Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning American actress and former fashion model, primarily for her roles in sitcom s and television. She is currently best known for her starring role on the television situation comedy Murphy Brown, and as William Shatner's legal partner, Shirley Schmidt, on the ABC hit dramedy, Boston Legal. She was born in Beverly Hills, California, the daughter of Frances Westerman(1922 - October 2, 2006) — who was known professionally as Frances Westcott when she was a Powers model — and radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. Her paternal grandparents, Johan Henriksson Berggren and Nilla Svensdotter Osberg, were Swedish-born immigrants who Anglicized their surname.