Cybill’s Shepherd Life and Career in Photos

Cybill Shepherd’s Early Life

Cybill Shepherd was born on February 18, 1950 in Memphis, Tennessee. She stepped into the spotlight at an early age, first as a model, competing in the Miss Teenage America Pageant when she was 16 where she earned the title of Miss Congeniality.

In 1968 she was named model of the year and went on to have more than a dozen Glamour covers which was ultimately how she landed her first film role. The Last Picture show director Peter Bogdanovich saw her seventh cover in a supermarket in 1970 and remembers doing “a double take,” he told PEOPLE in 1974.

“I owe my entire career to that cover,” she said, per Glamour.

Cybil Shepherd in ‘The Last Picture Show’

1971’s The Last Picture Show marked Shepherd’s first onscreen role, starring as Jacy Farrow alongside the likes of Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms and Cloris Leachman.

From there came a string of roles in big films including The Heartbreak Kid and Taxi Driver and by the early 1980s she had crossed over to television as well.

Cybill Shepherd and Peter Bogdanovich

Though Bogdanovich was married when they first met, he left his wife and moved with Shepherd into a Bel Air mansion, PEOPLE reported at the time.

“We have absolutely no thoughts of being married,” Shepherd said as part of the couple’s PEOPLE cover story in 1974. Bogdanovich  said the question of marriage was “a chilling thought. Does she look like Mrs. Bogdanovich?”

The pair broke up in 1978.

Cybill Shepherd Becomes a Mom

In the late 1970s, Shepherd moved back to Memphis where she met auto-parts dealer David Ford. The two married after a few months and welcomed their daughter Clementine in 1979.

The couple’s marriage ended in 1982, just before Shepherd jumped into her vibrant TV career.

Cybill Shepherd on ‘The Yellow Rose’

Her first big TV role came in 1983 with The Yellow Rose where she played Colleen Champion opposite Sam Elliott and David Soul.

Cybill Shepherd on ‘Moonlighting’

Just a few years later she landed the role of Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting. She and Bruce Willis starred together on the show for its entire five-season run. Her performance on the show earned her an Emmy nomination in 1986, as well as Golden Globe wins in 1986 and 1987.

Cybill Shepherd at the Golden Globes

For her first Golden Globe win in 1986, Shepherd wore a blue velvet off-the-shoulder gown. She has won a total of four Golden Globes over her career including two in 1996 when her eponymous show Cybill won best television series – musical or comedy and she also took one home for her performance on the series.

Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Oppenheim

Shepherd met chiropractor Bruce Oppenheim in 1985 while she was getting treated for migraines. The two hit it off and wed two years later — after Shepherd found out she was pregnant with the couple’s twins.

The pair split up in 1989, per the L.A. Times.

Cybill Shepherd Welcomes Twins

Ten weeks after their birth, Molly Ariel and Cyrus Zachariah Shepherd-Oppenheim graced the cover of PEOPLE with their mom.

“Sometimes I feel closer to one than to the other,” she told PEOPLE for the cover story. “They seem to take turns. Ariel was smaller, so she was a fussier baby. Then she gained some weight, and when she smiled at me the first time, I thought the sun had come out. And it was 4 in the morning.”

Cybill Shepherd and Her Three Kids

Shepherd and her three kiddos were all dressed up for a wedding in 1993.

Cybill Shepherd Gets Her Own Show

Cybill premiered in 1995 and aired for four seasons until 1998. In 2018, Shepherd claimed that the show was cut short after she denied former CBS CEO Les Moonves’ advances.

“My show could have run another five years, but I didn’t fall on the right side of Les,” she said on SiriusXM’s The Michelle Collins Show. “I wasn’t going to fall, at all, for Les.” 

Moonves denied the allegations.

Cybill Shepherd Celebrates Her Twins’ Birthday

In 2005 Shepherd and her eldest daughter Clementine joined twins Ariel and Zack to celebrate their 18th birthday

Cybill Shepherd on ‘Psych’

Shepherd has continued to land TV roles over the years, including several episodes of The L Word, The Client List. She also appeared in various episodes of Psych (seen here).

Cybill Shepherd Supports Race to Erase MS

The actress has also shown support for causes close to her heart, including Race to Erase MS following her daughter Clementine’s diagnosis.

At the 2022 gala she told the crowd, “That diagnosis of my daughter Clementine was one of the most difficult days of my life, but she’s doing great right now and I have two grandchildren,” Variety reported.

Cybill Shepherd Roasts Bruce Willis

Shepherd joined many of Bruce Willis’ loved ones back in 2018 to take part in Comedy Central’s Roast of Bruce Willis where she called the actor “one of the most brilliant actors and finest man I’ve ever known.”

Cybill Shepherd Today

Shepherd’s most recent film credit came in 2023 with a role in the TV movie titled How to Murder Your Husband. Over the years she’s also appeared on stage — making her Broadway debut in 2012 in the revival of The Best Man.

In April she’ll be returning to the stage at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club where she’ll be performing her show Cybill Shepherd: Queen of the Lucky Club.