Gwyneth Paltrow Biography

To most moviegoers, Gwyneth Paltrow was "that English actress that used to be engaged to Brad Pitt." On March 21, 1999, that image was altered completely when the little known actress was awarded the Academy Award for her outstanding performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998). Gwyneth Paltrow, who in fact is not English, was born in 1972 in Los Angeles, the daughter of noted film director Bruce Paltrow and Tony award-winning actress Blythe Danner. When Gwyneth was 11, the family moved to Massachusetts where her father began working in summer stock productions in the Berkshires. It was here that she received her early acting training under the tutelage of her parents. In 1991, she quit the University of California and began to actively pursue a career in acting. She made her film debut with a small part in Shout (1991) and for the next 5 years had featured roles in a mixed bag of film fare that included Flesh and Bone (1993); Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994); Se7en (1995); Jefferson in Paris (1995); Moonlight and Valentino (1995); and The Pallbearer (1996). It was her performance in the title role of Emma Woodhouse in Emma (1996) that led to her being offered the role of Viola in Shakespeare in Love (1998). She broke her much publicized engagement to actor Brad Pitt in 1997 citing as the reason the fact that neither she nor Pitt felt that they could pursue their respective careers and at the same time maintain a happy marriage. They remain good friends. A tall, wafer thin, delicate beauty, Gwyneth Paltrow is a consummate professional and a highly skilled actress who appears to possess everything necessary to achieve super stardom.




1990: Graduated from The Spence School in New York City.
October 1998: Voted "Most Stuck-up" in Movieline's 100 Most.
15 August 1998: Gave $21,000 watch to boyfriend Ben Affleck as a birthday present.
1998: One of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.
20 December 1996: Engaged to actor Brad Pitt.
1996: Confirmed as the next Calvin Klein model.


Attended the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) for one year as an Art History major.
After spending a time in her early teens in Talavera De la Reina, Toledo, Spain, she can speak fairly good Spanish.
Turned down the role of Emma Peel in the movie The Avengers (1998).
Met with James Cameron for the role of Rose in Titanic (1997).
A couple sued Gwyneth for an undisclosed amount claiming that the actress injured them during an April 1999 car accident.
Spends Thanksgiving every year with Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw at their home in the Hamptons.


As part of research for her role as an obese woman in Shallow Hal (2001), wore the 200-pound latex "fat" suit she used for the film to a bar where people refused to make eye contact with her and treated her rudely. She said that this experience made her saddened by the injustice faced by overweight people in society.


Has been friends with Maya Rudolph (of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) fame) since she was seven.


Sticks to a macrobiotic diet.


Owned a flat in London, England, UK.


Sister of Jake Paltrow; first cousin of actress Katherine Moennig, whose roles include Jacqueline 'Jake' Pratt on "Young Americans" (2000) and Shane McCutcheon on "The L Word" (2004), and Hillary Danner; niece of Harry Danner.


2002: TV commercials and print ads for Spain's department store chain El Corte Inglés' spring line.


Did her own singing in the movie Duets (2000).


Measurements: 33 1/2B-25-35. Called "a designer's dream". 


Went to Crossroads High School in Santa Monica for one year.


13 April 2003: Attended the ceremony in Talavera De la Reina, Toledo, Spain, in which she was named "adopted daughter". She first visited the town as a young schoolgirl and has since frequently returned to it, enamored - she says - of the people, the food and the countryside.


Played Thomas Jefferson's daughter in Jefferson in Paris (1995). Her mother, Blythe Danner, played Jefferson's wife, Martha, in 1776 (1972), just before Gwyneth was conceived.


Wears a size 9 shoe.


2002: Nominated for a London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Proof", performed at the Donmar Warehouse in London, England.


Daughter, with Chris Martin, 'Apple Blythe Alison Martin', born on 14 May, 2004, in London, England, UK.
She and her husband Chris Martin purchased Kate Winslet's North London home in Belsize Park.


Her mother Blythe Danner is of Anglo-Saxon descent and her father Bruce Paltrow, being Ashkenazi Russian Jewish, had many generations of rabbis in the family tree.


Her mother, Blythe Danner, was about five months pregnant with the future actress when she appeared in "Columbo: Étude in Black (#2.1)" (1972) . The episode also starred John Cassavetes, and aired during the show's first season.


Her name can be heard over the P.A. system in many episodes of the medical drama "St. Elsewhere" (1982). Gwyneth's dad, Bruce Paltrow, was the producer of the series.


Turned down the role of Rachel Keller in The Ring (2002/I).


Is a best friends with Madonna.


Spent 70 hours in labor awaiting the birth of her first child.


Revealed that she named her daughter Apple, because apples are whole, sweet and crisp. The baby's middle name honors her grandmothers, Blythe Danner and Alison Martin.
Attended St. Augustine By The Sea in Los Angeles and the Spence School in New York City.


October 2002: Met husband Chris Martin when she attended his band's (Coldplay's) concert.
She does not employ a nanny to take care of her daughter, a rarity among actors in the film business.
October 2005: Expecting her second child with husband Chris Martin.


Signed a contact with Estée Lauder for $10 million to promote its new line of fragrance, "Pleasures".


Gave birth to her second child, a boy named Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, in New York City at 9 a.m., weighing 8 lbs., 4 oz (8 April 2006).


Her son, Moses, is named after a song Chris Martin wrote for her and appears on Coldplay's "Live 2003" album. Moses is also her father's Hebrew name.
She speaks French quite well, having spent a summer in Paris when in her early twenties.
Is good friends with Helena Christensen, who was one of the first people to visit Gwyneth in hospital after she gave birth to her son Moses Bruce Anthony Martin.


Long-time close friendship with actress Mary Wigmore, who also appeared (albeit briefly) in Paltrow's films The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and Shallow Hal (2001).


Friends with Stella McCartney.
Was Maid of Honor at Madonna's wedding to Guy Ritchie.
Her godfather Steven Spielberg is also the godfather of Drew Barrymore.


Godparents of her daughter Apple are Simon Pegg, Mary Wigmore, and Chris Martin's Coldplay band-mate Jon Buckland.


Was originally signed on to play Ava Gardner in The Aviator (2004), but dropped out.
Auditioned for "Vickie" in Reality Bites (1994), but lost out to Janeane Garofalo.


She earns $3 million per year endorsing Estée Lauder on television and in print advertisements.


Was hospitalized and then released (14 January 2008).
Attended Brown Ledge Summer Camp in Vermont.


Practices yoga.

Favourite alcoholic drinks are Guinness and red wine.

When she played Sharon Stone on "Saturday Night Live" (1975), Stone felt offended and criticized her performance (1999).


Had suffered post-partum depression following the birth of her son, Moses.


Attended the Spence School in Manhattan, an elite private girls' school that was also attended by Emmy Rossum and Kerry Washington.
Attended the 55th Tony Awards. She can be seen dancing with the revival cast of "The Rocky Horror Show" during "The Time Warp".


2008 Ambassador for the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF)'s Women's Cancer Research Fund.


Gwyneth's brother, Jake's birthday is a day before hers. 
Born at 5:25 PM (PDT).


Replaced Charlize Theron as Greta Weniger in The Danish Girl (2012) after Theron dropped out of the project.


Friend of Cameron Diaz.
Good friend of Liv Tyler.


Returned to work ten months after giving birth to her daughter Apple in order to begin filming Running with Scissors (2006).