Name: Uma Thurman

Birth Name: Uma Karuna Thurman

Birthdate: April 29, 1970

Birthplace: Boston, Mass.

If any actor's real life rivals Hollywood fiction, it's hers. Her father was an eccentric Buddhist scholar, mother a Swedish model and decendent of a baron. Growing up, Uma was a gangly, six-foot-tall misfit who found solace in pretending to be someone else — a hobby that turned into a career when she moved to New York at 15 to pursue modeling and acting. She got some notable roles (the first-ever NC-17 rated Henry & June) then hit a slump until 1994's brilliant Pulp Fiction, which got her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her unforgettable gangster's gal Mia Wallace. That movie's director, Quentin Tarantino, has called her his "muse," and went on to cast her in his groundbreaking Kill Bill films.


1. She wears a size 11 shoe
2. Her mother, a European socialite and model, was married to LSD guru Timothy Leary for a year before marrying her father
3. Her father was the first Westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk
4. She was named after the goddess of light and beauty in Indian Mythology; her middle name means "compassion"
5. Her beau, hotelier Andre Balazs (12 years her senior), bought Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione's former estate in Stattsburgh, New York


"I was a little bit sad as a teenager, a moody, intense girl, so being a sex symbol was a great thing — something I'll still happily throw over myself like a jacket if it suits the moment. If you're a woman, it's so easy to be a sex symbol. … But whenever anybody expects you to do a certain thing, it immediately loses its excitement."
— W, May 2004


Husbands: Ethan Hawke, actor, born Nov. 6, 1970; married May 1,1998, divorced July 20, 2004; Gary Oldman, actor, born March 21, 1958; married Oct. 1990, divorced 1992
Son: Roan, born Jan. 15, 2002
Daughter: Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke, born. July 10, 1998

2005: Nominated, Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama, Kill Bill: Vol. 2

2004: Nominated, Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama, Kill Bill: Vol. 1

2003: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, Hysterical Blindness

1995: Nominated, Academy Award, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Pulp Fiction

1995: Nominated, Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, Pulp Fiction

 

FILMS

My Super Ex-Girlfriend - (2006) - Actor
Prime - (2005) - Actor
The Producers - (2005) - Actor
Be Cool - (2005) - Actor
Kill Bill, Volume 2 - (2004) - Actor
Paycheck - (2003) - Actor
Kill Bill, Volume 1 - (2003) - Actor
Hysterical Blindness - (2002) - Actor
Chelsea Walls - (2002) - Actor
The Golden Bowl - (2001) - Actor
Tape - (2001) - Actor
Vatel - (2000) - Actor
Sweet and Lowdown - (1999) - Actor
Les Miserables - (1998) - Actor
The Avengers - (1998) - Actor
Batman & Robin - (1997) - Actor
Gattaca - (1997) - Actor
The Truth About Cats and Dogs - (1996) - Actor
Beautiful Girls - (1996) - Actor
A Month by the Lake - (1995) - Actor
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - (1994) - Actor
Pulp Fiction - (1994) - Actor
Mad Dog and Glory - (1993) - Actor
Final Analysis - (1992) - Actor
Jennifer 8 - (1992) - Actor
Robin Hood - (1991) - Actor
Where the Heart Is - (1990) - Actor
Henry & June - (1990) - Actor
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen - (1988) - Actor
Dangerous Liaisons - (1988) - Actor
Johnny Be Good - (1988) - Actor
Kiss Daddy Goodnight - (1987) - Actor