Award-winning actress and former fashion model Candice Bergen was born on May 9, 1946 in Beverly Hills, California. Her mother was a Powers model while her father was a ventriloquist, comedian and actor. At the age of six, she debuted on radio on her father's show. She also attended Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles and the Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. She then went abroad to study at the Montesano School in Switzerland. She began to take art history and drawing at the University of Pennsylvania but didn't graduate. She took on a job as a fashion model to pay for her passion for photography. She became a photojournalist, as well as writing a play and her memoir. She first appeared on television on the game show You Bet Your Life in 1958. Candice Bergen made her film debut playing a lesbian in Sidney Lumet's The Group in 1966. That year, she played the role of Shirley Eckert in The Sand Pebbles, which was nominated for several Academy Awards. In 1971, she starred alongside Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel in Carnal Knowledge. This was followed by a role opposite Sean Connery in The Wind and the Lion in 1975, and in Starting Over in 1979. She received a number of Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for her supporting performances. Her other films in the 1970s were critically panned, like the film Getting Straight, and the violent Soldier Blue. Bergen became the first female guest host of Saturday Night Live. In 1988, she played the tough television reporter in Murphy Brown, which became a successful comedy show. She was nominated seven times for an Emmy Award for her performance, and won five of them. When Murphy Brown ended in 1998, Bergen hosted the Oxygen network's Exhale with Candice Bergen. She was also noted for playing the pageant host in 2000's Miss Congeniality, as well as being the mayor in Sweet Home Alabama. She also appeared on three episodes of Sex and the City and the movie View from the Top. In 2005, Bergen landed the role of Shirley Schmidt in the drama Boston Legal. She received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance. She also became a guest star on Seinfeld, Law & Order, voiced the character Murphy Brown in Family Guy and played herself in Will & Grace. Shirley Schmidt is one of the founders of Crane, Poole & Schmidt which is a Boston law firm. In the past, she had a romantic relationship with Denny Crane. Now, she oversees Denny's behavior. She was married to Ivan Tiggs but after four years, the marriage ended. Ivan married Missy but at some point, he wanted to get back to Shirley. Shirley finds out that Ivan is still together with his wife and breaks off their affair. (Photo courtesy of ABC)