Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts

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Birth name: Julie Fiona Roberts
Date of birth: 28 October 1967
Place of birth: Smyrna, Georgia, USA
Nickname: Jules
Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
Spouse: Daniel Moder (4 July 2002 – present) 3 children, Lyle Lovett (25 June 1993 – 22 March 1995) (divorced)

Famous Quote: “I’m just a girl from a little town in Georgia who had this giant, absurd dream. You can be true to the character all you want, but you’ve go to go home with yourself. I’m just an ordinary person who has an extraordinary job. I’m too tall to be a girl, I never had enough dresses to be a lady, I wouldn’t call myself a woman. I’d say I’m somewhere between a chick and a broad.”

Contact Address and Autograph: Addresses and fan mail information

Julia Roberts
c/o Hirsch Wallerstein Matlof and Fishman LLP
10100 Santa Monica Blvd. 23rd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067-1722, USA 

Biography:  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 acclaimed 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, Mystic Pizza, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, and Ocean’s Eleven, have collectively earned box office receipts well over US$2 billion.

A winsome beauty with a large, incandescent smile and a mane of hair, Julia Roberts was one of the few bankable female stars of the 1990s whose love affair with the public and world’s press continued into the next century. Critics have long speculated on the secret of her undeniable appeal, but it remained one of those enigmas of contemporary pop culture. Roberts lacked the technical polish of some of her contemporaries, but was able to command the screen like no one else, even while surrounded by heavy hitters like Sally Field, Denzel Washington and Susan Sarandon. Her public life was also key to her longevity. From the trail of broken-hearted beaus she left in her wake to her self-imposed post-”Pretty Woman” exile to getting pregnant with twins – the public ate it all up with a spoon.

Roberts had 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), until 2006, when Nicole Kidman became the highest paid actress in the film industry. 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).

Roberts was born in Atlanta, Georgia at Crawford Long Hospital. 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. 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 Atlanta, Georgia off of Juniper Street in Midtown; 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 once estranged but reconciled since 2004) and Lisa Roberts Gillan, are also actors. Roberts moved to Smyrna, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) in 1972, where she attended Fitzhugh Lee Elementary School, Griffin Middle School and Campbell High School. Roberts originally planned to be a veterinarian, but later studied journalism instead. She was introduced to performing at an early age by her theatrical parents, who ran the Atlanta-based Actors and Writers Workshop out of their home. She made her screen debut opposite her brother Eric in “Blood Red,” although the 1986 film went unreleased for three years. Noticing that her old brother was scoring some success in Hollywood, Roberts decided to try acting as a career. She first gained notice starring in two youth-oriented movies in 1988 – “Mystic Pizza” and “Satisfaction” (1988). In the former, Roberts played a memorably fiery Portuguese waitress. Only a year or two into her new career, the young actress earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination as the doomed diabetic heroine, Shelby, of “Steel Magnolias” (1989).

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).

With her performance as a warm-hearted prostitute who transforms cold executive Richard Gere in Garry Marshall’s saccharine but immensely successful rags-to-riches saga, “Pretty Woman” (1990), Roberts became one of Hollywood’s most popular and bankable stars – certainly its top female – and earned a surprise Best Actress Academy Award nomination. The iconic role would forever label her America’s “pretty woman” – even over a decade later. While her contribution made the routine thrillers “Flatliners” (1990) and “Sleeping with the Enemy” (1991) popular successes, she faltered a bit at the box office in late 1991 with the weepie romance “Dying Young.” She finished the year with the supporting role of Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg’s lavish but disappointing update of the Peter Pan myth, “Hook.” Roberts’ toothsome portrayal of the feisty fairy revealed no insights into the tiny winged character, and she struggled gamely with the physical and artistic rigors of doing most of her scenes alone on a special effects soundstage. Rumors of bad blood between Roberts and Spielberg cast a pall on the project, sending the increasingly reclusive star into a self-imposed exile, which only fueled the press more.

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.

Roberts catapulted to worldwide fame when she co-starred with Richard Gere in the Cinderella/Pygmalionesque 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, such as Stephen Frears’ Mary Reilly (1996) for which earned a Razzie Worst Actress nomination. 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. 1997 saw the actress reassert her position as both America’s sweetheart and a box-office performer with her starring role in the hit comedy, “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” Cast as a scheming restaurant critic who sets out to break up the wedding of the man she thinks she loves, Roberts turned what could have become an unsympathetic character into an audience favorite through the sheer force of her natural charm and vibrancy. She was abetted by Rupert Everett’s scene-stealing supporting turn as her editor and a subtle script by Ron Bass that inverted many of the clichés of screwball comedy. Roberts’ much-anticipated teaming with Mel Gibson in Richard Donner’s “Conspiracy Theory” (also 1997), however, proved to be somewhat disappointing thanks to a muddled script. Ron Bass was one of several writers who worked on the script of “Stepmom” (1998), a comedy-drama that cast Roberts as the much younger girlfriend of a divorced man coping with his two children and his saintly ex-wife. 

Most critics dismissed the film as pap but audiences lapped it up and made it a modest box-office success. She followed with a turn as a world-famous movie star who falls in love with a bumbling British bookseller (Hugh Grant) in “Notting Hill”, an uneven romantic comedy, which nevertheless, did well at the box office. The much ballyhooed reteaming with Gere under Garry Marshall’s guidance in “Runaway Bride” (both 1999) brought out the crowds, but the film could in no way compete with the “Pretty Woman” legacy that came before. Together these films earned over $300 million domestically, justifying the actress’ standing as the highest paid female actor.

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.

Just as critics thought she was all charm and no real acting chops, Roberts took on the role of her life, essaying the real-life legal secretary who assisted in turning a water poisoning case into one of the largest class-action lawsuits in U.S. history, in “Erin Brockovich” (2000). Her stellar work under the direction of Stephen Soderbergh, earned her just about every accolade in 2001, including the Best Actress Oscar. 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). Later in 2001 she starred in the road gangster comedy The Mexican giving her a chance to work with long term friend Brad Pitt. 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.

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.

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, 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 was released on December 21, 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 Kate Jacobs. Her niece, Emma Roberts, is said to be considered for the role of her daughter.

Julia Roberts has brought to life some of the books from American Girl as movies and serves as Executive Producer, along with her sister Lisa. Currently Julia has produced four movies. Directors Robert Altman, Mike Nichols, Joel Schumacher, Steven Soderbergh, and Garry Marshall have repeatedly cast Roberts in their films. But Steven Spielberg, after directing her in Hook (1991) for which she earned a Razzie Worst Supporting Actress nomination, never worked with her again. In a 1993 interview with Barbara Walters, Roberts said that she was confused by Spielberg’s recollection of working with her, as she only has positive memories of working on his film. In 1993, The New York Times wrote that Herbert Ross, the director of Steel Magnolias, criticized that Julia’s acting was one-dimensional, despite the fact that she received her first Academy Award nomination for it. Although, Roberts eventually called for a truce, they too never worked together again.

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 achieving 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.

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.

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. Though at the time, Moder was married to Vera Steinberg Moder, he filed for divorce a little over a year later, and after it 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 “Finn” Walter. Their third child, son Henry Daniel Moder, was born on June 18, 2007 in Los Angeles.

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.

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