Name: Charlize
Theron
Birthdate: August 7, 1975
Birthplace: Benoni, South Africa
Sign: Leo
Resides: Los Angeles, California
Height: 5'9"
Occupation: Actress
Charlize Theron was
born in South Africa in a small "dorp" named Benoni.
She grew up as the only child on her family's farm. Learned
the some of her 28 languages from staff on this family farm.
Her parents also owned a road construction business at the same
time. At the age of 6, Charlize took up ballet and began to
think of going professional. She would soon take her dancing
ability to higher levels, going professional in the town of
Johannesburg.
At 13, in Johannesburg,
her parents enrolled her in a boarding school. At a young age,
Charlize lost her Father. This left her mother, Gerda, in charge
of the family's road-construction business. At the age of 16
she took an offer to begin modelling in Milan, Italy, offered
after winning a local modeling contest. This, however, lasted
for only a year when she grew tired of being seen as "somebody
beautiful who should not say a word." On the last day of
a modelling shoot in Manhattan, New York, she decided she would
not return to Italy. (Her U.S. citizenship is still pending).
She decided to return to her first love -- ballet. She began
dancing with the Joffrey school in New York. After completing
such popular shows as the Nutcracker Suite and Swan Lake, she
suffered a knee injury that ended her ballet dancing career
at the young age of 18.
Without the ability
to dance ballet, and nearly broke, Charlize bought a one way
ticket to Hollywood at the urging of her mother, Gerda. She
arrived in Fairfax, California where she set up shop in the
Farmer's Daughter Motel. It was in 1994 that she was "discovered."
When an L.A. bank teller refused to cash her out-of-town cheque
because she did not have an account at the bank, she threw "a
little tantrum." This tantrum was witnessed by a talent
manager named John Crosby, who also represents Rene Russo and
John Hurt. He called this screaming, arm-waving tantrum-thrower
a "vision" and immediately asked her "I don't
know what you do, but if you're interested in acting, here's
my card." Initially skeptical of the card, she was informed
by a friend that John Crosby was legitimate. Of course, with
no money or job, she was definitely interested and set out to
shed her South African accent. She began watching hours of television
and singing along to American songs on the radio. Soon after,
she acquired her first acting job -- 2 Days in the Valley. This
was followed by an audition for a new Tom Hanks movie, who raved
upon the completion of her audition, "She's got it! That
girl is going to be somebody." As her star rose, on December
19th of 1997, Charlize dumped the agent that had brought her
there abruptly, something she does not discuss in public.
Charlize is presently
dating the lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind, Stephan
Jenkins. This comes after a long turn at the single life following
a breakup with actor Craig Bierko (The Long Kiss Goodnight).
She recently found herself in the centre of a highly publicized
controversy surrounding an advertisement she did in her native
South Africa. The campaign, an anti-rape series done in an attempt
to bring notice to the high incidence of rape in South Africa,
was met with complaints after it was felt the ad was "anti-men"
in general.