Who is Shirley MacLaine from Out on a Limb and what is their importance?

Shirley MacLaine is an actress who at the time this book is set has made more than thirty movies. Shirley is having an affair with an English politician that causes her to look deeply at herself and figure out why she can never find happiness with a man. It seems to Shirley that no matter what she does, the men in her life feel that they can never live up to her expectations of them. This causes Shirley to often find herself alone and unhappy. As a result, Shirley begins a journey of self discovery that will ultimately end in this book.