Date of Birth
27 September 1972, Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth Name
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow
Nickname
Gwynnie
Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)
Mini Biography
To most moviegoers, Gwyneth Paltrow was "that English actress that
used to be engaged to Brad Pitt."
On March 21, 1999, that image was altered completely when the little known
actress was awarded the Academy Award for her outstanding performance in Shakespeare
in Love (1998). Gwyneth Paltrow,
who in fact is not English, was born in 1972 in Los Angeles, the daughter of
noted film director Bruce Paltrow and Tony award-winning actress Blythe Danner. When Gwyneth was 11,
the family moved to Massachusetts where her father began working in summer
stock productions in the Berkshires. It was here that she received her early
acting training under the tutelage of her parents. In 1991, she quit the
University of California and began to actively pursue a career in acting. She
made her film debut with a small part in Shout (1991) and for the next 5 years had
featured roles in a mixed bag of film fare that included Flesh and Bone (1993);Mrs. Parker and the Vicious
Circle (1994); Se7en (1995); Jefferson in Paris (1995);Moonlight and Valentino (1995); and The Pallbearer (1996). It was her performance in the title
role of Emma Woodhouse in Emma (1996) that led to her being offered
the role of Viola in Shakespeare
in Love (1998). She broke her
much publicized engagement to actor Brad
Pitt in 1997 citing as the reason
the fact that neither she nor Pitt felt that they could pursue their respective
careers and at the same time maintain a happy marriage. They remain good
friends. A tall, wafer thin, delicate beauty, Gwyneth Paltrow is a consummate
professional and a highly skilled actress who appears to possess everything
necessary to achieve super stardom.
Trivia
Turned down the role
of Rachel Keller in The Ring (2002/I).
Is a best friends
with Madonna.
Spent 70 hours in
labor awaiting the birth of her first child.
Revealed that she
named her daughter Apple, because apples are whole, sweet and crisp. The baby's
middle name honors her grandmothers, Blythe Danner and Alison Martin.
Attended St.
Augustine By The Sea (where she met Maya
Rudolph) in Los Angeles and the Spence School in New York City.
October 2002: Met
husband Chris Martin when she attended his band's (Coldplay's)
concert.
She does not employ
a nanny to take care of her daughter, a rarity among actors in the film
business.
October 2005:
Expecting her second child with husband Chris
Martin.
Signed a contract
with Estée Lauder for $10 million to promote its new
line of fragrance, "Pleasures".
Gave birth to her
second child, a boy named Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, in New York City at 9
a.m., weighing 8 lbs., 4 oz (8 April 2006).
Her son, Moses, is
named after a song Chris Martin wrote for her and appears on Coldplay's "Live 2003"
album. Moses is also her father's Hebrew name.
She speaks French
quite well, having spent a summer in Paris when in her early twenties.
Is good friends with Helena Christensen, who was one of the
first people to visit Gwyneth in hospital after she gave birth to her son Moses
Bruce Anthony Martin.
Long-time close
friendship with actress Mary
Wigmore, who also appeared (albeit briefly) in Paltrow's films The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and Shallow Hal (2001).
Was Maid of Honor at Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie.
Her godfather Steven Spielberg is also the godfather of Drew Barrymore.
Godparents of her
daughter Apple are Simon Pegg, Mary Wigmore, and Chris Martin's Coldplay band-mate Jon Buckland.
Was originally
signed on to play Ava Gardner in The
Aviator (2004), but dropped out.
Auditioned for
"Vickie" in Reality
Bites (1994), but lost out to Janeane Garofalo.
She earns $3 million
per year endorsing Estée Lauder on television and in print
advertisements.
Was hospitalized and
then released (14 January 2008).
Attended Brown Ledge
Summer Camp in Vermont.
Practices yoga.
When she played Sharon Stone on "Saturday
Night Live" (1975), Stone
felt offended and criticized her performance (1999).
Had suffered
post-partum depression following the birth of her son, Moses [April 15, 2008].
Attended the Spence
School in Manhattan, an elite private girls' school that was also attended by Emmy Rossum and Kerry
Washington.
Attended the 55th
Tony Awards. She can be seen dancing with the revival cast of "The Rocky
Horror Show" during "The Time Warp".
2008 Ambassador for
the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF)'s Women's Cancer Research Fund.
Gwyneth's brother, Jake Paltrow's birthday is a day
before hers (9/26 and 9/27, respectively).
Born at 5:25 PM
(PDT).
Friend of Cameron Diaz, Stella McCartney, Liv Tyler and Tracy
Anderson.
Returned to work ten
months after giving birth to her daughter Apple in order to begin filming Running with Scissors (2006).
Her friendship with Winona Ryder ended in the late 1990s.
Returned to work
eleven months after giving birth to her son Moses in order to begin filming Iron Man (2008).
Was six months
pregnant with her son Moses when she completed filming The Good Night (2007).
Two of her
ex-boyfriends have been named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine: Brad Pitt and Ben
Affleck.
Replaced Charlize Theron in the role of Greta Wegener in The Danish Girl (2012), but after dropping out of the
project herself she was replaced by Marion
Cotillard.
Was awarded the
2,427th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by Tim
McGraw, accompanied by her Country
Strong (2010) co-star Faith Hilland "Glee" (2009) co-star Matthew Morrison (13 December 2010).
Second cousin of
Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords, who was injured in the 2011 Tucson, Arizona shooting. Their fathers
are first cousins.
Was in attendance at
the wedding of Reese Witherspoon to Jim
Toth (26 March 2011).
Auditioned for the
role of Kelly Taylor in "Beverly
Hills, 90210" (1990), but
producer Aaron Spelling felt she was a relatively unknown
actress, and lost the part to Jennie
Garth.
