Gwyneth Paltrow: Snapshot
- Name
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- Date of Birth
- September 27, 1972
- Birth Place
- Los Angeles, Calif.
Although her star-studded romances made her a star, it was Shakespeare in Love that earned her a Best Actress Oscar. After years of eclectic film choices, Paltrow entered a more selective phase in her career upon marrying Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and having their two children. In 2008, the actress jumped back into a starring role with the comic blockbuster Iron Man opposite Robert Downey Jr.
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Gwyneth Paltrow: Video
Red Carpet Look Book
A patrician beauty with Hollywood pedigree, this Oscar winner sets trends with her innate elegance and cool chic
Gwyneth Paltrow: Five Fun Facts
- In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gwyneth Paltrow's husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, said, "If your wife went out with Brad Pitt, you'd want to prove yourself, you know what I mean?"
- Gwyneth Paltrow spent the summer of her high school sophomore year as an exchange student in Talavera de la Reina, Spain and has since visited the town and her host family several times a year. The town officially "adopted" her as one of its own at a ceremony in 2003.
- Gwyneth Paltrow does a mean Woody Allen impression. Steven Haft, a producer for Emma, told PEOPLE, "She would get halfway through her speech in a Dorset accent, then suddenly start sounding like Woody Allen. She had the whole crew in stitches."
- Gwyneth Paltrow wakes up at 4:30 each morning to practice yoga. "I'm really not a morning person at all," Gwyneth Paltrow told In Style, "It's just sheer determination. I'm very strict with myself. When I practice six days a week and eat clean food, I feel much better."
- Recording artist Babyface, with whom Gwyneth Paltrow sang "Just My Imagination" in Duets, wanted to talk to the actress about a recording career, but she declined. She told Entertainment Weekly that her fantasy has always been to be a backup singer. "I just love to harmonize," she said.
Gwyneth Paltrow: Biography 
- 1991
A Different Path
Without much experience, 18-year-old Paltrow appears alongside her mother in Picnic at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Her father, television director Bruce Paltrow, is sufficiently impressed with his daughter's performance to encourage her to abandon university studies for acting. Previously, her parents said she should stay in school.
- 1992
Mom and Me
In her first television role, Paltrow appears in the NBC miniseries Cruel Doubt alongside her mother. Her more considerable acting background notwithstanding, Danner tells PEOPLE, "She got the part first, and I guess they thought I looked right as her mother.'' The following year, Paltrow takes a small part in the psychological drama Flesh and Bone, but her performance makes her a young actress to watch. The National Society of Film Critics nominates her for Best Supporting Actress for the role.
- 1994
That Girl
Paltrow begins dating Se7en costar Brad Pitt, PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive, catapulting Paltrow into the headlines. "Our first date was at an Italian restaurant in L.A., and no one gave us a glance," Paltrow tells You magazine. "Now it's a case of 'Who's that girl?'" In April, while in St. Barts, a paparazzo captures the couple sunbathing nude, which leads to an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit that Pitt wins.
Photo Credits
Top Left: Walter Chin/Icon INTL
BIOGRAPHY (top to bottom): Ron Galella/WireImage; NBC/Everett; DAVE ALLOCCA/DMIPHOTO
Gwyneth Paltrow: Photos
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