Gwyneth Kate Paltrow was born on September 28, 1972, in Los Angeles, California, to Tony-award-winning actress, Blythe Danner and film director, Bruce Paltrow. Her ancestry is Anglo-Saxon and Polish-Jewish; on her father’s side, there are many rabbis in the family tree. When she was eleven years of age, her family moved to Massachusetts where her father began working in summer stock productions in the Berkshires. Here she received her early acting training under the tutelage of her parents. She spent some time while in her early teens in Spain, and as a result, can speak Spanish fairly well. She went to Crossroads High School in Santa Monica for one year and graduated from the Spence School in New York in 1990. She then attended the University of California at Santa Barbara for one year as an Art History major, but she quit in 1991 to actively pursue an acting career.
Her film debut came in 1991 with a small part in the film, “Shout” opposite John Travolta. That same year she met Steven Spielberg and was cast in his film, “Hook.” For the next few years, she had featured roles in a variety of films including “Flesh and Bone” (1993), “Jefferson in Paris” (1995) and “The Pallbearer” (1996) to name a few. In 1996, her performance in the title role of Emma Woodhouse in “Emma” led to the role of Viola in “Shakespeare in Love” (1998).
In October of 2002 she met her husband, Chris Martin, who is the lead singer of the band, “Coldplay.” Her daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, was born in May of 2004, so named, according to Gwyneth, because apples are whole, sweet and crisp. She is also the proud mother of a baby boy born in April of 2006, whom she named Moses.
What are some of YOUR favorite Gwyneth Paltrow performances? Please share.