| Charlize Theron  Born: 7-Aug-1975
Birthplace: Benoni, South Africa
Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor, Model Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Monster Charlize Theron was raised under apartheid on a South African farm, about 25 miles from Johannesburg. Her native language is Afrikaans. She was 15 when her alcoholic and abusive father came home in a drunken rage, approaching Theron's mother waving a gun and shouting what would be his last words, "Tonight I am going to kill both of you." Instead, her mother shot him dead. The killing was ruled self-defense, but for years, understandably, young Charlize would answer inquiries about her father by lying that he had died in an auto wreck.
She was trained as a dancer from the age of six, and her earliest performances on stage were ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. She worked as a model from the age of 16, in South Africa, Europe, and America, where she took advanced lessons at New York's Joffrey Ballet School, until a knee injury ended that career path.
Deciding to become an actress, she settled in Los Angeles where she was unable to find work. She lived on her savings from modeling work and occasionally subsisted on bread sticks stolen from restaurants. When a bank teller refused to cash her last modeling check because it was drawn on an out-of-state bank, she became furious, swearing in Afrikaans until she was approached in the bank lobby by a stranger who offered his card. She has said she thought he was a creep trying to pick her up, but he was John Hurt's agent, and quickly became Theron's.
After extended speech lessons to lose her accent, she landed a tiny, uncredited role in Children of the Corn III, then had a furious fight scene with Teri Hatcher in 2 Days in the Valley. She played the drummer's dissatisfied girlfriend in That Thing You Do with Tom Hanks, the waitress who fell for Jeff Daniels in Trial and Error, Keanu Reeves's schizophrenic wife in The Devil's Advocate, an orgasmic model in Woody Allen's Celebrity, Tobey Maguire's fascination in The Cider House Rules, the mistress of car salesman Billy Bob Thornton in Waking Up In Reno, the safe-cracker in a Mini Cooper in The Italian Job with Mark Wahlberg, and ex-wife Britt Ekland in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers with Geoffrey Rush.
Her first starring role was in Mighty Joe Young with Bill Paxton. She played The Astronaut's Wife, wondering what was wrong with husband Johnny Depp after he returned from outer space, and she was Razzie-nominated as Worst Actress for Sweet November in 2001, playing Reeves' live-in sexual therapist. She won the Oscar as Best Actress two years later playing Aileen Wuornos, the battered prostitute who became a serial killer in Monster with Christina Ricci. She has since played the spandex-clad superhero of the sci-fi comic-inspired Aeon Flux and the determined coal miner of North Country. She also played Jason Bateman's romantic interest on TV's Arrested Development.
In 1999 she appeared nude in Playboy, in photos taken years earlier when she was a struggling model. In South Africa, she has filmed TV commercials for the Cape Town Rape Crisis Center, urging no tolerance for rape or domestic violence. After winning her Oscar, Nelson Mandela told Theron she had "put South Africa on the map." Father: Charles (French ancestry, construction company owner, d. 1991 shot by his wife in self-defense)
Mother: Gerda Maritz (German ancestry)
Boyfriend: Craig Bierko (actor, dated 1996-98)
Boyfriend: Stephan Jenkins (lead singer Third Eye Blind, Jan-1998 to Jul-2001)
Boyfriend: Stuart Townsend (actor, dated and cohabited since 2001, engaged to be married)
Boyfriend: Sean Penn (actor, together 2013-15, broken engagement)
Son: Jackson (adopted Mar-2012)
Daughter: August (adopted Jul-2015)
High School: The National School of the Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa
Afghanistan World Foundation Celebrity Committee
Friends for Harry Reid
John Kerry for President
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Oscar for Best Actress 2004 for Monster
Golden Globe 2004 for Monster
Hollywood Walk of Fame Sep-2005
Endorsement of L'Oreal 2004
Naturalized US Citizen 2007
Wedding: Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek (2009)
Funeral: Nelson Mandela (2013)
Posed Naked for Playboy (May-1999)
French Ancestry Paternal side
German Ancestry Maternal side
Huguenot Ancestry
Risk Factors: Former Smoker, Marijuana
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Long Shot (9-Mar-2019)
Gringo (8-Mar-2018)
Tully (23-Jan-2018)
The Fate of the Furious (4-Apr-2017)
Atomic Blonde (12-Mar-2017)
Kubo and the Two Strings (13-Aug-2016) [VOICE]
The Huntsman: Winter's War (29-Mar-2016)
Mad Max: Fury Road (7-May-2015)
Dark Places (31-Mar-2015)
A Million Ways to Die in the West (29-May-2014)
Snow White and the Huntsman (30-May-2012) · Ravenna
Prometheus (30-May-2012) · Meredith Vickers
Young Adult (9-Dec-2011)
Astro Boy (5-Oct-2009) · "Our Friends" Narrator [VOICE]
The Road (3-Sep-2009) · Woman
The Burning Plain (29-Aug-2008) · Sylvia
Hancock (16-Jun-2008)
Sleepwalking (22-Jan-2008)
Battle in Seattle (8-Sep-2007) · Ella
In the Valley of Elah (1-Sep-2007) · Det. Emily Sanders
Aeon Flux (2-Dec-2005) · Aeon Flux
North Country (12-Sep-2005) · Josey Aimes
Head in the Clouds (12-Sep-2004) · Gilda Bessé
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (21-May-2004)
Monster (16-Nov-2003)
The Italian Job (30-May-2003) · Stella Bridger
Waking Up in Reno (25-Oct-2002)
Trapped (20-Sep-2002) · Karen
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (5-Aug-2001)
15 Minutes (1-Mar-2001)
Sweet November (12-Feb-2001) · Sara
The Legend of Bagger Vance (29-Oct-2000) · Adele Invergordon
Men of Honor (14-Sep-2000) · Gwen
The Yards (27-Apr-2000) · Erica Soltz
Reindeer Games (24-Feb-2000) · Ashley
The Cider House Rules (7-Sep-1999)
The Astronaut's Wife (27-Aug-1999)
Mighty Joe Young (25-Dec-1998) · Jill Young
Celebrity (7-Sep-1998)
The Devil's Advocate (17-Oct-1997)
Trial and Error (30-May-1997) · Billie Tyler
That Thing You Do (14-Sep-1996) · Tina
2 Days in the Valley (12-Sep-1996) · Helga Svelgen
Official Website:
http://www.charlizetheron.com/
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