Julia Roberts Biography

Summary

"Julia Fiona Roberts" (born October 28 1967) is an Academy Award-winning American film actress and former fashion model. She shot to fame during the early 1990s after starring in the romantic comedy, "Pretty Woman", opposite Richard Gere, which grossed US$463 million worldwide. She won the Best Actress Academy Award in 2001 for her critically praised turn as the title character in ""Erin Brockovich"" and earned Oscar nominations as Best Supporting Actress for "Steel Magnolias" (1989) and Best Actress for "Pretty Woman" (1990). Her films, which also include "The Pelican Brief", "My Best Friend's Wedding", "Notting Hill", "Runaway Bride", and "Ocean's Eleven," have collectively earned box office receipts well over US$2 billion.

Roberts has become the highest-paid actress in the world, topping the Hollywood Reporter's annual power list of top-earning female stars for four consecutive years (2002-2005). Her fee for 1990's "Pretty Woman" was $300,000; in 2003, she was paid an unprecedented $25 million for her role in "Mona Lisa Smile". As of 2007, Roberts' net worth was estimated to be US$140 million.

Roberts was the first actress to appear on the cover of "Vogue" and the first woman to land the cover of "GQ". She has been named one of "People" magazine's '50 Most Beautiful People in the World' eleven times, tied with Halle Berry. In 2001 Ladies Home Journal ranked her as the 11th most powerful woman in America, beating out then national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and first lady Laura Bush.

Roberts has a production company called Red Om Films ('Moder' spelled backwards; formerly Shoelace Productions).

Biography

Early life

It is commonly mistaken that Julia's birth name is 'Julie'; however, Roberts has said in interviews that 'Julie' was a nickname given to her by classmates in elementary school, and she never took well to it. Roberts was born in Smyrna, Georgia. Her father, Walter Grady Roberts, was a vacuum cleaner salesman, and her Minneapolis, Minnesota-born mother, Betty Lou Motes (née Bredemus), was a one-time church secretary and real estate agent. Her parents, one-time actors and playwrights, met while performing theatrical productions for the armed forces and later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Georgia; the two divorced in 1971. Her mother later married Michael Motes and had another daughter, named Nancy Motes who was born in 1976. Roberts' father died of cancer when she was ten. Her older brother and sister, Eric Roberts (from whom she was estranged for a while) and Lisa Roberts Gillan, are also actors. Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child, but soon after graduating from Smyrna's Campbell High School, and after attending Georgia State University, she headed to New York to join her sister Lisa Roberts Gillan and pursue a career in acting. Once there, she signed with the Click modeling agency and enrolled in acting classes. She reverted to her original name 'Julia Roberts' when she discovered that a 'Julie Roberts' was already registered with the Screen Actors Guild.

Her niece, Emma Roberts, whom Julia used to take to movie sets when she was a young girl, has joined her father and aunts in the acting business. Recently, Emma gained a starring role on the Nickelodeon series "Unfabulous" and has appeared in the films "Blow" (2001), "Aquamarine" (2006) and "Nancy Drew" (2007).

Career

1986—1989, Early career

Roberts made her film debut playing a supporting role opposite her brother, Eric, in "Blood Red" (she has just two words of dialogue), which, although completed in 1986, was not released until 1989. Her first television appearance was as a juvenile rape victim in the initial season of the series Crime Story with Dennis Farina, in the episode titled 'The Survivor,' broadcast on February 13, 1987. She also once appeared on Sesame Street opposite the character Elmo, demonstrating her ability to change emotions. Roberts first caught the attention of moviegoers with her performance in the independent film "Mystic Pizza" in 1988; that same year, she had a role in the last episode of season four of Miami Vice. The following year, she was featured in "Steel Magnolias" as a young bride battling diabetes and garnered her first Oscar nomination (as Best Supporting Actress) for her performance.

1990—2000, Breakout role and eventual success

Roberts first catapulted to worldwide fame when she co-starred with Richard Gere in the Cinderella/Pygmalianesque story "Pretty Woman" in 1990. Roberts won the role after the first two choices for the part, Molly Ringwald and Meg Ryan both turned it down. The role also earned her a second Oscar nod, this time as Best Actress. Her next box office success was the thriller "Sleeping with the Enemy", playing a battered wife who escapes her demented husband, Patrick Bergin, and begins a new life in Iowa. She played Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg's "Hook" in 1991, which was followed by a two-year hiatus, during which she made no films other than a cameo appearance in Robert Altman's "The Player" (1992). In early 1993, she was the subject of a "People" magazine cover story asking, 'What Happened to Julia Roberts?'

In 1993, she co-starred with Denzel Washington in the successful "The Pelican Brief", based on the John Grisham novel. She also starred alongside Liam Neeson in the 1996 film "Michael Collins". Over the next few years, she starred in a series of films that were critical and commercial failures, primarily because she was cast in roles that strayed too far from her film persona. She broke her losing streak with the hugely popular comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997), and eventually regained her earlier reputation as an actress who could open a movie and guarantee box office success. She starred with Hugh Grant in the popular 1999 film "Notting Hill". That same year, she also starred in "Runaway Bride", the second film with the Julia Roberts-Richard Gere duo.

Roberts was a guest star on the Law & Order television series, in a well-received episode broadcast on May 5, 1999 entitled 'Empire,' with her then-boyfriend, series regular Benjamin Bratt.

2001—2005, continued success

In 2001, Roberts received the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich, who helped wage a successful lawsuit against energy giant Pacific Gas & Electric. Whilst presenting the Best Actor Award to Denzel Washington the following year, she made a gaff when she said she was glad that Tom Conti wasn't there. She meant the conductor Bill Conti, who had tried to hasten the conclusion of her Oscar speech the previous year, but instead named the British actor. Roberts would team up with "Erin Brockovich" director Steven Soderbergh for three more films: "Ocean's Eleven" (2001), "Full Frontal" (2002), and "Ocean's Twelve" (2004).

In 2005, she was featured in the music video for the hit single 'Dreamgirl' by the Dave Matthews Band. Roberts is reported to be a longtime fan of the band.

2006 Broadway Debut

Julia Roberts made her Broadway debut on April 19, 2006 as Nan in a revival of Richard Greenberg's 1997 play, "Three Days of Rain" opposite "Alias" and "Kitchen Confidential" star Bradley Cooper, and "The 40 Year Old Virgin" star, Paul Rudd. Although the play grossed nearly US$1 million dollars in ticket sales during its first week and was a commercial success throughout its limited run, most critics heavily criticized Roberts' performance. The "New York Times" critic Ben Brantly, a self-proclaimed 'Juliaholic,' described her as being fraught with 'self-consciousness (especially in the first act) and only glancingly acquainted with the two characters she plays.' Brantley also criticized the production of 'Greenberg's slender, elegant play,? writing, 'it's almost impossible to discern its artistic virtues from this wooden and splintered interpretation, directed by Joe Mantello.? "Three Days of Rain" received two Tony Award nominations in stage design categories, but took home neither prize. Roberts did, however, receive a Broadway.com audience award (a minor theatrical prize) for her performance.

2006—present

Roberts's two films released in 2006, "The Ant Bully" and"Charlotte's Web", were both animated features for which she provided only voice acting. Her next film is "Charlie Wilson's War" with Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, directed by Mike Nichols and based on the book by former CBS journalist George Crile; it is scheduled for wide release on December 25, 2007. "Fireflies in the Garden", also starring Ryan Reynolds and Willem Dafoe is currently in post-production, with release set for 2008. It has also been announced that Roberts will star in "The Friday Night Knitting Club," based on the novel of the same name by Kathleen Jacobs.

Influence

As of February 2007, Roberts's films have grossed $2,204,631,930 at the American box office making her the biggest female movie star in history and reaching this feat with only 31 films to her name. She was also placed at the pinnacle of the Ulmer Scale, a comprehensive guide to the global star power of actors and directors in independent and studio films created by James Ulmer, ahead of such other luminaries as Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks. This was partly owing to her ability to attract filmgoers solely on the basis of her name's appearance above the title and without the support of a male co-star, something few other actresses have been able to do.

Personal life

Roberts's personal life has often been in the spotlight, a fact reflected in her "Notting Hill", a romantic comedy about a famous actress falling for a bookstore owner played by Hugh Grant, another star with a high-profile personal life.

Relationships

Roberts has had widely reported romantic relationships with numerous famous men, including Liam Neeson, Dylan McDermott, Kiefer Sutherland, Lyle Lovett, Daniel Day-Lewis, Matthew Perry, and Benjamin Bratt. She was briefly engaged to McDermott, her "Steel Magnolias" co-star. She met Sutherland in 1990, when he was her co-star in "Flatliners"; he left his wife and children to move in with Roberts. In August 1990, Roberts and Sutherland announced their engagement, with an elaborate studio-planned wedding scheduled for June 14 1991. Roberts broke the engagement three days before the wedding when she discovered Sutherland had been meeting with a stripper named Amanda Rice. Roberts subsequently went to Ireland with Jason Patric, a friend of Sutherland's. On June 27, 1993, she married country singer Lyle Lovett; the couple had met only three weeks earlier. The wedding took place on 72-hours' notice and was held in Marion, Indiana, near where Lovett was appearing on tour with his band. Less than two years later, in March 1995, the couple announced their separation. They subsequently divorced.

In 1998, Roberts began dating "Law & Order" star Benjamin Bratt, who was her escort for the March 25, 2001 Academy Awards ceremony at which she won her Oscar. Three months later, in June 2001, Roberts and Bratt announced that they were no longer a couple. 'It's come to a kind and tenderhearted end,' she said of their relationship.

Roberts met her current husband, cameraman Daniel Moder, on the set of her movie "The Mexican" in 2000 and they began an affair. At the time, Moder was married to Vera Steinberg Moder and it was reported that Roberts offered Danny's then-wife $400,000 to agree to a divorce. After Moder's divorce was finalized, he and Roberts wed on Fourth of July 2002, at her ranch in Taos, New Mexico.

On November 28, 2004, they became the parents of fraternal twins, daughter Hazel Patricia and son Phinnaeus Walter. Their third child, son Henry Daniel Moder, was born on June 18 2007 in Los Angeles.

Roberts has long owned a penthouse apartment in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood. She reportedly loves to shop anonymously, buying her own organic greens on weekends at the market in nearby Union Square. She and her family divide their time between their homes in Taos New Mexico, New York City, Malibu, and Venice Beach, California.

Charities

Roberts has given her time and resources to UNICEF as well as to other charitable organizations. In Spring 1995, Roberts, an enthusiastic supporter of UNICEF, asked if she could meet some of the relief agency's neediest recipients. On May 10, she arrived in Port-au-Prince, as she said, 'to educate myself.' The poverty she found was overwhelming. 'My heart is just bursting,' she said. UNICEF officials hoped that her six-day visit would trigger an outburst of giving: $10 million in aid was sought at the time.

In 2000, Roberts narrated "Silent Angels", a documentary about Rett syndrome, which was shot in Los Angeles, Baltimore and New York. The documentary was designed to help raise public awareness about the disease. In July 2006, Earth Biofuels announced Roberts as a spokeswoman for the company and as chair of the company's newly formed Advisory Board promoting the use of renewable fuels.

Awards

Awards nominated

1989: Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress in "Mystic Pizza"

1989: Young Artist Awards for Best Young Actress in a MOtion Picture- Drama "Mystic Pizza"

1989: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in "Steel Magnolias"

1990: Academy Awards and BAFTA for Best Actress in "Pretty Woman"

1991: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress "Flatliners"

1992: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Actress "Sleeping with the Enemy"

1992: MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance and Most Desirable Female "Dying Young"

1994: MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performane "The Pelican Brief"

1997: Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical" My Best Friend's Wedding"

1998: MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performane and Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical "My Best Friend's Wedding"

1999: Golden Globe for 'Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical" Notting Hill"

1999: Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series "Law & Order"

1999: Kid's Choice Awards Blimp Award for Favourite Movie Actress "Stepmom"

2000: Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actress- Comedy/Romance "Notting Hill" and "Runaway Bride",Csapnivalo Awards Golden Slate Best Female Performance and MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance "Runaway Bride"

2000: Kid's Choice Awards Blimp Award for Favourite Movie Actress "Notting Hill" and "Runaway Bride" and Blimp Award for Favourite Movie Couple "Notting Hill"

2000: Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical "Notting Hill"

2001: Chicago Film Critic's Association, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Award, Online Film Critics Society, Golden Satellite Award-Drama and Empire Awards (UK) for Best Actress "Erin Brockovich" and MTV Movie Award for Best Line from a Movie "Erin Brockovich"

2001: Teen's Choice Award for Film-Choice Chemistry "The Mexican"

2002: PhoenixFilm Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble "Ocean's Eleven"

2005: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Ensemble "Closer" and "Ocean's Twelve"

External links

(An assessment of the hype surrounding Julia Roberts Broadway debut)

Linda Hörnfeldt. ( Aboutjulia) August 31, 2004

Credit

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Julia Roberts.

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