Michelle Marie Pfeiffer was born April 29, 1958 in Santa Ana, California to Dick and Donna Pfeiffer who had four children. Michelle was born second after an older brother and followed by two younger sisters - Dedee Pfeiffer, and Lori Pfeiffer who both explored acting and modeling but never realized the industry in making it their lives' work. A graduate of Fountain Valley High School in 1976, Pfeiffer attended one year in a court reporter program at the Golden West College. It was while working as a grocery checker at Vons Supermarket, that she realized her true calling. Her first screen début was in 1980 and later was married to actor/director Peter Horton ("Gary" of "thirtysomething" (1987)) in 1981 then received mainstream attention for her appearance in Scarface in 1983. Pheiffer later divorced, and she then had a three year relationship with actor Fisher Stevens. When this relationship didn't work out, Pfeiffer decided to adopt a baby girl, Claudia Rose. On November 13th of the same year, she married lawyer-turned-writer/producer David E. Kelley and on August 5, 1994 their son, John Henry was born.

Michelle Pfeiffer rose to superstar status during the late 1980s and early 1990s having performed in the films Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Married to the Mob (1988), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Russia House (1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Love Field (1992), and The Age of Innocence (1993), as well as appearing as Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992) for which performances were critically-acclaimed. Other accomplishments include various awards for her work, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama for The Fabulous Baker Boys, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Dangerous Liaisons, and the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Love Field for which each of the films also resulted in a nomination for an Academy Award. Pfeiffer has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.

Lastly, but not least, Pfeiffer has appeared on the cover of People's first "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" issue in 1990, and again in 1999, making the list a record six times during the 1990's.