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Debra Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an American actress. Born Mary Debra Winger in Cleveland Heights, Ohio to a Jewish family, she spent several years in Israel, and served in the Israeli Armed Forces. After returning to the United States, she was involved in an automobile accident and suffered a cerebral haemorrhage as a result. She was left partially paralyzed and blind for ten months, although she was initially told that she would never see again. With time on her hands to think about her life, she decided that, if she recovered, she would move to California and become an actress.

Her first acting role was as Princess Diana's younger sister Drusilla (Wonder Girl) in the Wonder Woman television series. She got her first starring role in Urban Cowboy in 1980, opposite John Travolta. In 1982 she starred opposite Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment in 1984 and Best Actress for Shadowlands in 1993. She has also won an Emmy nomination for her performance in Dawn Anna in 2005.

Other films include Made in Heaven, Everybody Wins, The Sheltering Sky, Leap of Faith, Black Widow, Wilder Napalm and A Dangerous Woman.

Winger also contributed to the voice of the title character in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, although her role is uncredited.

She has been married to actors Timothy Hutton and Arliss Howard. She dated then-Gov. Bob Kerrey while filming Terms of Endearment in Lincoln, Nebraska.

  Sometimes in April (2005) (TV) .... Prudence Bushnell
Dawn Anna (2005) (TV) .... Dawn Anna Townsend
Eulogy (2004) .... Alice Collins
Radio (2003) .... Linda
Big Bad Love (2001) .... Marilyn

The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995) (TV) .... The Wicked Witch of the West
... aka The Wizard of Oz in Concert (USA: short title)
Forget Paris (1995) .... Ellen Andrews Gordon
Shadowlands (1993) .... Joy Gresham
A Dangerous Woman (1993) .... Martha Horgan
Wilder Napalm (1993) .... Vida Foudroyant
Leap of Faith (1992) .... Jane Larson
The Sheltering Sky (1990) .... Kit Moresby
... aka Tè nel deserto, Il (Italy)
Everybody Wins (1990) .... Angela Crispini

Betrayed (1988) .... Katie Phillips/Cathy Weaver
Made in Heaven (1987) (uncredited) .... Emmett
Black Widow (1987) .... Alexandra 'Alex' Barnes
Legal Eagles (1986) .... Laura Kelly
Mike's Murder (1984) .... Betty Parrish
Terms of Endearment (1983) .... Emma Greenway Horton
... aka Terms of Endearment xxx (USA: complete title)
An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) .... Paula Pokrifki
Cannery Row (1982) .... Suzy
... aka John Steinbeck's Cannery Row
Urban Cowboy (1980) .... Sissy Davis

French Postcards (1979) .... Melanie
... aka Wer geht denn noch zur Uni? (West Germany)
Thank God It's Friday (1978) .... Jennifer
Special Olympics (1978) (TV) .... Sherrie Hensley
... aka A Special Kind of Love
Slumber Party '57 (1976) .... Debbie
... aka Teenage Slumber Party