Gwyneth Paltrow Biography
Summary
"Gwyneth Kate Paltrow" (born September 27, 1972) is an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer.
Biography
Early life
Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Blythe Danner, an actress, and Bruce Paltrow, a late film and television director, writer, and producer. Paltrow's father was Jewish and her mother was raised a Quaker; Paltrow follows Judaism and proudly acknowledges her Jewish roots. Raised in Santa Monica, she attended Crossroads School before moving and attending Spence School, a private girls' school in New York City. Later she briefly studied art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before discontinuing her degree and committing herself to acting. Paltrow has a younger brother, Jake Paltrow, and is a cousin of actress Katherine Moennig. She is an 'adopted daughter' of Talavera de la Reina (Spain), where she lived as an exchange student and learned Spanish. Paltrow was childhood friends with "Saturday Night Live"s Maya Rudolph and attended Brown Ledge Summer Camp, an all-girl's camp in Vermont.
Early career: 1990-1994
Paltrow made her professional stage debut in 1990. Her most recent stage appearance was in "Proof" at London's Donmar Warehouse. Her debut film was "Shout" (1991). Later that year, she had a small role as the young Wendy in family friend Steven Spielberg's "Hook" (1991). She also appeared in "Malice" and "Flesh and Bone".
Breakthrough: 1995-2000
Paltrow starred in "Se7en" (1995), opposite Brad Pitt, and Morgan Freeman. The film was hugely successful commercially and critically. Then in 1996 she starred in "Emma", where she received strongly positive critical acclaim, particularly in the UK for her impressive English accent, as well as in Europe, and Asia.
Two years later, Paltrow starred in "Shakespeare in Love", a fantasy of how William Shakespeare might have written "Romeo and Juliet." The film received critical acclaim, earned more than $100 million in domestic box office receipts, and received numerous awards. "Shakespeare in Love" won the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay, as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture. Paltrow also won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role from the Screen Actors Guild. Later that year, Paltrow won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. After her Oscar win Paltrow starred in other movie roles such as "A Perfect Murder". In 2000 Paltrow starred in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" which earned over $80 million domestically, and received positive reviews. She then starred in "Bounce" with "Shakespeare in Love" costar Ben Affleck, which was moderately successful, both critically and commercially.
Since then, she has had a relatively low-profile, yet steady, film career with a few critically acclaimed film roles, including "Proof" (2005) and "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001). Audiences got their first taste of Paltrow's singing ability with the 2000 release of Duets, in which she co-starred with singer Huey Lewis, who played her karaoke-hustling estranged father. Towards the end of the film, their characters resolve their differences and perform a cover version of Smokey Robinson's Cruisin'. The song, which surprised many of Paltrow's fans, was well-received and was eventually released as a single, getting heavy airplay from Top 40 and adult contemporary-formatted radio stations.
In an interview with "The Guardian" on 27 January 2006, Paltrow admitted that she divided her career into those movies she did for love and those films she did for money. "The Royal Tenenbaums, Proof," and "Sylvia" fell into the former category, whilst "View From the Top" and "Shallow Hal" were in the latter. In interviews for Shallow Hal, she reported did some research for the role by wearing the fat suit she used during filming, and going to a local bar to gauge the public perception of obese people. She said that people refused to make eye contact with her, and she was treated quite rudely on multiple occasions, and the experience saddened her greatly, with regards to how people treat those who are overweight.
Since winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for "Shakespeare in Love", Paltrow's box-office profile has declined considerably, with her most recent smash being 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley".
Other work
In May of 2005, Paltrow became the new face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume. She appeared in Chicago on Aug. 17, 2007 to sign bottles of the perfume. Estée Lauder donates a minimum of $500,000 of sales of items from the 'Pleasures Gwyneth Paltrow' collection to breast cancer research.
Paltrow serves on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to allieviate problems caused by poverty in New York City.
In October 2007, Paltrow signed up for a US television series "Spain... On The Road Again" that showcases food and culture of Spain.
Personal life
Paltrow is a descendent of a famous 17th century Polish rabbi, David HaLevi Segal of Cracow, through the Russian rabbinical family, Paltrowitch, which produced thirty-three rabbis over several generations. The actress has said she is very proud of being Jewish, and has attributed her father's warmth to his Jewish heritage:
'My father had that incredible Jewish warmth, really bolstering us his children all the time. And when you're nine years old and you're hearing that you are the best person, it gets in there, and you think, 'OK, I'm not going to be afraid to try things, because I'm always loved no matter what.' That kills me, when I think about it. It totally breaks my heart, how lucky I am.'
Paltrow had a much-publicized romance and engagement to Brad Pitt. She once stated that she regretted breaking up with Pitt, saying in an interview with Diane Sawyer that she wished Pitt well and could not believe he was with her when she was 'such a mess.' They were together for over three years. She has been linked romantically with Ben Affleck and Luke Wilson. She also been romantically linked with other actors and famous people viz: Chris Heinz (2000-01), and Robert Sean Leonard (2001).
On turning thirty, she says 'I had the most incredible birthday weekend until my dad died on me like four days later,' said Paltrow, who turned 30 on September 27, 2002. 'It's been, in many ways, the worst year of my life and will continue to be.' On December 5, 2003, she married Chris Martin of the British rock group Coldplay in a secret wedding ceremony in Southern California. Paltrow gave birth to their first child, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, five months later, on May 14, 2004, in London. She explained the unusual first name on "Oprah," saying,
Apple's godfather is Simon Pegg. She currently resides in England and New York.
In January 2006, Paltrow announced that, 'Since my daughter came along, I've not worked much through choice. And with another baby on its way, I don't think I will be doing a lot for the next year or so either.' Her second child, Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, was born on April 8, 2006 in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital. Her son's first name can be explained by the song that her husband wrote for her shortly before their secret wedding, called 'Moses'.
In May of 2005, she publicly announced that she suffered from depression after the death of her father Bruce Paltrow. She practices yoga, and follows a macrobiotic diet, although she told "People" in 2005 that, 'I'm not as stringent as I was in the past. Now I'll have cheese once in a while or white flour, but I still believe in whole grains and no sugar.' She admits a fondness for wine, however.
Paltrow earned the enmity of Sharon Stone due to her performance as Stone in a "Saturday Night Live" skit that poked fun at Stone and her then-husband, Phil Bronstein. Paltrow is also good friends with Madonna and fashion designers Valentino and Stella McCartney. Steven Spielberg is a close family friend. She was best friends with Winona Ryder until her breakup with Ben Affleck.
On September 27, 2006 (her 34th birthday) Gwyneth sang a duet with rap legend Jay-Z during his history-making concert at Royal Albert Hall. She sang the chorus for "Song Cry", from the rapper's classic Blueprint album. In an interview prior to her appearance she indicated she would be attending the concert, but did not mention she would perform. She was also quoted as saying 'I'm a Jay-Z fan. He's my best friend.' Her husband, Chris Martin, later performed the song "Beach Chair" with Jay-Z from the rapper's album "Kingdom Come".
In December of 2006, Paltrow was reported on the Internet to have told "Notícias Sábado", the weekend magazine supplement of Portuguese newspaper "Diário de Notícias", that she thought British people were more civilized and intelligent than Americans. Paltrow denied making the statements attributed to her and told "People" magazine that she never gave an interview to a Portuguese publication, but did a press conference in Spain where she tried to say in Spanish that Europe was an 'older culture' and Americans 'live to work.' Diário de Notícias later clarified in their December 6, 2006 edition that they had not obtained the quotes from an original interview or foreign press conference, but rather from previous English-language articles which are still referenced online.
Stalker
Paltrow had a stalker in 1999 and 2000, who allegedly sent five to ten packages a week: everything from love notes, flowers and candy to religious tracts, pornography, dozens of letters a week, and over 1,200 emails. He also made a threat of a sexual nature and showed up repeatedly at her house, even after her mother, Blythe Danner warned him not to return. He persisted despite being warned by the FBI and was sentenced to several years in a mental institution. The decision has since been overturned after jurists said that the stalker's request to be placed in conditional release program should have been considered.
Filmography
"Shout" (1991)
"Hook" (1991)
"Malice" (1993)
"Flesh and Bone" (1993)
"Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994)
"Higher Learning" (1995)
"Jefferson in Paris" (1995)
"Se7en" (1995)
"Moonlight and Valentino" (1995)
"Hard Eight" (1996)
"The Pallbearer" (1996)
"Emma" (1996)
"Out of the Past" (1998) (documentary) (narrator)
"Sliding Doors" (1998)
"Great Expectations" (1998)
"Hush" (1998)
"A Perfect Murder" (1998)
"Shakespeare in Love" (1998)
"The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999)
"The Intern" (2000) (Cameo)
"Duets" (2000)
"Bounce" (2000)
"The Anniversary Party" (2001)
"The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001)
"Shallow Hal" (2001)
"Searching for Debra Winger" (2002) (documentary)
"Austin Powers in Goldmember" (2002) (Cameo)
"Possession" (2002)
"View from the Top" (2003)
"Sylvia" (2003)
"Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" (2004)
"Proof" (2005)
"I'm Going to Tell You a Secret" (2005) (documentary)
"Infamous" (2006)
"Love and Other Disasters" (2006)
"Running with Scissors" (2006)
"The Good Night" (2007)
"Iron Man" (2008)
"Two Lovers" (2009)
External links
(interview, The Guardian UK) , 27 January 2006.
(Gwyneth Paltrow on her recipe for flounder) at "Oprah After the Show"
(Gwyneth Paltrow Dot Net) Fan site with news and video
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Gwyneth Paltrow.
