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Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (born September 27, 1972) is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe- and two-time Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actress. It would only seem natural that this daughter of TV producer Bruce Paltrow and stage and screen actress Blythe Danner would chose to follow a path in show business. Nevertheless, Gwyneth Paltrow's parents tried to dissuade her from a career as an actress, but she was determined. Her first professional role was a walk-on at age five and eventually she graduated to a part in an unsold pilot produced by her father. Gradually, she established herself as a rising talent and confirmed her abilities with a series of leading roles that demonstrated her range and skill. A willowy blonde, Paltrow frequently has been called luminous both by critics and interviewers. Projecting an innate intelligence, she began her career choosing her roles wisely, often working in low-budget or independent films that allowed her to portray a variety of characters, ranging from her breakthrough as a young con woman in "Flesh and Bone" (1993) to her hard-bitten prostitute in "Hard Eight/Sydney" (1997) to a series of parts that required a flawless British accent: the busybody "Emma" (1996) and the leading lady of "Sliding Doors" and "Shakespeare in Love" (both 1998). Her cool demeanor and throaty vocals bring to mind not only her mother but other famous blonde icons like Grace Kelly (whose role she inherited in 1998's "A Perfect Murder", a loose remake of "Dial M for Murder") and Jessica Lange (with whom she co-starred in the ludicrous "Hush" 1998). Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Blythe Danner, an actress, and the late Bruce Paltrow, a film and television director, writer, and producer. Paltrow's father was of Ashkenazi Russian Jewish descent and her mother was raised a Quaker; Paltrow proudly acknowledges her Jewish roots and follows Judaism. 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. 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 friendly Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991). She also appeared in Malice and Flesh and Bone. Although she was born in Los Angeles, by the time she was a pre-teen, Paltrow had settled in Manhattan with her family. She spent summers watching her mother perform at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she eventually made her professional stage debut in 1990. Eventually mother and daughter would work together in productions of "Picnic" (1991), "The Sweet Bye and Bye" (1992) and "The Seagull" (1994). Paltrow dropped out of college after only one semester to pursue her career, landing her first screen role in the forgettable "Shout" (1991). Family friend Steven Spielberg cast her as the young Wendy in his slightly overblown "Hook" (also 1991). Ironically, she was cast first in the 1992 true crime NBC miniseries "Cruel Doubt" before her mother was tapped to play her on-screen parent. Paltrow first displayed her uncanny knack for accents as the Texas con woman traveling with the much older James Caan in "Flesh and Bone". Bringing a much needed vitality to the otherwise dreary film, she earned the lion's share of critical kudos. Had the movie been more of a success at the box office, her performance may have been recognized by the Academy. Instead, Paltrow went on to a series of finely-tuned supporting turns. She was a delight as a bitchy actress in the ensemble of Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994) and as the ambassador's knowing daughter in the Merchant-Ivory production "Jefferson in Paris" (1995). When David Fincher tapped her to play the loving wife of a homicide detective in "Seven" (also 1995), he had no idea she and co-star Brad Pitt would become a couple off-screen as well. Her well-publicized, high profile romance, engagement and break-up was played out against a background of work and growing success. 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. After the disappointing romantic comedy "The Pallbearer" (1996), Paltrow solidified her growing reputation as a star in the making with a superb turn as Jane Austen's meddling heroine in "Emma". Her dead-on English accent even had some convinced she was British but once again, the expected nod from the Academy did not materialize. Paltrow went on to play a Reno hooker in Paul Thomas Anderson's gemlike "Sydney/Hard Eight" and lent an elegance to the cold-hearted Estrella in a contemporary spin of "Great Expectations" (1998). By this time, it had been announced that she and Pitt would reteam in the feature "Duets" to be helmed by her father but as their relationship unraveled, so did the project. 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 US$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. The year after 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. Continuing her ascent, Paltrow co-starred in a murderous love triangle with Matt Damon and Jude Law in Anthony Minghella's period drama "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999), adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel. Also, after much time in turnaround, she was finally directed by her father in "Duets" (2000), with TV star Scott Speedman cast in the role originally earmarked for Pitt. "Duets" offered the wildly popular actress a chance to show off another of her talents: singing. The karaoke-themed film scored something of a hit with the soundtrack cut "Cruisin'", a Smokey Robinson song performed by Paltrow and Huey Lewis. Later that year she co-starred with former flame Affleck in Don Roos' "Bounce", turning in a charming and convincing performance with a rare blue-collar role. Paltrow again put her somewhat patrician image aside to star in the Farrelly brothers comedy "Shallow Hal" (2001), playing the woman Jack Black's titular character falls for. Paltrow came under fire by some for her role in the surprisingly gentle romance, which required her to wear prosthetics for scenes as the 300-pound real Rosemary rather than the slim reflection of her inner beauty that Hal sees. In that year's "The Royal Tenenbaums", Paltrow was the grown-up incarnation of a child prodigy playwright, the adopted Tenenbaum harboring many secrets. The actress fit in very well in director Wes Anderson's quirky world and excelled with an appropriately reined in performance as the deadpan Margot. 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, and directed by her father, Bruce Paltrow. Towards the end of the film, their characters resolve their differences and perform a cover version of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'". The song 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, 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, while View from the Top and Shallow Hal were in the latter. In interviews for Shallow Hal, she told how 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. Her experience was filmed, and is available on the Shallow Hal DVD, in the Special Features section. She returned to major Hollywood fare with the retro, CGI-reliant action adventure "Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow" (2004), in which she played intrepid reporter Polly Perkins, who helps Sky Captain (Jude Law) fend off giant robots attacking an Art Deco, 30s-era New York. She was better served by the film adapation of the highly praised stage play "Proof" (2005), which reunited her with director John Madden (along with "Shakespeare in Love," the two had previously also collaborated on a London production of the play). Paltrow played Catherine, a young woman who has sacrficed much of her life caring for her father, a brilliant but schizophernic mathematician (Anthony Hopkins), whose death leaves her struggling over whether she's inherited his genius or his madness. The actress carried the weight of the film on her shoulders, and proved that her earlier award-winning performances were no fluke. She next signed on to star in "The Good Night" (lensed 2005), a comedy about a man's search for perfection in the world, directed by her brother, Jake Paltrow. Since winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love, Paltrow's film success has been less noteworthy. She said she was unequipped to cope with the pressure, leading her to make several bad movie choices, agreeing with peers who believe the win is a curse. In May 2005, Paltrow became the new face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume. She appeared in Chicago on August 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 2006 she became the new face for Bean Pole International, a Korean fashion brand. She starred along with actor Daniel Henney in several Commercial Films. In October 2007, Paltrow signed up for a US television series Spain... On The Road Again that showcases food and culture of Spain. Paltrow is a descendent of a famous 17th century Polish rabbi, David HaLevi Segal of Krakow, 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 has 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: “ It sounded so sweet and it conjured such a lovely picture for me – you know, apples are so sweet and they're wholesome and it's biblical – and I just thought it sounded so lovely and … clean! And I just thought, "Perfect!" Apple's godfather is Simon Pegg. She currently divides her residence between England and New York. In May 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 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. |
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