JuliaRoberts
1967
Born October 28, 1967, in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty and Walter
Roberts. Her parents divorced when she was four and her father died
when she was nine. Right after high school, Roberts joined her sister in
New York City and began modeling. Her brother Eric was already
established as an actor.
In 1988, Roberts made a guest appearance on Miami Vice and that same
year she made her film debut in Mystic Pizza. She followed up with a
supporting role in the ensemble drama Steel Magnolias, costarring Sally
Field, Dolly Parton, and Shirley MacLaine. Her performance as the
doomed young bride earned Roberts a Golden Globe Award and an
Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Roberts made the leap to superstardom the following year, with her star
turn as a Hollywood Boulevard prostitute who falls in love with her
business mogul client in the smash hit Pretty Woman, co-starring
Richard Gere. She garnered another Golden Globe and another Oscar
nomination, this time for Best Actress. By the time she appeared as
herself in The Player, Roberts was one of the most sought after actresses
in Hollywood. Fans adored her sweetness and infectious wide smile.
Roberts began a series of high-profile romantic relationships in 1991
when she was engaged to actor Kiefer Sutherland. Shortly before the
scheduled wedding, the couple broke up, and Roberts was soon seen
with actor Jason Patric. In 1993, Roberts married singer Lyle Lovett after
a whirlwind courtship. However, the couple never lived together and
were divorced less than two years later, though they have remained good
friends.
Roberts, seeking to avoid typecasting, sought roles in more dramatic
films, but audiences didn't flock to The Pelican Brief, I Love Trouble,
Ready to Wear and Mary Reilly. She also appeared in the Woody Allen
musical Everyone Says I Love You, as Allen's object of desire.
Roberts returned to her romantic-comedic form with 1997's My Best
Friend's Wedding, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.
Her next two films, Conspiracy Theory, with Mel Gibson, and Stepmom,
costarring Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris, both did respectable business.
Roberts' "comeback" was confirmed in 1999 with the success of the
sweet romantic comedy Notting Hill, which also marked a return of sorts
for costar Hugh Grant. Further cementing her reign as the queen of the
box office, Roberts reteamed with Gere and her Pretty Woman director,
Garry Marshall, for another hit romantic comedy, Runaway Bride.
For her next big role, in Erin Brockovich, directed by Steven Soderbergh
and costarring Albert Finney, Roberts commanded $20 million, making
her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. She earned every penny of her
colossal salary, however, leading the film to a $125 million box office
gross and winning almost every major critics' award, a Golden Globe,
and a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Actress. The true story of a
single mother who joins the staff of a law office and ends up taking on a
corporate giant in a multimillion dollar lawsuit, Erin Brockovich
garnered five Academy Award nominations, including a seemingly
inevitable Best Actress nod for Roberts.
In early 2000, Forbes magazine ranked Roberts No. 1 on its Celebrity
100 "power" list-denoting the most total media coverage-and No. 12 on
its "money" list. Her upcoming projects include the romantic comedy
The Mexican, costarring Brad Pitt; the star-studded remake of the Rat
Pack classic Ocean's Eleven, also featuring Pitt, George Clooney, and
Matt Damon; and America's Sweethearts, costarring John Cusack and
Catherine Zeta-Jones.
. Julia Roberts
1967
Born October 28, 1967, in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty and Walter
Roberts. Her parents divorced when. high school, Roberts joined her sister in
New York City and began modeling. Her brother Eric was already
established as an actor.
In 1988, Roberts made