Young Faye Dunaway: 'Bonnie And Clyde's Bonnie, Then And Now

By | July 23, 2020

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Left: Faye Dunaway on the set of 'Bonnie and Clyde,' directed by Arthur Penn. Right: Dunaway in 'The Happening.' Sources: Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images; IMDB

With her portrayal of Bonnie Parker in Bonnie And Clyde (1967), Faye Dunaway grabbed moviegoers' attention and didn't let go. The young and gifted actress appeared in a string of big movies with A-list co-stars, earning Best Actress Academy Award nominations for Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown (1974), and a win in the category for Network (1976). Dunaway specialized in playing tough, assertive women, and has herself been categorized as such.

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Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker in "Bonnie and Clyde." franceculture)

Faye Dunaway made the transition from Broadway to the silver screen look like a walk in the park. Her Hollywood debut in The Happening came the same year she broke through to stardom in Bonnie and Clyde. Dunaway’s body-altering commitment to the portrayal of the wafer-thin Bonnie Parker earned her first Academy Award nomination and set her down a path of tinsel town success. During her hall of fame run, she worked on giant films like The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), The Arrangement (1969), Little Big Man (1970), Chinatown, The Towering Inferno (1974), and Network. Despite a ridiculously successful career, Dunaway sometimes was labeled difficult or eccentric. However, whether it was on stage or the big screen, Dunaway got the job done.