Birth Name: Julie Fiona Roberts
Birth Date: October 28, 1967
Birthplace: Smyrna, GA
Occupations: Actor, Model, Producer
Quote: "What changes with fame, I think, are perceptions of an individual, more than the individual." -- Boston Herald, May 28, 1999.
MANY YOUNG GIRLS dream of being actresses and wind up as a veterinarian or some other, more mainstream occupation. Julia Roberts is the opposite. The youngster who desperately wanted to help animals grew up to be one of the most famous women in the world. That she has maintained a career in an industry known for fickleness is a tribute to her talents (okay, and her smile). Roberts somehow survived being Hollywood's It Girl of 1990, as a Cinderella hooker opposite Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, to become a respected and consistent actress.
Born in Smyrna, Georgia, Roberts had the genes for acting, even if she didn't want to admit it. Both her parents had performed, and before Julia was born, they held acting workshops at their house. It's not like she was born into Hollywood royalty, though: both Mom and Dad had day jobs, as a secretary and a vacuum salesman, respectively. Despite her parents' divorce when Julia was only four, she remained exceptionally close to her father and was devastated when he died five years later. His death, she has said, affected her every idea about life. All except one: she steadfastly pursued her dream of becoming a veterinarian. But when both her sister Lisa and her brother Eric headed for the limelight, Julia wasn't far behind.
In 1984, Roberts moved to New York to be with her sister, Lisa, who was pursuing a career in acting. Julia began modeling solely for the income, which she spent on acting classes... none of which she actually completed. In the end, it was who she knew, her big brother, Eric, that led to her first film role (as Eric's kid sister) in the forgettable Blood Red. That movie didn't even make it to theatres until 1990, when "Julia Roberts" became a Big Name. So technically, her first break came in 1988, when she landed a guest part on the TV series Crime Story.
It was her portrayal of a Portuguese waitress in a small-town pizzeria (1988's Mystic Pizza) that garnered attention for the developing actress. The following year, she received her first Oscar nomination for a heart-wrenching role in Steel Magnolias. When Pretty Woman came along (with its attendant Oscar nod)... well, the It Girl was in full It. The Julia Craze was on.
The Craze eventually subsided, but Roberts has worked hard to keep herself challenged as an actress... with mixed results. She hasn't been afraid to take on roles that few would see (Dying Young, Something to Talk About) or than many might mock (Mary Reilly, Hook).
After an ill-fated (but not, she insists, regrettable) marriage to country singer Lyle Lovett, Roberts has been linked by rumor with just about every male in Los Angeles, New York and many points in between. She once joked that her dating life was simple: all she had to do was read the tabloids to see who she was involved with. Among her (real) ex-boyfriends are Liam neeson, Dylan McDermott, Kiefer Sutherland (who she jilted at the altar) and Daniel Day-Lewis.
For several years now, Roberts has been seeing and seriously involved with Law & Order star Benjamin Bratt.
Movies:
2000 The Mexican
2000 The Moviegoer
1999 Runaway Bride
1999 From Alice to Ocean
1999 Notting Hill
1998 Stepmom
1997 Conspiracy Theory
1997 My Best Friend's Wedding
1996 Mary Reilly
1996 Everyone Says I Love You
1996 Michael Collins
1995 Something to Talk About
1994 I Love Trouble
1994 A Century of Cinema
1994 Prêt-à-Porter
1993 The Pelican Brief
1992 The Player
1991 Hook
1991 Dying Young
1991 Sleeping with the Enemy
1990 Flatliners
1990 Pretty Woman
1989 Steel Magnolias
1988 Satisfaction
1988 Blood Red
1988 Mystic Pizza
1987 Firehouse
TV:
1998 In the Wild
1988 Baja Oklahoma
1986 Crime Story
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
