Liv Tyler Biography

Summary

"Liv Tyler" (born "Liv Rundgren", on July 1, 1977, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her roles of Grace Stamper in "Armageddon" and Arwen in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Biography

Early life

Liv is the first born daughter of Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith, and Bebe Buell, a model and singer. However, at birth Buell claimed that rock star Todd Rundgren was her biological father. She spent most of her childhood living with that understanding. Liv only discovered her true parentage at age 9, after meeting Tyler at a Rundgren concert in Boston. Then at another meeting in 1988, noticing that Tyler's other daughter, Mia, looked very similar to herself, she asked her mother point blank. The truth about her paternity however did not become public until 1991. She then changed her name from Rundgren to Tyler, but kept the former as a middle name. Buell's reason for the initial decision was that Steven Tyler was too heavily addicted to drugs at that time.

Liv attended the Congressional School of Virginia, Breakwater Elementary School and Waynflete School before returning to New York City with her mother at the age of 12. She went to York Prep in NYC for Junior High and High School, graduating in 1995.

One month later Liv set off for Italy, to star in "Stealing Beauty".

Career

Starting a career as a model at the age of fifteen, Liv appeared on the covers of magazines and starred in commercials for makeup. However, after becoming bored with modeling less than a year after starting to model, she quickly moved into acting. She first became known to TV audiences when she starred alongside Alicia Silverstone in the music video for the Aerosmith song, "Crazy", in 1993. The decision to cast her was based on the video's creators having seen her in a Pantene commercial, with absolutely no knowledge that her father was in the band.

Later, she was cast almost simultaneously for "Silent Fall" and "Heavy"; the filming of "Heavy" was delayed until she became available. By the age of 20, she had already starred in several successful movies, including "Stealing Beauty", "That Thing You Do!" and "Inventing the Abbotts".

Her appearance in "Armageddon", which was released on her 21st birthday, brought her to the attention of a wide public. The film incidentally included the song, 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing', by her father's band.

However, she has proven herself a capable actress starring in such films as "Onegin", based on the 19th century Russian novel by Alexander Pushkin), in which she portrayed the character of Tatyana Larina. She also appeared in two movies directed by Robert Altman, "Cookie's Fortune" and "Dr. T & the Women".

Her most successful role came in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, in which she played Arwen Undómiel.

In 2007 she was chosen to star alongside Edward Norton in the upcoming "The Incredible Hulk".

Tyler was chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1997. She was also voted the 6th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the "Australian Empire" Magazine in September 2002, and #2 in TheAge.com's 'Top 100: Natural Beauties of all time' in 2004.

In 2003 she became the spokesperson for Givenchy Perfume and Cosmetics.

Personal life

On March 25, 2003, Liv married British musician Royston Langdon of the band Spacehog. On December 14, 2004, she gave birth to a son, Milo William Langdon, in a New York hospital.

Liv's ancestry is a combination of German on her mother's side, and Italian, Russian and Cherokee Indian on her father's side.

Liv's mother named her after Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann.

Liv dated actor Joaquin Phoenix from 1995 to November 1998. The couple met on the set of "Inventing the Abbotts".

The Lemonheads' song, "C'mon Daddy", is written about the relationship between Liv and her father. Lemonheads singer, Evan Dando, played a major supporting role in James Mangold's film, Heavy, in which Liv starred.