Shirley MacLaine is quietly battling secret disability issues and bouts of memory loss, insiders tell RadarOnline.com – even as the Steel Magnolias legend puts on a brave public face with zany outfits and wacky behavior while she inches toward her 92nd birthday.
The Oscar-winning actress, who turned 91 in April, was recently seen shakily navigating a Malibu sidewalk on her way to lunch at the celebrity-favorite Lucky’s Steakhouse.
Frailty on the Sidewalk
Shirley MacLaine walked shakily to lunch at Lucky’s Steakhouse in Malibu.
It was a change from her usual haunt, Kristy’s Malibu Café near Zuma Beach, where she is often joined by her team.
Wearing a bizarre get-up consisting of a blood-red jacket over a sea-green Palm Springs crewneck, sage cargo trousers and dusty red slip-ons, she clutched a male friend’s arm for balance as they walked.
Later, the pair stopped at Pavilions grocery store for bouquets and supplies.
The sighting followed an earlier one in March, days before MacLaine’s 91st birthday, when she appeared frail and spotted with reddish marks on her face while drinking wine with a caretaker.
Masking Health Issues
Sources said Shirley MacLaine struggled with weakness and memory loss after a bad fall.
According to a longtime family source, MacLaine is “putting a brave face on everything after a bad fall earlier this year,” which they said left her with lingering weakness and occasional disorientation.
The insider added: “She’s determined to keep moving, to keep being seen. But she tires easily and her memory isn’t what it was.
“She won’t admit it publicly, but she’s struggling.”
Another source familiar with the actress’ daily routine added: “The bright, mismatched clothes, the rambling conversations – people close to her think it’s a sign she’s going a bit barmy. She laughs it off, but she’s using it to try and appear upbeat and distract from serious health issues – and it masks a lot.”
New Age Confidence Amid Memory Loss
Shirley MacLaine leaned on a friend for balance during her recent Malibu outing.
MacLaine, who remains outspoken about her lifelong devotion to New Age spirituality, has continued discussing past lives with trademark confidence, recently telling Jennifer Aniston she had once been her mother.
Aniston, 56, recalled the moment during The Drew Barrymore Show, saying: “She believes that we were a mother and daughter in a previous lifetime and I think it’s why we have such we had such an instant bond. She just fantastic.”
Aniston added they had even attended a “past life regression retreat” together in New Mexico.
MacLaine’s mystical outlook has long contrasted sharply with her strained relationship with her daughter, Sachi Parker, 67.
In her memoir Lucky Me, Parker alleged she endured a childhood marked by distance and emotional neglect – claims MacLaine dismissed as “virtually all fiction.”
But friends say the actor’s current fragility has softened some of her edges.
One source said: “She doesn’t talk much about Sachi now. She talks more about the past, about old performances, about being on stage. But she mixes things up sometimes. Dates and places get mangled – and she gets frustrated.”
Downsizing and Production Scandal
Shirley MacLaine listed her 7,500 acre New Mexico ranch for $17.4 million.
As she heads towards her 92nd birthday, MacLaine has begun getting rid of huge parts of her life, including listing her vast 7,500-acre ranch near Abiquiú, New Mexico, for $17.4 million.
But other responsibilities have been harder to shift. Last year, the indie film People Not Places, in which she stars opposite Stephen Dorff, became embroiled in scandal after there was a row over a failure to pay crew wages.
“This whole thing is really a disaster,” one staffer on the movie crew member told Variety in 2024, after the total owed reportedly rose to $672,749.
MacLaine’s health concerns are not new. As a child, she had weak ankles and was enrolled in ballet at age three. In 1990, she dislocated her kneecap during a performance in Seattle, finishing the show before seeking medical help and later recovering through physical therapy.
