Charlize Theron is a South African-born American actress and former fashion model. She was born in Benoni, Guateng, South Africa. Theron's first language is Afrikaans. She is also fluent in English and speaks some Xhosa. At the age of sixteen she travelled to Milan, Italy on a one year modeling contract after winning a local competition. She then went on to New York with Pauline's Model Management. She decided to remain in NY after her contracted ended, attending the Joffrey Ballet School, where she trained as a ballet dance. A knee injury closed this career path when Theron was nineteen.
Unable to dance, Theron flew to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket her mother bought her. During her early months there, she went to a bank to cash a check her mother had sent her to help with the rent. When the teller refused to cash it, Theron immediately started into a shouting match with her. Afterwards, a talent agent in line behind her handed her his business card and subsequently introduced her to some casting agents and also an acting school. After eight months in the city, she was cast in her first film part, a non-speaking role in the direct-to-video film Children of the Corn III (1995). Larger roles in widely released Hollywood films followed, and her career skyrocketed in the late 1990s with box office successes like The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).
Records:
- Monster (2003)
- Best Actress Oscar at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004
- SAG Award
- Golden Globe Award
- First South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress.
- The Hollywood Reporter's 2006 list of highest-paid actresses in Hollywood; earning $10,000,000 for both her subsequent films, North Country and Æon Flux, she ranked seventh, behind Halle Berry, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Renée Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon, and Nicole Kidman.
- Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- Æon Flux
- Best Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her lead performance in the drama North Country.
- May 1999 issue of Playboy published nude photos of Theron
- Replaced Estonian model Tiiu Kuik as the spokeswoman in the J'ADORE advertisements by Christian Dior.
- From October 2005 to December 2006, Theron endorsed Raymond Weil watches. In February 2006, she was sued by Weil for breach of contract.
- May 2006, Maxim magazine named Theron #25 in its annual "Hot 100" issue. In October 2007, Esquire magazine named Theron The Sexiest Woman Alive in its annual issue.
- Theron dated the lead singer of Third Eye Blind, Stephan Jenkins, from January 1998 to July 2001.
- Involved in women's rights organizations.
- Won GLAAD's Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for increasing "visibility and understanding".
- Theron is a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She recently appeared in a PETA ad for their anti-fur campaign.
In a 2008 interview, she continuously mixed up two European cities, Budapest and Istanbul. The deputy mayor of Budapest responded by inviting her to spend a luxurious weekend in the Hungarian capital in order to get to know the city.
Theron became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 2007.
Tags: BBTV BroadbandTV Charlize Theron Monster North Country Æon Flux PETA Maxim Playboy Christian Dior J'ADORE Golden Globe
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