Born October 28, 1967, in Smyrna, Georgia,
to Betty and Walter Roberts. Her parents divorced when she was four and
her father died when she was nine. Right after high
school, Roberts joined her sister in New York City and began modeling.
Her brother Eric was already established as an actor.
In 1988, Roberts made a guest appearance on
Miami Vice and that same year she made her film debut in Mystic Pizza.
She followed up with star turns in Steel Magnolias (1989) and the smash
Pretty Woman (1990), co-starring Richard Gere. For each role, Roberts was
nominated for an
Academy Award and won a Golden Globe award. When she appeared as herself
in The Player (1992), Roberts was already the most sought after actress
in Hollywood. Fans adored her sweetness and infectious wide smile.
Roberts began a series of high-profile unsuccessful
relationships in 1991 when she was engaged to actor Kiefer Sutherland (her
Flatliners co-star). Shortly before the scheduled wedding, the couple broke
up, and Roberts was soon seen with actor Jason Patric. In 1993, Roberts
married singer Lyle Lovett after a whirlwind courtship. However, the couple
never lived together and were divorced less than two years later.
Roberts, seeking to avoid typecasting, sought
different roles but her fans weren’t enamored with The Pelican Brief (1993,
with Denzel Washington), I Love Trouble (1994, with Nick Nolte), Ready
to Wear (1994) and Mary Reilly (1996, with John Malkovich)). She also appeared
in the Woody Allen musical Everyone Says I Love You (1997), as Allen’s
object of desire. Roberts returned to form with 1997’s My Best Friend’s
Wedding and received a Golden Globe
nomination. Her next two films, Conspiracy Theory (1997), with Mel
Gibson, and Stepmom(1998), co-starring Susan Sarandon, both did respectable
business.
Her “comeback” was confirmed the following
year with Notting Hill (1999, which also marked a return of sorts for co-star
Hugh Grant). Further cementing her reign at the top of the box-office,
Roberts re-teamed with Gere for another romantic-comedy hit Runaway Bride
(1999). For her next big role, in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, Roberts
commanded $20 million, making her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood.
In early 2000, Forbes magazine ranked Roberts No. 1 on its Celebrity 100
"power" list-denoting the most total media coverage-and No. 12 on its "money"
list
Roberts, who lives in New York City, is currently
dating actor Benjamin Bratt and appeared with him on an episode of Law
and Order in 1999, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. |
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