Jessica Lange Biography

Born Jessica Phyllis Lange on April 20, 1949, in Cloquet, Minnesota. The third of four children, Lange was the daughter of Dorothy Florence and Albert John Lange, who was an educator and salesman. As a child, Jessica Lange's family moved constantly due to her father's frequently changing jobs. Jessica Lange later noted that her family "lived like gypsies." But instead of rebelling against this transient lifestyle, Jessica Lange inherited the travel bug. By the time she enrolled as an art student at the University of Minnesota in 1967, she had big dreams of seeing the world.

In the spring of 1968, before she had finished her freshman year, Jessica met and fell in love with 24-year-old photography professor Paco Grande. Jessica Lange and Grande left school and traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe. They lived mostly out of Grande's van, and Jessica Lange met many of Grande's friends within the film community. They returned to Minnesota briefly in July 1970, where they were married.

The newlyweds moved to New York, eventually settling in to the SoHo art community. Grande continued to work on film projects and Jessica, inspired by French cinema, made the decision to study mime. In 1971, Jessica Lange moved to Paris to study mime with teacher Etienne Decroux. Jessica Lange two years of education with Decroux sparked an interest in acting for Jessica Lange, and she returned to New York in 1973 to pursue a film career.

During her time abroad, Jessica Lange marriage to Paco Grande had deteriorated. Grande left Jessica in New York, where she started working as a waitress and model with the Wilhelmina Agency in order to make ends meet. In the fall of 1975, film producer Dino DeLaurentis contacted Jessica Lange's modeling agency looking for an actress to star in his new King Kong movie. An agent at Wilhelmina recommended Jessica for the part. After a Hollywood screen test, Jessica Lange landed the role.