Brooks had been looking for a fiftyish woman to play Aurora but couldn’t find the right woman-until legendary talent agent Sue Mengers mentioned Shirley MacLaine. Shirley MacLaine wanted to give Aurora a Texas accent. “And then I thought of some perversion of the boy next door and what that would mean and I liked that.” 2.

“eing in Houston, you know, that’s astronaut central and I thought that would be great,” Brooks said of his decision to tweak McMurtry's characters. In Larry McMurtry’s book, Aurora has a suitor who was 30 years older than her, which didn’t sit right with Brooks. Brooks created Jack Nicholson’s astronaut character. In honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, here are 10 endearing facts about the film.

The dramedy ends on a rather devastating note, but the story lived on in The Evening Star, the 1996 sequel based on McMurtry’s 1992 novel. The movie is also known for kick-starting Jeff Daniels's career, and for MacLaine’s powerful “ give her the shot” scene. Terms of Endearment spent several weekends as the number one film at the box office and ended up grossing $108 million on a $10 million budget. MacLaine and Winger, who famously feuded on set, competed for Best Actress (MacLaine nudged out her younger co-star), and Jack Nicholson, who had a supporting role as Aurora’s neighbor/lover, took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Brooks-who had co-created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and Rhoda, but never directed before-managed to take home three Oscars for the film: Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It follows the tumultuous relationship of Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) over a 30-year period. On December 9, 1983, Paramount released Terms of Endearment, an adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s 1975 novel (and his personal favorite).

Moving on by larry mcmurtry