Cybill Shepherd’s career and personal life have been riveting since she first appeared on screen. From The Last Picture Show (1971) to Moonlighting (1985-1989)—which is now on Hulu by the way—and, of course, Cybill (1995-1998), the actress has always said what’s on her mind. “What got me in trouble, what has always gotten me in trouble, was disobedience. On the Cybill show, I had been 57 different kinds of disobedient. From the beginning, my strategy was to challenge—always with humor—the conventional wisdom about “appropriate” subjects for television audiences. I was the first baby boomer to have a prime-time hot flash, and we skewered the injustice of a culture that pretends women over forty are invisible,” she says in her book Cybill Disobedience. At 74, the actress is still as sharp and active as ever. Here’s what she’s up to these days.
RELATED: Why Cybill Shepherd & Bruce Willis Never Dated.
She’s Still Acting
Lifetime
Shepherd starred in Lifetime movie How to Murder Your Husband: The Nancy Brophy Story in 2023, opposite Steve Guttenberg. The movie is based on a true story about a romance novelist who was charged with murdering her own husband. "Taking on the idea of murdering the person you love most in your life and it'd be allegedly based on a true story was one of the most difficult things I've ever taken on," she told ET. "But again, everything that was done to help me through -- the direction, the writing, the costume, the wig, the gray wig -- I began to see myself as that murderer. And once I found that, then it was a different person than me."
Gutenberg was thrilled with the experience. “For me to come back and work with Cybill was a dream," he said. "You know, I'm the second lead and it's on her. And Cybill did an incredible job. And I was able to support her… and it was really a wonderful experience for me to come back and start working again."
She’s an Activist
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Shepherd is an advocate for marriage equality and equal rights, and testified in congress on behalf of RU486. She marched for gay rights and lent her voice to serious causes. "I began to be politically active then,” she told World Traveler. “My main issue has always been reproductive rights for women. It's part of civil rights. Once you start getting involved in civil rights, you understand that no human being is allowed to be treated less, for any reason, than any other human being. You just can't draw the line there. If you're a woman you get reproductive freedom. People shouldn't have the right to interfere with this very private, very difficult decision. It's not an ideal world."
She Wrote a Book
Haper Collins
Shepherd’s 2000 book Cybill Disobedience is a wildly entertaining autobiography (you can get the PDF for free on her website). The actress spills the beans on her relationship with Elvis Presley, her chemistry with Bruce Willis, the cancellation of her beloved show, and much more.
She’s Living Her Best Life In Los Angeles
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Shepherd lives in a beautiful house in the Encino Hills. “I just thought the Valley was a better place to raise kids,” she told Ventura Blvd. “The Valley is down to earth and my kids went to school here. Plus, I wanted to avoid the tour buses that you get on the other side of the hill.”
Always Evolving
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
When she’s not working, Shepherd is focused on improving her craft and getting better with age. “It’s my continuing education, what I consider to be a kind of master class situation,” she previously told The New York Times. “What I’m trying to say about being beautiful, is that there’s an element of it that can cause you to be emotionally underdeveloped. People do things for you, doors will open because you’re beautiful. It was like I took off on this airplane in 1968 and just flew into world fame. There were a lot of times in between where I just didn’t get a chance to grow and learn.”
