In her next film, she appeared opposite Roy Scheider in best picture nominee All That Jazz. She then starred opposite funny ladies Jane Curtain and Susan Saint James in the crime caper How to Beat the High Co$t of Living. She tried her hand again at remaking a classic with Jack Nicholson in Bob Rafelson's The Postman Always Rings Twice. While it couldn't live up to the original, the critical reception went a little easier on her, as she gave audiences a full taste of what was to become her trademark sultry, Southern charm the Midwesterner would come to be known for. Her fifth film would be the box-office comedic smash Tootsie that would collect ten Oscar nominations, including best picture. Lange would go home the only winner from the production on Oscar night, winning for Best Supporting Actress. That same year, she would be a double nominee including her much heralded leading turn as Frances Farmer in the self-titled biopic. While many cite winner Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice as one of the best performances of all-time, others insist it is Lange who deserved to take home the gold, not necessarily for Tootsie, but Frances.
So for, so good, right? King Kong was a distant memory for the actress. She would appear as Maggie the Cat in the last major broadcast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Her next two films would garner her two more leading nominations: heartland drama Country, as well as for playing Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams. Her next film was the Oscar-nominated Crimes of the Heart, where she played sisters with Sissy Spacek and Diane Keaton. While it was a great seven year run for Lange, her lack of box-office muscle would provide more highs tapering off into middling efforts.
She collected her fifth acting nomination for the Joe Eszterhas-scripted Music Box and delivered a strong performance as a single mother in the little-seen, but delightful and touching Men Don't Leave. She got the opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese in the big-budget creepy thriller Cape Fear--another remake. As well, she teamed up with Robert DeNiro again in Scorsese colleague Irwin Winkler in Night and the City. That same year, the late Tony Richardson would direct her in Blue Sky for Orion. The movie would get shelved as the studio went under, but released three years later to the five or so people who saw it; it would go on to get her a sixth nomination and second win, this time for leading actress. You could say her soft win was indicative of bad timing and luck for Angela Bassett, Elisabeth Shue, and Linda Fiorentino.
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| Jessica Lange in The Postman Always Rings Twice |
Having been married once already for a decade, like Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon, Lange was known for being one of those rare long-term Hollywood cohabitating couples with playwright and actor Sam Shepard. They met on the set of Frances and worked together several times; they were a common-law couple for nearly three decades before separating in 2010. They have two children. She has another child from a previous relationship with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
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