Vicki Vale in Batman (1989), but was dating Michael Keaton at the time and he didn't think it would be right. She did play Catwoman in the sequel, Batman : Le Défi (1992).

Was considered for the role in Bugsy (1991) that eventually went to Annette Bening.

Tested and rejected by Franco Zeffirelli for the role of Jade Butterfield in Un amour infini... (1981). In the end, Zeffirelli chose Brooke Shields, a very young actress for the role, a decision she later came to regret.

Attended Fountain Valley High School in Fountain Valley, CA, and graduated in 1976.

Was considered for the role of Dr. Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park (1993).

In a September 1999 "Entertainment Weekly" on-line poll, she placed second in the category of Best Modern Actress; beaten only by Meryl Streep.

Met husband-to-be David E. Kelley on a blind date at the Santa Monica, CA, "Chez Jay" restaurant & bar, a location he would use years later for his TV series Goliath (2016).

Has worked with four live-action Batmans. First, she appeared in Batman : Le Défi (1992), with Michael Keaton. She worked with Val Kilmer on One Too Many (1985) and Le Prince d'Égypte (1998). In Un beau jour (1996), she works with George Clooney, and in Le Songe d'une nuit d'été (1999), she works with Christian Bale.

Her paternal grandfather was of German descent, and her paternal grandmother had German, and smaller amounts of English, Welsh, French, Dutch, and Irish, ancestry. On her mother's side, she is of half Swiss-German and half Swedish descent.

In 1995, she was ranked #3 by "Empire" magazine on its list of 00 Sexiest Stars in film history.