Terms of Endearment
Encyclopedia
Terms of Endearment is a 1983 romantic comedy-drama film adapted by James L. Brooks
from the novel by Larry McMurtry
and starring Shirley MacLaine
, Debra Winger
, and Jack Nicholson
. It covers thirty years of the relationship between Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Winger).
The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture
, Best Direction
, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor
for Jack Nicholson
, and Best Actress
for Shirley MacLaine
, and four Golden Globes.
) and Emma Greenway Horton (Debra Winger
) are mother and daughter, both searching for love. Beginning with Emma's early childhood, Aurora reveals how difficult and caring she can be by nearly climbing into Emma's crib in order to make sure her daughter is breathing—only to be reassured once Emma starts crying (after physically waking her up). The two have an extremely close love-hate relationship as Emma grows up.
The film follows both women across several years as each find their reasons for going on living and finding joy. Emma gets married immediately upon graduating High School while her best friend Patsy (Lisa Hart Caroll) continues on to college, eventually becoming successful and rich in New York City. Emma has two children that she and her husband, college professor Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels
), struggle to support in Iowa, and she later telephones her mother and asks for money when she is pregnant with her third child. Aurora, not knowing by the telephone call that Emma is already several months pregnant, wants Emma to get an abortion. Emma's once-passionate marriage to Flap becomes strained, thanks mostly to his philandering, and she finds a lover in small-town, older banker Sam Burns (John Lithgow
), with whom she eventually has an affair as well.
At the same time, Aurora cultivates the attention of several gentlemen in the area, some rather bizarre, but is attracted to her next door neighbor of 15 years, the philandering, retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson
). Garrett has been drinking heavily for years and partied with very young women at his home. Aurora and Garrett eventually go on a lunch date, make love and develop a tenuous relationship.
Emma returns to her mother's home in Houston after discovering her husband is having an affair with a young grad student named Janice, who attends Flap's college in Iowa. However, Emma's appearance along with her three children spooks Garret, who has been single for a long time. After re-assessing his relationship with Aurora, Garret breaks up with her, greatly upsetting Aurora. While Emma is in Houston, Flap telephones her and she reluctantly returns home to Iowa, attempting reconciliation with him. Both accept that they have each made mistakes.
Emma ends the relationship with Sam after Flap accepts a new teaching position in Nebraska. Although she does not want to, Emma agrees to relocate to further Flap's career. However, Emma soon discovers that Janice is attending the same college where Flap now works, realizing that Flap followed her to Nebraska. With her daughter in a stroller, Emma confronts Janice before taking her daughter to the doctor's office so both can get flu shots. While administering the injection, Emma's doctor notices two large lumps under her armpit. Although Emma is only in her 30s, the doctor orders a biopsy and discovers she has a "malignancy."
Emma's childhood friend Patsy invites her to New York City for her first vacation without her children. However, after arriving, Emma feels out-of-place amongst Patsy's friends and returns home early to begin treatment for her illness. Later, her doctor informs her that the drugs she was taking did not "have the desired effect," and that she will not survive her illness. Flap and Aurora remain by her bedside in the hospital for weeks. Although devastated and exhausted, Aurora is still very supportive and loving towards Emma. Garrett flies to Lincoln, Nebraska and surprises Aurora, and the two proclaim their love for each other.
After a discussion in the hospital cafeteria between Aurora and Flap, in which Aurora tells him he cannot manage a family, job and a mistress simultaneously, Aurora tells Flap she will raise his and Emma's children in Houston. Although Patsy, who has no children of her own, wants to adopt Melanie, Flap and Emma do not want their children to be separated. Emma, not wanting Janice to raise her children and Flap, feeling like a failure as both a father and a husband, agree that living with Aurora is best for their children.
As Emma's time begins to run short, Tommy shows open resentment toward his mother due to circumstances such as social class, fights between his parents, and Tommy's perception of feeling unloved. Emma reassures all three children they are loved, and after an altercation with Aurora, Tommy is able to release his emotions and weeps openly. Emma dies later that night. Following Emma's funeral, Emma and Aurora's friends and family gather in Aurora's beautiful back yard for a wake. Garrett shows love toward each of Emma's children and helps Tommy cope during the wake. The film closes on Aurora, holding her grandchild Melanie.
's character, astronaut Garrett Breedlove, does not appear in the novel. The part was created for Burt Reynolds
, but he was already committed to another film (Stroker Ace
). Reynolds would later go on record to say he regretted turning down the role, so it was handed to James Garner
. Garner quarreled with the director over differing interpretations. The part then went to Harrison Ford
who turned it down because he did not like the age difference between himself and Shirley MacLaine
. The role wound up going to Nicholson. Louise Fletcher
and Sissy Spacek
were the original choices for the mother and daughter roles.
. For four weekends, it remained #1 at the box office until slipping to #2 on its tenth weekend. On the film's eleventh weekend, it arrived #1 (for the sixth and final time) grossing $3 million. For the last weekends of the film, it later dwindled downward. The film grossed $108,423,489 in the United States.
. Gene Siskel
, who gave the film a highly enthusiastic review, predicted accurately upon its release that it would go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture of 1983.
, in which MacLaine and Nicholson reprised their roles, was released in 1996 to much less critical or commercial acclaim.
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
from the novel by Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas...
and starring Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Debra Winger
Debra Winger
Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
, and Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
. It covers thirty years of the relationship between Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Winger).
The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Best Direction
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, and Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, and four Golden Globes.
Plot
Aurora (Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
) and Emma Greenway Horton (Debra Winger
Debra Winger
Mary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
) are mother and daughter, both searching for love. Beginning with Emma's early childhood, Aurora reveals how difficult and caring she can be by nearly climbing into Emma's crib in order to make sure her daughter is breathing—only to be reassured once Emma starts crying (after physically waking her up). The two have an extremely close love-hate relationship as Emma grows up.
The film follows both women across several years as each find their reasons for going on living and finding joy. Emma gets married immediately upon graduating High School while her best friend Patsy (Lisa Hart Caroll) continues on to college, eventually becoming successful and rich in New York City. Emma has two children that she and her husband, college professor Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
), struggle to support in Iowa, and she later telephones her mother and asks for money when she is pregnant with her third child. Aurora, not knowing by the telephone call that Emma is already several months pregnant, wants Emma to get an abortion. Emma's once-passionate marriage to Flap becomes strained, thanks mostly to his philandering, and she finds a lover in small-town, older banker Sam Burns (John Lithgow
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
), with whom she eventually has an affair as well.
At the same time, Aurora cultivates the attention of several gentlemen in the area, some rather bizarre, but is attracted to her next door neighbor of 15 years, the philandering, retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
). Garrett has been drinking heavily for years and partied with very young women at his home. Aurora and Garrett eventually go on a lunch date, make love and develop a tenuous relationship.
Emma returns to her mother's home in Houston after discovering her husband is having an affair with a young grad student named Janice, who attends Flap's college in Iowa. However, Emma's appearance along with her three children spooks Garret, who has been single for a long time. After re-assessing his relationship with Aurora, Garret breaks up with her, greatly upsetting Aurora. While Emma is in Houston, Flap telephones her and she reluctantly returns home to Iowa, attempting reconciliation with him. Both accept that they have each made mistakes.
Emma ends the relationship with Sam after Flap accepts a new teaching position in Nebraska. Although she does not want to, Emma agrees to relocate to further Flap's career. However, Emma soon discovers that Janice is attending the same college where Flap now works, realizing that Flap followed her to Nebraska. With her daughter in a stroller, Emma confronts Janice before taking her daughter to the doctor's office so both can get flu shots. While administering the injection, Emma's doctor notices two large lumps under her armpit. Although Emma is only in her 30s, the doctor orders a biopsy and discovers she has a "malignancy."
Emma's childhood friend Patsy invites her to New York City for her first vacation without her children. However, after arriving, Emma feels out-of-place amongst Patsy's friends and returns home early to begin treatment for her illness. Later, her doctor informs her that the drugs she was taking did not "have the desired effect," and that she will not survive her illness. Flap and Aurora remain by her bedside in the hospital for weeks. Although devastated and exhausted, Aurora is still very supportive and loving towards Emma. Garrett flies to Lincoln, Nebraska and surprises Aurora, and the two proclaim their love for each other.
After a discussion in the hospital cafeteria between Aurora and Flap, in which Aurora tells him he cannot manage a family, job and a mistress simultaneously, Aurora tells Flap she will raise his and Emma's children in Houston. Although Patsy, who has no children of her own, wants to adopt Melanie, Flap and Emma do not want their children to be separated. Emma, not wanting Janice to raise her children and Flap, feeling like a failure as both a father and a husband, agree that living with Aurora is best for their children.
As Emma's time begins to run short, Tommy shows open resentment toward his mother due to circumstances such as social class, fights between his parents, and Tommy's perception of feeling unloved. Emma reassures all three children they are loved, and after an altercation with Aurora, Tommy is able to release his emotions and weeps openly. Emma dies later that night. Following Emma's funeral, Emma and Aurora's friends and family gather in Aurora's beautiful back yard for a wake. Garrett shows love toward each of Emma's children and helps Tommy cope during the wake. The film closes on Aurora, holding her grandchild Melanie.
Cast
- Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
as Aurora Greenway - Debra WingerDebra WingerMary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
as Emma Greenway Horton - Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
as Garrett Breedlove - Lisa Hart Caroll as Patsy Clark
- Danny DeVitoDanny DeVitoDaniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
as Vernon Dahlart - Jeff DanielsJeff DanielsJeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
as Flap Horton - Huckleberry Fox as Teddy Horton
- Betty King as Rosie Dunlop
- John LithgowJohn LithgowJohn Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
as Sam Burns - Megan Morris as Melanie Horton
- F. William ParkerF. William ParkerF. William Parker is an American character actor.He appeared in the following television series: The West Wing , NYPD Blue, The X Files, Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Wings, Newhart, Alice, General Hospital, Dynasty, Taxi, Barney Miller, Archie Bunker's Place, CHiPs, The Jeffersons, Laverne & Shirley,...
as Doctor - David WohlDavid Wohl (actor)David Wohl is an American theater, television and film actor. He is a long time character actor with over 71 credits on television and film alone.-Selected filmography:*Terms of Endearment as Phil...
as Phil - Albert BrooksAlbert BrooksAlbert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...
(voice) as Rudyard Greenway - Mary Kay PlaceMary Kay PlaceMary Kay Place is an American actress, singer, director and screen writer. She is best known as portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a role which won her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series in 1977...
(voice) as Doris
Production
Actor Jack NicholsonJack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
's character, astronaut Garrett Breedlove, does not appear in the novel. The part was created for Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, but he was already committed to another film (Stroker Ace
Stroker Ace
Stroker Ace is a 1983 action comedy film, filmed in North Carolina and Georgia, about a NASCAR driver, the eponymous Stroker Ace, played by Burt Reynolds....
). Reynolds would later go on record to say he regretted turning down the role, so it was handed to James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
. Garner quarreled with the director over differing interpretations. The part then went to Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
who turned it down because he did not like the age difference between himself and Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
. The role wound up going to Nicholson. Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher is an American actress best known for her role as Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and as Kai Winn Adami in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She also guest starred on the science fiction television series Heroes...
and Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
were the original choices for the mother and daughter roles.
Box office
The film also was commercially successful. On its opening weekend, it grossed $3.4 million ranking #2 until its second weekend when it grossed $3.1 million ranking #1 at the box office. Three weekends later, it arrived #1 again with $9 million having wide releaseWide release
Wide release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing nationally . Specifically, a movie is considered to be in wide release when it is on 600 screens or more in the United States and Canada.In the US, films holding an NC-17 rating almost never have a...
. For four weekends, it remained #1 at the box office until slipping to #2 on its tenth weekend. On the film's eleventh weekend, it arrived #1 (for the sixth and final time) grossing $3 million. For the last weekends of the film, it later dwindled downward. The film grossed $108,423,489 in the United States.
Critical reception
The film was generally well regarded by critics, and maintains an 89% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
, who gave the film a highly enthusiastic review, predicted accurately upon its release that it would go on to win the Oscar for Best Picture of 1983.
Wins
The film won five Academy Awards and four Golden Globes:- Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
- Academy Award for DirectingAcademy Award for DirectingThe Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
– (James L. BrooksJames L. BrooksJames Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
) - Academy Award for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
– (Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
) - Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
– (Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
) - Academy Award for Writing Adapted ScreenplayAcademy Award for Writing Adapted ScreenplayThe Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
– (James L. BrooksJames L. BrooksJames Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
) - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - DramaThis page lists the winners and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, since its institution in 1951. The organizer, Hollywood Foreign Press Association , is an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications...
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
– (Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
) - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting ActorGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureThe Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
– (Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
) - Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture – (James L. BrooksJames L. BrooksJames Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
) - DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion PicturesDirectors Guild of America AwardsThe Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D.W. Griffith....
– (James L. BrooksJames L. BrooksJames Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
) - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best FilmNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
- (Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
) - New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorNew York Film Critics Circle AwardsNew York Film Critics' Circle Awards are given annually to honor excellence in cinema worldwide by an organization of film reviewers from New York City-based publications. It is considered one of the most important precursors to the Academy Awards....
- (Jack NicholsonJack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress - (Debra WingerDebra WingerMary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
) - Texas Film Award 2010
Nominations
- Academy Award for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
– (Debra WingerDebra WingerMary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
) - Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
– (John LithgowJohn LithgowJohn Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
) - Academy Award for Best Art DirectionAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
- (Polly PlattPolly PlattMary Marr "Polly" Platt was an American film producer, production designer and screenwriter.-Early life:Platt was born Mary Marr Platt in Fort Sheridan, Illinois on January 29, 1939, later using the name Polly. Her father John was a colonel in the army while her mother Vivian worked in...
, Harold MichelsonHarold MichelsonHarold Michelson was an American production designer and art director. In addition, he worked as an illustrator and/or storyboard artist on numerous films from the 1940s through the 1990s.-Biography:...
, Tom PedigoTom PedigoTom Pedigo was an American set decorator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Terms of Endearment.-External links:...
, Anthony MondellAnthony MondellAnthony Mondell was born in Los Angeles, California to Italian parents, Olimpia née Giove, and Francesco "Frank" Mondelli, native from Canneto ....
) - Academy Award for Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
– (Richard MarksRichard MarksRichard Marks is an American film editor with more than 30 editing credits for feature and television films dating from 1972. In an extended, notable collaboration , he has edited all of director James L...
) - Academy Award for Original Music ScoreAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
– (Michael GoreMichael GoreMichael Gore is an American composer. He, along with lyricist Dean Pitchford, won the Oscar in 1980 for best original song for "Fame" from the film of the same title. He also won the award that year for best original score. Gore is the younger brother of singer/songwriter Lesley Gore.Gore wrote...
) - Academy Award for Best Sound – (Donald O. MitchellDonald O. MitchellDonald O. Mitchell is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and was nominated for thirteen more in the same category...
, Rick KlineRick KlineRick Kline is an American sound engineer. He has been nominated for eleven Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He has worked on over 200 films since 1978.-Selected filmography:* Terms of Endearment * Silverado * Top Gun...
, Kevin O'ConnellKevin O'Connell (sound re-recording mixer)Kevin O'Connell is a sound re-recording mixer. He holds the record for most Academy Award nominations without a win at 20, having originally set the record in 2006 with his 18th nomination and loss, making him the "unluckiest nominee in the history of the Academy Awards".-Awards and...
, James R. AlexanderJames R. AlexanderJames R. Alexander is an American sound engineer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Sound.-External links:...
) - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaGolden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture DramaThe Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
– (Debra Winger) - Golden Globe Award for Best DirectorGolden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion PictureThis page lists the winners of and nominees for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Since its inception in 1943, it has been presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based...
– (James L. BrooksJames L. BrooksJames Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
) - BAFTA Award for Best Actress – (Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
) - AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
- Aurora: "Would you like to come in?" Garrett: "I'd rather stick needles in my eyes."
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)
Sequel
A sequel, The Evening StarThe Evening Star
The Evening Star is a 1996 sequel to Academy Award for Best Picture-winning Terms of Endearment, starring Shirley MacLaine, who reprises the role of Aurora Greenway she played in the original film. The movie takes place about fifteen years after the original following the characters from 1988 to...
, in which MacLaine and Nicholson reprised their roles, was released in 1996 to much less critical or commercial acclaim.