Uma Thurman

An actress noted as much for her exotic, almost otherworldly beauty as she is for her considerable talent, Uma Thurman is one of the most renowned actors of her generation. The daughter of celebrated professor of Buddhist studies Robert A.F. Thurman and Nena von Schlebrugge, a model and psychotherapist who was once married to Timothy Leary, Uma was born in Boston on April 29, 1970. Raised with three brothers in Amherst, where her father taught at Amherst College, she enjoyed a fairly bohemian upbringing, one that was marked by visits from Eastern holy men and Tibetan refugees. Encouraged to think for herself and be independent, Thurman, who had been interested in acting from an early age, left her Massachusetts boarding school at the age of 15 to pursue an acting career. Moving to New York, she earned a living by washing dishes and modeling, though the latter means of support never agreed with her.The fledgling actress made her debut in Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1987), a forgettable film that cast her as a teen vamp who seduces and robs unsuspecting men. She had a starring role in the teen comedy Johnny Be Good (1988) and also made an eye-catching appearance in Terry Gilliam's underseen fantasy adventure film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). But it wasn't until her casting in Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons (1988) as Cécile de Volanges, the impressionable convent girl deflowered by John Malkovich's slimy Vicomte de Valmont, that Thurman first gained recognition. Her scenes with Malkovich, particularly the one in which he offers to teach her a few bedroom terms in Latin, proved to be some of the most memorable of the year, resulting in a sizable helping of fame for the young actress. Further recognition followed with Thurman's portrayal of Henry Miller's wife &#8212 and the object of both his and Anaïs Nin's affections &#8212 in Philip Kaufman's Henry & June (1990). Unfortunately, the actress' role in the NC-17 film &#8212 which required her to take part in explicit love scenes with Maria de Medeiros &#8212 inspired a great deal of unwelcome, stalker-like attention from any number of "fans," causing Thurman to shy away from doing a subsequent number of films. The projects she did take part in all proved to be forgettable affairs: Robin Hood (1991), Final Analysis (1992), Jennifer 8 (1992), Mad Dog and Glory (1993), and Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994). By the time Thurman received the script for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, her career was in great need of resuscitation. Fortunately, Pulp Fiction provided just that. A huge, unanticipated success, it was the most talked-about film of the year, eventually becoming recognized as one of the most influential films of the decade. For her part, Thurman gave a sly, smoldering performance as Mia Wallace, the coke-snorting wife of gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), and soon found herself enjoying both a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and an accompanying resurgence in Hollywood popularity. She followed the success of Pulp Fiction with three relatively modest romantic comedies: A Month by the Lake (1995), The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996), and Beautiful Girls (1996). The 1997 future dystopia Gattaca did little for Thurman but introduce her to co-star and future husband Ethan Hawke. (The two married in May of 1998 and had a daughter later that year; Thurman had been married once before, to Gary Oldman). Batman & Robin, that same year, was less than a high point in Thurman's career. 1998 proved to be similarly disappointing, with both The Avengers, which cast the actress as the cat-suited Emma Peel opposite Ralph Fiennes' John Steed, and Bille August's Les Miserables experiencing swift deaths at the box office. Thurman resurfaced in 1999 in Woody Allen's widely acclaimed Sweet and Lowdown. The story of a famed jazz guitarist (Sean Penn) whose talent is inversely proportional to his merits as a human being, the film cast Thurman as his worldly, unfaithful wife. The following year, she had starring roles in two lavish period dramas, Merchan ~ Rovi