Uma Thurman was born in Boston, in 1970 into a
highly unorthodox and Eurocentric family -- her mother is a European
socialite and former model, her father one of the nation's foremost
Buddhist scholars. As a result, hers was a household in which...
the The Dalai Lama was an occasional guest; she and her siblings all have names deriving from Buddhist mythology; and Middle American behavior was little understood, much less pursued.
And so it was that the young Thurman confronted childhood with an odd name and eccentric home life -- and nature seemingly conspired against her as well. Currently six feet tall, from an early age she towered over everyone else in class. Her famously large feet would soon sprout to size 11 -- and even beyond that -- and although they would eventually be lovingly filmed by director Quentin Tarantino, as a child she generally wore the biggest shoes in class, which only provided another subject of ridicule. Even her long nose moved one of her mother's friends to helpfully suggest rhinoplasty -- to the ten-year-old Thurman. To make matters worse yet, the family constantly relocated, making the gangly, socially inept Thurman perpetually the new kid in class. The result was an exceptionally awkward, self-conscious, lonely and alienated childhood.
Unsurprisingly, the young Thurman
enjoyed making believe she was someone other than herself, and so
thrived at acting in school plays -- her sole successful extracurricular
activity. This interest, and her lanky frame, perfect for modeling, led
the 15-year-old Thurman to New York City for high school and modeling
work (including a layout in Glamour Magazine) as she sought acting
roles. The roles soon came, starting with a few formulaic and
forgettable Hollywood products, but immediately followed by Terry Gilliam's Las aventuras del barón Munchausen (1988) and Stephen Frears' Las amistades peligrosas
(1988), both of which brought much attention to her unorthodox
sensuality and performances that intriguingly combined innocence and
worldliness. The weird, gangly girl became a sex symbol virtually
overnight.
Thurman continued to be offered good roles in
Hollywood pictures into the early '90s, the least commercially
successful but probably best-known of which was her smoldering,
astonishingly-adult performance as June, Henry Miller's wife, in Henry & June (El diario íntimo de Anaïs Nin) (1990), the first movie to actually receive the dreaded NC-17 rating in the USA.
After a celebrated start, Thurman's career stalled in the early '90s with movies such as the mediocre La chica del gángster (1993). Worse, her first starring role was in Ellas también se deprimen
(1993), which had endured a tortured journey from cult-favorite book to
big-budget movie, and was a critical and financial debacle.
Fortunately, Uma bounced back with a brilliant performance as Mia
Wallace, that most unorthodox of all gangster's molls, in Tarantino's
lauded, hugely successful Pulp Fiction (1994), a role for which Thurman received an Academy Award nomination.
Since then, Thurman has had periods of flirting with roles in arty independents such as Un mes en el lago (1995), supporting roles in which she has lent some glamorous presence to a mixed batch of movies such as Batman y Robin
(1997), and the occasional starring role now and then, such as her role
as a martial arts assassin in Tarantino's controversial Kill Bill. Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill. Volume 2 (2004), a grueling stretch for Thurman which proved her game for virtually any acting challenge.
Thurman had been briefly married to Gary Oldman, from 1990 to 1992. In 1998, she married Ethan Hawke, her co-star in the offbeat futuristic thriller Gattaca (1997). The couple had two children, Levon and Maya. Hawke and Thurman filed for divorce in 2004.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Larry- 15
the The Dalai Lama was an occasional guest; she and her siblings all have names deriving from Buddhist mythology; and Middle American behavior was little understood, much less pursued.
And so it was that the young Thurman confronted childhood with an odd name and eccentric home life -- and nature seemingly conspired against her as well. Currently six feet tall, from an early age she towered over everyone else in class. Her famously large feet would soon sprout to size 11 -- and even beyond that -- and although they would eventually be lovingly filmed by director Quentin Tarantino, as a child she generally wore the biggest shoes in class, which only provided another subject of ridicule. Even her long nose moved one of her mother's friends to helpfully suggest rhinoplasty -- to the ten-year-old Thurman. To make matters worse yet, the family constantly relocated, making the gangly, socially inept Thurman perpetually the new kid in class. The result was an exceptionally awkward, self-conscious, lonely and alienated childhood.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Larry- 15
Spouse
| Ethan Hawke | (1 May 1998 - 20 July 2004) (divorced) (2 children) |
| Gary Oldman | (1 October 1990 - 30 April 1992) (divorced) |
Trade Mark
Long blond hair and blue eyes
Statuesque, model-like figure
Husky voice
Trivia
French cosmetics firm Lancome have employed her as a spokesmodel for their company. [June 2000]
Ranked #99 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Former model.
Her father, Robert Thurman,
is a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University
School of Religion. He was the first westerner to become a Tibetan
Buddhist monk. Uma was named for a Hindu goddess. Robert's family has
been in the Unites States for many generations, and he has English,
Northern Irish (Scots-Irish), Scottish, and German ancestry.
Uma's middle name, Karuna, is one of the four sublime abodes in
Buddhism. It means "compassion." The other 3 sublime abodes are Metta
(Loving kindness), Mudita (Sympathetic joy), and Upekkha (Equanimity).
Attended Northfield Mount Hermon boarding school in Northfield,
Massachusetts, during her freshman and sophomore years, approximately
twenty five miles from her home town at the time, Amherst,
Massachusetts.
.tiff)
Uma and Ethan Hawke's daughter's name is Maya; which is also the name of the character that Uma played in El rey de la movida (1996).
Has shades of Lancome lipsticks named after her (available only in Asia).
Her mother, Nena Thurman, was once married to LSD proponent Timothy Leary.
The marriage lasted less than a year (1964-1965). Their marriage, which
took place in Nepal, was the subject of a 15-minute documentary
entitled "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You". Nena married Uma's
father, Robert Thurman, two years later in 1967.
She is on the Board of Directors of Room to Grow, a non-profit organization founded by Rob Reiner, dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first 3 years of development.
Her uncle, John Thurman, is a professional concert cellist who performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Supported the Junior Senator (John Kerry) from her native state (Massachusetts) for President of the United States.
Originally cast for the part of Eowyn in the El señor de los anillos: Las dos torres (2002).
Former husband Ethan Hawke's book was dedicated to her ("For Karuna").
Former sister-in-law of Laila Morse.
She attended Amherst Regional Middle School, Massachusetts, for
grade 7 and 8 and had Ester Haskell as an English teacher. She later
visited that school to contribute to the Women's History assembly. The
children were thrilled
Named #21 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
Followed in the footsteps of both her mother and grandmother into the world of modeling.
She and her first husband, Gary Oldman, have both appeared in separate Batman films. Uma appeared in Batman y Robin (1997) as Poison Ivy. Gary Oldman has appeared in Batman Begins (2005) & El caballero oscuro (2008) as James Gordon.
Ranked as #67 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)
Quentin Tarantino considers her as his muse.
Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1994.
Uma and her hotelier boyfriend, André Balazs, have ended their three-year romance. They started dating in 2003 [March 20, 2007].
Engaged to Arpad Busson [June 26, 2008].
Was 5ft 10in by the age of 13.
Born at 1:51 PM (EDT).
Auditioned for the Julia Roberts role in Pretty Woman (1990).
Auditioned for the Jodie Foster role in Acusados (1988).
Has appeared in two films quoting the proverb "revenge is a dish best served cold", Kill Bill. Volume 1 (2003) and Batman y Robin (1997) as well as Las amistades peligrosas (1988), an adaptation of the novel often credited with originating that expression.
Ex-stepmother of Alfie Oldman.
Turned down the role of Geneva Backman in ¡Qué dilema! (2011), which went to Winona Ryder.
Returned to work 5 months after giving birth to her son Levon in order to begin filming Kill Bill. Volume 1 (2003).
Was the second choice for the role of Eleanor Arroway in Contact (1997) after Jodie Foster
initially turned it down in 1995. She lost the role when Foster agreed
to do the film after seeing a new revision of the script.
Turned down the role of Giselle in Encantada: la historia de Giselle (2007). The role went to Amy Adams.
Was Brian De Palma's first choice for the role of Maria in La hoguera de las vanidades (1990). Actor Tom Hanks, who had casting approval, dismissed Thurman's acting as "high school," and the role went to Melanie Griffith.
Turned down the title role in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). The role went to Angelina Jolie.
Turned down the Kate Hudson role in Casi famosos (2000).
Auditioned for the Mary Stuart Masterson role in Tomates verdes fritos (1991).
Auditioned for the role of Cathy in Cumbres borrascosas (1992). The role went to Juliette Binoche.
Played a role in Salvajes (2012) as Paqu (Blake Lively's character mother) but all her scenes were deleted from the film.
Despite the potential for complications with child birth because
of problems with her blood vessels, she gave birth to 3 children.
Returned to work 3 months after giving birth to her daughter Luna in order to begin filming Nymphomaniac. Volumen 1 (2013).
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 28, a daughter Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke (aka Maya Thurman-Hawke) on July 8, 1998. Child's father is her now ex-2nd husband, Ethan Hawke.
Gave birth to her 3rd child at age 42, a daughter Rosalind Arusha
Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson on July 15, 2012. Child's
father is her boyfriend, Arpad Busson.
Was set to portray Marlene Dietrich in a biopic directed by Louis Malle, but after the death of Malle the project was canceled.
Danced with John Travolta in two movies, "Pulp Fiction" and "Be Cool.".
In 2010, Thurman's £6,000,000 ($10,000,000) lawsuit against London-based Handmade Films, the production company behind Eloise in Paris, was settled. Thurman had hired Bert Fields
to represent her, claiming that not only had Handmade not paid her an
agreed £2,800,000 pay-or-play fee for the film, but that she had also
lost earnings waiting for it to begin production.
Personal Quotes
Tall, sandy blonde, with sort of blue eyes, skinny in places, fat
in others. An average gal. - Uma Thurman, self description.
I'm very happy at home. I love to just hang out with my daughter, I
love to work in my garden. I'm not a gaping hole of need.
It is better to have a relationship with someone who cheats on you than with someone who does not flush the toilet.
I was not particularly bright, I wasn't very athletic, I was a
little too tall, odd, funny looking, I was just really weird as a kid.
My washing machine overwhelms me with its options and its sophistication.
"Everyone looked the same, everyone had it down to such a perfect
T. You get bored. That's when you have to say, 'I will be
worst-dressed.'", on her questionable choice of Oscar attire this year
(2004)
I had to go to a mirror and look at it. I couldn't picture myself
in my own head. I had no image beyond a stick figure. I wasn't a mean
person as a kid, or dumb, and something has to be said to justify
excluding you.
I think we all exude essential truths about ourselves, and then,
as an actress, there's what you do with it. There's your wit and your
imagination, and what you can cook up from your experience and
understanding of what makes a human being tick.
In show business, to pry open doors in new areas is really tough.
Until you have a successful comedy, people don't think you could be
funny, which is what makes a director like Quentin Tarantino
so special. He sees beyond the things on the resume that you've done to
date and opens up wonderful cans of worms for you to crawl into. That's
a cool thing.
I've known some great rock chicks, and it seems to me they're
allowed to have a lot more edge than movie people, where everybody's got
the latest youth serums going, the newest exercise and, if that won't
cover it, they'll do something else.
There's this sort of
improve-yourself aspect, whereas the music business seems to have this
much more funky attitude, with, like, a slight respect for damage.
I've learned that every working mom is a superwoman.
By the time I was 27, when I had my daughter, I felt I had danced
on every tabletop - which I hadn't. Now I know that I hadn't. At all.
There are plenty of tabletops left, should I wish to dance on them. (In
Style - February 2006 - "Uma In Full Swing" by Joanne Kaufman)
Growing up in a small town in New England was one of the most
aesthetically pleasant experiences that you can have. (In Style -
February 2006 - "Uma In Full Swing" by Joanne Kaufman)
It's a shakedown.
But I feel grateful that the hard things have
been survivable - I've been able to learn from them and grow - and that
the things that have been like a gift, I've had the wherewithal to
realize are a gift. (In Style - February 2006 - "Uma In Full Swing" by
Joanne Kaufman)
As they say in gambling, I've gotten to stay at the table. I've
hung in! They pull the plug on people all the time.
The sky hook comes
out, and it's all over. But there are much bigger sky hooks - as well we
know. (In Style - February 2006 - "Uma In Full Swing" by Joanne
Kaufman)
I think a lot of our lives we spend moving forward, leaping from
rock to rock, trying to figure it out. But it's wonderful to feel in the
prime of your life. I feel like I'm in the right place and in the right
time with myself. (In Style - February 2006 - "Uma In Full Swing" by
Joanne Kaufman)
You learn that the first failure isn't the end. I thought I'd seen
the end of my career 10 times over. I've experienced them as death
blows. What's nice - after numerous efforts, successes, failures,
losses, professional and personal - is to actually accept you're not
going to ace your life. You suffer, then you get on with it. You may
spend three months in bed, but, eventually, you're going to have to get
up.
When I was a teenager people often referred to me as jaded or
knowing. It's a classic teen illusion to think you know it all, but I've
certainly learned I don't.
Salary
| Final Analysis (1992) | $200.000 |
| Jennifer Eight (1992) | $200.000 |
| Mad Dog and Glory (1993) | $250.000 |
| Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) | $250.000 |
| Pulp Fiction (1994) | $300.000 |
| A Month by the Lake (1995) | $300.000 |
| Beautiful Girls (1996) | $300.000 |
| The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) | $500.000 |
| Batman & Robin (1997) | $5.000.000 |
| Gattaca (1997) | $5.000.000 |
| The Avengers (1998) | $8.000.000 |
| Vatel (2000) | $2.000.000 |
| Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) | $12.000.000 |
| Paycheck (2003) | $12.500.000 |
| Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) | $12.000.000 |
| Be Cool (2005) | $3.000.000 |
| Prime (2005) | $12.000.000 |
| The Producers (2005) | $12.000.000 |
| My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) | $14.000.000 |
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