Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow
Paltrow at the launch of Estee Lauder's Sensuous perfume, July 2008
Born	Gwyneth Kate Paltrow September 27, 1972 (1972-09-27) (age 37) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1990–present
Spouse(s)	Chris Martin (m. 2003–present) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Chris Martin to Gwyneth Paltrow" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwyneth_Paltrow)

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (pronounced /ˈɡwɪnɨθ ˈpælˌtroʊ/; born September 27, 1972)¹² is an American actress. She is the daughter of Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner. She dropped out of university to act. She began in theatre in 1990, and in film the following year. Her early films include Se7en (1995), Emma (1996), in which she played the title role, and Sliding Doors (1998). Her performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998) brought widespread recognition; she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actress and as a member of the Outstanding Cast, among other awards and nominations.

She followed with roles in such films as The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Shallow Hal (2001). She starred in the film Duets (2000), produced and directed by her father, and sang on two singles from the film's soundtrack. She received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama for Proof (2005). She appeared in Iron Man (2008).

Paltrow dated Brad Pitt from 1995 until 1997, and married Chris Martin, lead singer of British rock band Coldplay, in 2003. They have two children, Apple and Moses. Paltrow said she curtailed her work following her first child. In 2005 Paltrow became the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume. She is on the board of the charitable Robin Hood Foundation.

Early life

Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Blythe Danner, an actress, and Bruce Paltrow, a film and television director, writer, and producer. Paltrow's father was of Ashkenazi Russian Jewish descent and her mother is a Quaker of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.³⁴⁵⁶ Paltrow was raised in Santa Monica, she attended Crossroads School before moving and attending The Spence School, a private girls' school in New York City. Later she briefly studied art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before dropping out to act. Paltrow has a younger brother, Jake Paltrow, and is cousin of actress Katherine Moennig and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08). She is an "adopted daughter" of Talavera de la Reina (Spain), where at 15 she spent a year as an exchange student and learned Spanish.⁷⁸ Paltrow was childhood friends with Saturday Night Live's Maya Rudolph.⁹

Career

Early work (1990–1996)

Paltrow made her professional stage debut in 1990. Her most recent stage appearance was in Proof at London's Donmar Warehouse. Her debut film was Shout, with John Travolta. She also appeared in Hook (1991), as Young Wendy. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards. Paltrow appeared in Malice (1993), with Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman, in the film, she had a minor role. In the same year, Paltrow had a supporting role in Flesh and Bone.

Paltrow starred in Se7en (1995), which earned her an Satellite Award nomination. She appeared with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The film was successful commercially and critically. Then in 1996 she starred in Emma to critical acclaim, particularly in the UK for her English accent, as well as in Europe and Asia.

Breakthrough (1998–2003)

Paltrow starred in Shakespeare in Love, in which she portrayed the fictional love of William Shakespeare, portrayed by Joseph Fiennes. It earned US$100 million in box office receipts in the USA, and received awards. Shakespeare in Love won the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay,¹⁰ as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture.¹¹ Paltrow also won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role from the Screen Actors Guild.¹² Later that year, Paltrow won the Academy Award for Best Actress.¹¹ The next year she starred in A Perfect Murder. In 1999 Paltrow starred in The Talented Mr. Ripley which earned $80 million domestically and received positive reviews.

Paltrow at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival

Audiences got their first taste of Paltrow's singing ability with the 2000 release of Duets, in which she co-starred with singer Huey Lewis, who played her karaoke-hustling estranged father, and was directed by her father. In the same year, Paltrow starred with Ben Affleck in Bounce as Abby Janello.

She appeared as Margot Tenenbaum in The Royal Tenenbaums, which was a financial and critical success. The comedy featured an all-star cast, including Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Seymour Cassel, Owen and Luke Wilson. She starred with Jack Black in the comedy Shallow Hal, where she played both roles, slim and fat Rosemary and had to wear a specially designed 25 pound fatsuit and heavy make-up.

In The Guardian, she said she divided her career into movies for love and films for money: The Royal Tenenbaums, Proof, and Sylvia fell into the former category, while View from the Top and Shallow Hal the latter.⁵

Career success (2004–present)

Since the Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, Paltrow's film success has been less noteworthy.¹³ She said she was unequipped for the pressure, leading to several bad movie choices,¹⁴ agreeing with peers who believe the win is a curse.¹⁵ She had cameo roles such as in the Brittany Murphy film Love and Other Disasters, and several smaller roles, such as her role in Running With Scissors and Infamous, in which she sang Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?".

She appeared in the 2005 film Proof, based on the play of the name, as a young protagonist, mathematician and daughter Catherine.

In 2008, she appeared in Iron Man as Pepper Potts, Stark's closest friend, budding love interest, and business partner after Pepper replaced Obadiah Stane as CEO of Stark Industries.¹⁶ The film is her first blockbuster in several years. Paltrow said she was hesitant to appear in a big film but she was won over by Robert Downey Jr., the star, and director Jon Favreau. Paltrow recalled a conversation with Downey, saying:¹⁷

She appears in the sequel to Iron Man, Iron Man 2 as the same character of the first film. The film, slated for a May 2010 release is directed by Jon Favreau and also stars Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson. She stars as Gerda Wegener alongside Nicole Kidman in The Danish Girl.¹⁸ She will star in the country musical, Love Don't Let Me Down.¹⁹

Music

Paltrow had her singing debut in the 2000 film Duets, in which she performed a cover version of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'". The song was well-received and released as a single. The song went to number one in Australia while Paltrow's rendition of the Kim Carnes classic "Bette Davis Eyes" reached number three. In the 2006 film Infamous, she sang "What Is This Thing Called Love".

On September 27, 2006, Paltrow sang with rapper Jay-Z during his concert at Royal Albert Hall. She sang the chorus for "Song Cry", from the rapper's album Blueprint.²⁰ In an interview she said she would be at the concert but not that she would perform. She was quoted as saying "I'm a Jay-Z fan. He's my best friend."²¹ Her husband, Chris Martin, later performed the song "Beach Chair" with Jay-Z from the rapper's album Kingdom Come.

Other projects

In May 2005, Paltrow became the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume. She appeared in Chicago on 17 August 2007, to sign bottles of the perfume, and on 8 July 2008, she promoted Lauder's Sensuous perfume in New York with the company's three other models.²² Estée Lauder donates a minimum of $500,000 of sales of items from the 'Pleasures Gwyneth Paltrow' collection to breast cancer research.²³

Paltrow is on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization to alleviate poverty in New York City. In 2006 she became the face for Bean Pole International, a Korean fashion brand. She starred with actor Daniel Henney in several commercial films. In October 2007, she signed for a PBS television series Spain... on the road Again with Mario Batali that showcases the food and culture of Spain.²⁴

In September 2008, she launched a weekly lifestyle newsletter, Goop, encouraging readers to 'nourish the inner aspect'. The website's title is from the initials of her first and last names.²⁵ Each week, the newsletter focuses on an action: Make, Go, Get, Do, Be, and See. It has been ridiculed by E-Online,²⁶ Vanity Fair,²⁷ The Independent,²⁸ and the UK's Daily Mirror.²⁹

In February 2009, Paltrow received a Grammy nomination for her reading of the classic bear books of author Bill Martin, Jr.

Paltrow is a Save the Children artist ambassador. She has been quoted saying:

World Pneumonia Day is November 2.³¹

Personal life

Paltrow was engaged to Brad Pitt, whom she dated from 1994 to 1997.³² She regretted breaking up with him, telling Diane Sawyer she wished him well and could not believe he was with her when she was "such a mess".³³

On turning 30 on 27 September 2002 she said "I had the most incredible birthday weekend until my dad died on me like six days later. It's been, in many ways, the worst year of my life and will continue to be."³⁴

On 5 December 2003, she married Chris Martin of the British rock group Coldplay in a secret ceremony at a hotel in Southern California; she met him at a concert.³⁵ On 14 May 2004, the couple had their first child, a girl named Apple Blythe Alison Martin. One of Martin's band associates already had a daughter named Apple, and the couple asked to 'borrow' the name. Paltrow further explained the first name on Oprah, saying:³⁶

The child's godfather is Simon Pegg.³⁷ She lives in New York and Belsize Park in London, in a house bought from Kate Winslet.³⁵

In January 2006, Paltrow said, "Since my daughter came along, I've not worked much through choice. And with another baby on its way, I don't think I will be doing a lot for the next year or so either."³⁸ Her second child, a boy named Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, was born on 8 April 2006, in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital.³⁹ Her son's first name was explained as the song that her husband wrote for her shortly before their secret wedding, called "Moses".³⁹

In May 2005, she said she had depression after the death of her father, and after the birth of her second child. She practices yoga daily, and follows a macrobiotic diet, although she told People in 2005 that, "I'm not as stringent as I was in the past. Now I'll have cheese once in a while or white flour, but I still believe in whole grains and no sugar."⁴⁰

Paltrow earned the enmity of Sharon Stone due to her performance as Stone in a Saturday Night Live skit that poked fun at Stone and her husband, Phil Bronstein.⁴¹ Paltrow is friends with Madonna,⁴² with whom she shares a personal trainer,³⁵ and fashion designer Valentino. She was friends with Winona Ryder until Paltrow's breakup with Ben Affleck. Their friendship ended because Winona accused Gwyneth of stealing the female lead role in Shakespeare in Love from her.⁴³

In December 2006, Paltrow was reported on the Internet to have told Notícias Sábado, the weekend magazine supplement of Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias, that she thought British people were more civilized and intelligent than Americans.⁴⁴ Paltrow denied making the statements attributed to her and told People that she never gave an interview to a Portuguese publication, but did a press conference in Spain where she tried to say in Spanish that Europe was an "older culture" and Americans "live to work".⁴⁵ Diário de Notícias said in the 6 December 2006 edition that it had obtained the quotes from English-language articles which are still referenced online.⁵⁴² In a 2007 interview with W, Paltrow again claimed she was misquoted by Diário de Notícias, telling an interviewer:¹⁷

In 2007, Paltrow said she wasn't sure she wanted more children. "My husband really wants to adopt," she told the interviewer, "So I don't know; I'm sort of open for anything."¹⁷

She has been criticized by scientists for saying shampoo causes cancer. She said, "I fear that shampoo gives cancer to children." Professor Hugh Pennington said shampoo is safe unless swallowed: "It’s a load of nonsense. Shampoo is perfectly safe, unless you drink it in large quantities."⁴⁶

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gwyneth Paltrow

• Gwyneth Paltrow at the Internet Movie Database
• Gwyneth Paltrow at TV.com
• Gwyneth Paltrow at People.com
• Gwyneth Paltrow on her recipe for flounder at Oprah After the Show
• Goop website
• Gwyneth Paltrow Online
• World Pneumonia Day

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia