Early work Bergen made her screen debut playing a university student in the
ensemble film The Group (1966), directed by
Sidney Lumet, who knew Bergen's family. The film delicately touched on the subject of
lesbianism She guest-starred on an episode of
Coronet Blue, whose director
Sam Wanamaker recommended her for the comedy
The Day the Fish Came Out (1967), which was directed by
Michael Cacoyannis and distributed by Fox. The film was a box-office flop; nevertheless, Fox signed her to a long-term contract. but did not appear in the film. Bergen went to France to appear in
Claude Lelouch's romantic drama
Live for Life (1967) opposite
Yves Montand, popular in France but not the US. In 1968, she played the leading female role in
The Magus, a British mystery film for Fox starring
Michael Caine and
Anthony Quinn that was almost universally ridiculed and was another major flop. She played a frustrated socialite in a 1970 political satire,
The Adventurers, based on a novel by
Harold Robbins. Her salary was $200,000. The film received negative reviews, and while it did respectably at the box office, it did not help her career. Bergen called it a "movie out of the 1940s." Bergen appeared with
Oliver Reed and
Gene Hackman in
The Hunting Party (1971), a violent Western which drew terrible reviews and flopped. Bergen received some strong reviews for her supporting role in
Carnal Knowledge (1971), directed by
Mike Nichols. She then had the lead role in the drama
T.R. Baskin (1971) and earned the best reviews of her career up to that time. She described the latter as the first role "that is really sort of a vehicle, where I have to act and not just be a sort of decoration" saying she had decided "it was time for me to get serious about acting." Bergen was absent from screens for a few years. She returned with a supporting part in a British heist film,
11 Harrowhouse (1974), then did a Western with
Gene Hackman and
James Coburn,
Bite the Bullet (1975). Both films were modest successes. In 1975, she replaced
Faye Dunaway at the last minute to co-star with
Sean Connery in
The Wind and the Lion (1976), as a strong-willed American widow kidnapped in the Moroccan desert. The film drew mixed reviews and broke even at the box office. Bergen was reunited with Hackman in
The Domino Principle (1977) for
Stanley Kramer, another failure. She appeared in
A Night Full of Rain (1978) for
Lina Wertmüller and was the love interest of
Ryan O'Neal's character in the
Love Story sequel, ''
Oliver's Story'' (1978), but both films failed critically and financially. Bergen appeared with
Burt Reynolds in the romantic comedy
Starting Over (1979), for which she received
Academy Award and
Golden Globe Award nominations for best supporting actress. She portrayed a best-selling author in
Rich and Famous (1981) with
Jacqueline Bisset. A remake of the
Bette Davis film
Old Acquaintance; the film was not a success. In 1982, Bergen appeared in the
Oscar-winning film
Gandhi in which she portrayed documentary photographer
Margaret Bourke-White. Bergen was nominated for a
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Television and other work Beginning in the 1970s, Bergen became a frequent
guest host of
Saturday Night Live. She was the first woman to host the show, and the first host to do a second show. She was also the first woman to join the
Five-Timers Club when she hosted for the fifth time in 1990. In recent years, Bergen has made various cameos on
SNL, often to help welcome new members into the
Five-Timers Club, such as
Jonah Hill in 2018,
John Mulaney in 2022,
Emma Stone in 2023, and
Jack Black in 2026. Bergen also guest-starred on
The Muppet Show in its first season, while her father Edgar would guest-star the following season. In 1984, Bergen joined the Broadway cast of
Hurlyburly. On television, Bergen appeared as
Morgan Le Fay in
Merlin and the Sword (1985) and in the miniseries
Hollywood Wives (1985). She was
Burt Reynolds' romantic interest in
Stick (1985), and for TV appeared in ''
(1985) and Mayflower Madam'' (1987). She portrayed an editor of
Vogue on
Sex and the City. Her daughter,
Chloe Malle, joined the magazine in 2011 and became the head of editorial in 2024. Malle was named editor-in-chief of
Vogue magazine by
Anna Wintour on September 1, 2025, replacing Wintour who has been in the role since 1988.
Murphy Brown In 1988, she took the lead role in the sitcom
Murphy Brown, in which she played a tough television reporter. This provided her with the opportunity to show her little-seen comic talent. The series made frequent reference to politicians and political issues of the day; though it was primarily a conventional sitcom, the show tackled important issues. For example, Brown was a recovering
alcoholic who became a single mother and later battled
breast cancer. In 1992,
Vice President Dan Quayle criticized prime-time TV for showing the Murphy Brown character "mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice." Quayle's disparaging remarks were subsequently written into the show, with Brown shown watching Quayle's speech in disbelief at his insensitivity and ignorance of the reality of the lives of single mothers. A subsequent episode explored the subject of family values within a diverse set of families. The Brown character arranges for a truckload of
potatoes to be dumped in front of Quayle's residence, an allusion to an infamous incident in which Quayle erroneously directed a school child to spell the word "potato" as "potatoe". In reality, Bergen agreed with at least some of Quayle's observations, saying that while the particular remark was "an arrogant and uninformed posture", as a whole, it was "a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did." Bergen's run on
Murphy Brown was extremely successful. The show ran for ten seasons; between 1989 and 1998, Bergen was nominated for an
Emmy Award seven times and won five. After her fifth win, she declined future nominations for the role.
Post-Murphy Brown After playing the role of Murphy Brown, Bergen was offered a chance to work as a real-life journalist. After the show ended in 1998, CBS approached her to cover stories for
60 Minutes. She declined, saying she did not want to blur the lines between actor and journalist. Subsequently, Bergen hosted
Exhale with Candice Bergen on the
Oxygen network. From 1991 to 1998, Bergen appeared as the main spokesperson for the
Sprint long-distance phone company. Bergen produced and starred in the TV movie
Mary & Tim (1996). She also appeared in films including
Miss Congeniality (2000), where she played veteran pageant host Kathy Morningside; portrayed the mayor of New York in
Sweet Home Alabama (2002); and appeared in the
Gwyneth Paltrow flight-attendant comedy,
View from the Top (2003). She had roles in the remake of
The In-Laws (2003),
Footsteps (2003), a thriller, and appeared in three episodes of
Sex and the City and one episode in the sequel series
And Just Like That... as Enid Frick,
Carrie Bradshaw's editor at
Vogue. Bergen also appeared as Frick in a cameo for the 2008 movie version of
Sex and the City.
Boston Legal and beyond In January 2005, Bergen joined the cast of the television series
Boston Legal as Shirley Schmidt, a founding partner in the law firm of
Crane, Poole & Schmidt. The series reunited her with her
Miss Congeniality co-star
William Shatner. She played the role for five seasons. In 2006 and 2008, she received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She has also made guest appearances on many other TV shows, including
Seinfeld (as herself playing Murphy Brown),
Law & Order,
Family Guy, and
Will & Grace (playing herself). She has also featured in a long-running "Dime Lady" ad campaign for the
Sprint phone company. Bergen could be seen in
The Women (2008) and
Bride Wars (2009) as Marion St. Claire, New York's most sought-after wedding planner, who also serves as the narrator of the story. From its launch in 2008, Bergen was a contributor for
wowOwow.com, a website for women to talk culture, politics and gossip. The website closed in 2010. She was in
The Romantics (2010) and had an occasional role on
House as
Lisa Cuddy's mother, starting in Season 7, including the episodes "
Larger Than Life" and "
Family Practice". In 2010, she appeared in a one-night only concert: a semi-staged reading of
Evening Primrose by
Stephen Sondheim. She also appeared on Broadway in the 2012 revival of
Gore Vidal's
The Best Man and the 2014 revival of
Love Letters. Later performances included ''
A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014), Beautiful & Twisted (2015), Rules Don't Apply (2016),The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017), Home Again (2017) and Book Club'' (2018).
Murphy Brown reboot On January 24, 2018, it was announced that Bergen would be reprising her role as Murphy Brown. The reboot aired on CBS in fall 2018 for 13 episodes. On May 10, 2019, the reboot was canceled by CBS. ==Beyond acting== In addition to acting, Bergen studied photography and worked as a
photojournalist. She has written numerous articles and a play, as well as two memoirs,
Knock Wood in 1984, and
A Fine Romance in 2015. In 2000, Bergen became the host of her own talk show called
Exhale on Oxygen. Guests included
Anne Bancroft and
Diane Keaton. It ran for one season and was produced by Scott Carter, future producer of
Politically Incorrect with
Bill Maher. In 2016, Bergen began painting, with
paint pens, on handbags, with the business overseen by her daughter, Chloé Malle, and with the proceeds benefiting charity. ==Personal life==