Julia Roberts

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This article is about the American actress. For other people with the same name, see Julia Roberts (disambiguation). For the American country music singer, see Julie Roberts. For the British jazz, rock and house music singer, see Juliet Roberts.

Julia Roberts
Roberts at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festivalpremiere of Jesus Henry Christ
Born	Julia Fiona Roberts October 28, 1967 (age 45) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Lyle Lovett (1993–1995) Daniel Moder (2002–present)
Children	3
Family	Eric Roberts (brother) Lisa Roberts Gillan (sister) Emma Roberts (niece)

Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990), which grossed $464 million worldwide. After receiving Golden Globe Awards and Academy Award nominations for Steel Magnolias(1989) and Pretty Woman, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Erin Brockovich (2000). Her films The Pelican Brief(1993), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Mystic Pizza (1988), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve(2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Valentine's Day (2010), Eat Pray Love (2010), and Mirror Mirror (2012) have collectively brought box office receipts of over $2.6 billion, making her one of the most successful actresses in terms of box office receipts.^[1]

Roberts had become one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, topping The Hollywood Reporter's annual "power list" of top-earning female stars from 2005 to 2006. Her fee for 1990's Pretty Woman was $300,000;^[2] in 2003, she was paid an unprecedented $25 million for her role in Mona Lisa Smile (2003). As of 2010, Roberts's net worth was estimated to be $140 million.^[3]

Roberts has been named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" eleven times, tied with Halle Berry. In 2011, she was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health.^[4] In 2001, Ladies Home Journal ranked her as the 11th most powerful woman in the United States.^[5]

Early life and family [edit]

Roberts was born in Atlanta, Georgia, at Crawford Long Hospital (now Emory University Hospital Midtown), to Betty Lou (née Bredemus) and Walter Grady Roberts.^[6][7] She is of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent.^[8][9] Her father was a Baptist and her mother a Roman Catholic,^[10] and she was raised as the latter.^[11][12] Her older brother, Eric Roberts(from whom she was estranged until 2004), sister, Lisa Roberts Gillan, and niece, Emma Roberts, are also actors.

Roberts' parents, one-time actors and playwrights, met while performing theatrical productions for the armed forces. They later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, off Juniper Street in Midtown. While her mother was pregnant with Roberts, she and her husband ran an acting school for children in Decatur, Georgia. The children of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King attended the school; Yolanda Denise King worked closely with Walter Roberts as her acting coach.^[13] As a thank-you for their service, Mrs. King paid the hospital bill when Roberts' mother gave birth to her.^[14]

Roberts' mother filed for divorce in 1971 with the divorce being finalized early in 1972.^[15] Roberts lived in Smyrna, in 1972, where she attended Fitzhugh Lee Elementary School, Griffin Middle School, and Campbell High School.^[16] Her mother married Michael Motes and had a daughter, Nancy Motes, in 1976. Roberts' father died of cancer when she was ten.^[17]

Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child.^[18] She played clarinet in the band in school.^[19][20] After graduating from Smyrna's Campbell High School, she headed to New York to pursue a career in acting. Once there, she signed with the Click Modeling Agency and enrolled in acting classes.^[21][22]