Julia Roberts

June 16, 3:14 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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JULIA ROBERTS

With a thousand watt smile, an infectious laugh, luxuriant tresses (red and curly, blonde and straight, both work for me), 44” legs (at least according to her quote in Pretty Woman), a Best Actress Oscar (thank you Erin Brockovich), and her untouched standing as the most financially successful actress of all-time (her films have grossed over $5 billion worldwide, and her estimated earnings are a whopping 10% of that), Julia Roberts is not only America’s Sweetheart, but an iconic actress loved round the world.

Julia Fiona Roberts was born on October 28th, 1967 in Atlanta, Georgia -- the daughter of a vacuum cleaner salesman, her father Walter, and a church secretary/real estate agent, her mother, Betty Lou.  Her parents were also involved in the performing arts, and met while doing a play for the U.S. military -- they later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop, a venue where racially-diverse children could learn performing skills (quite brave for 1960s Georgia).  Walter and Betty Lou divorced in 1971.  Julia has an older sister and brother, Lisa and Eric ... Eric Roberts would soon go on to become a famous actor in his own right in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s.

After her parent’s divorce, Julia moved to Smyrna, Georgia with her mother and sister, while Eric stayed with their father in Atlanta.  While in school, Julia played the clarinet in the band and dreamed of one day becoming a veterinarian.  However, after graduating from Campbell High School, Julia’s aspirations of being an animal doctor were replaced by stars in her eyes ... especially since her brother and sister were both finding acting success in New York City.  Julia joined them and quickly signed with the Click Modeling Agency.

JULIA ROBERTS

Julia made her film debut in one of Eric’s movies, Blood Red (she had only two lines of dialogue) -- though filmed in 1987, it was not released until 1989.  She also made appearances on Miami VIce and Crime Story.  The following year, Julia stepped up a bit with roles in the low-budget films Satisfaction and Mystic Pizza.  Neither film did stellar box office, but they did increase Julia’s exposure -- to say she outshone the material and her costars in these movies is an understatement.  In 1989, Julia was cast as the diabetic Shelby in Steel Magnolias, sharing the screen with such “old pros” as Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton.  Her performance in the cinematic weeper earned much praise (and no doubt increased the stock figures of Kleenex tissues) -- it also garnered her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

But it wasn’t until 1990’s Pretty Woman that Julia’s rising star took off into the stratosphere.  Originally titled $3,000, the film was Cinderella/Pygmalion hybrid involving a prostitute and and a businessman (Richard Gere).  When early drafts of the script were deemed too dark, it was heavily revised into a modern-day fairy tale.  Pretty Woman went on to earn $463 million worldwide.  It also earned Julia another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress.

GERE AND ROBERTS IN PRETTY WOMAN (1990)

Julia’s subsequent films did not fare as well.  Flatliners (1990), Sleeping With the Enemy (1991), and Dying Young (1991), did decent box office, but nothing approaching Pretty Woman’s take of nearly half-a-billion.  While filming Flatliners, Julia began a tumultuous relationship with actor Kiefer Sutherland -- the two became engaged and were to be married in 1991.  However, Julia called it off three days before the wedding (Runaway Bride, indeed), and took off to Ireland with Keifer’s friend Jason Patric.  Despite her newfound fame, this was not the most emotionally well-balanced period for Julia.  According to Steven Spielberg, who cast Julia as Tinkerbell in 1991’s Hook, the actress, due to personal relationship turmoil, was “difficult.”  Julia later called Spielberg a “turncoat” for the remark.  (By the by, Julia’s payday for her brief scenes in Hook?  A cool $7 million!  I guess it pays believe in fairies.)

Other than a brief (and funny) cameo in Robert Altman’s scathing Hollywood satire The Player, Julia didn’t work for two years.  When she did return, she did so with gusto, appearing alongside Denzel Washington in John Grisham’s The Pelican Brief.  While that film did quite well, 1994’s aptly titled I Love Trouble ... not so much.  Also during this time, Julia married singer Lyle Lovett, and before the plentiful Beauty and the Beast jokes had run their course, the odd couple divorced less than two years later.

JULIA ROBERTS

Over the next few years, Julia’s oeuvre included the mixed bag of Something to Talk About (1995), Mary Reilly (1996), Michael Collins (1996), and Woody Allen’s Everyone Says I Love You (1996).  Things picked up significantly after this with My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Conspiracy Theory (1997), and Notting Hill (1999).  But even better things were just around the corner.

In 1999, Julia reunited with her Pretty Woman costar and director, Richard Gere and Garry Marshall, for Runaway Bride.  The film (regarding a commitment-phobic woman notorious for deserting grooms at the altar) was another smash hit, and birthed hopes that this trio would reunite every ten years or so to make another movie.  So far, no news on a third collaboration.

In 2000, director Steven Soderbergh cast Julia as Erin Brockovich in his like-titled film.  The true story, regarding an uneducated single mother who takes a job as a file clerk for a lawyer and ultimately takes down a utilities giant that has poisoned an entire town, earned Julia a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar.

The following year Julia appeared in The Mexican with Brad Pitt -- the film didn’t do well, but Julia did meet and fall in love with cameraman Daniel Moder.  The couple was married on July 4th, 2002 at Julia’s ranch in Taos, New Mexico.  While juggling married life and having babies (twins Hazel and Phinnaeus were born in November 2004, son Henry in June 2007), Julia still continued to work in film.  Her movies during this time, include America’s Sweethearts (2001), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Mona Lisa Smile(2003), Closer (2004),Charlotte’s Web (2006),Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), and Duplicity (2009).

JULIA ROBERTS AND DAVID LETTERMAN

In April 2006, Julia made her Broadway debut in a revival of Richard Greenburg’s 1997 play Three Days of Rain.  Though Julia’s performance drew mixed reviews, the play went on to earn over a million dollars.

While the world fell in love with Julia Roberts in her films, ironically she is also famous for her many appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman (including way back when the talk show host was still on NBC).  For twenty years, the playful and flirtatious banter between the two was seemingly so genuine, that many thought the two were an item ... or at least would be someday.  Their on-air cooing, kissing, and blushing remains TV gold.  During an appearance on St. Patrick’s Day 2009, the pair (both of whom had significant others) were still as playful, funny and entertaining as ever (view the very entertaining episode here).  However, two days after this episode, Letterman married his longtime girlfriend Regina.  Later appearances by Julia were still entertaining, and undeniably affectionate, but the over-the-top flirtation had cooled.

JULIA ROBERTS

Whatever one chooses to call Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman,  America’s Sweetheart, or Eric Robert’s sassy little sister, this beautiful and talented actress will no doubt continue to surprise, entertain and enchant us.

Up next for Julia: Valentine’s Day (2011) and Eat, Pray, Love (2011).

Julia Robert’s Quotes:

“I enjoy hats.  And when one has filthy hair, that is a good accessory.”

“I'm too tall to be a girl -- I'd say I'm somewhere between a chick and a broad.”

“My real hair color is kind of a dark blonde.  Now I just have mood hair.”

Regarding her career: "I get dressed up like a doll, a nice man puts lipstick on my lips and I say words -- it's deeply satisfying."

Regarding her refusal to do nude scenes: "I just don't feel that my algebra teacher should ever know what my butt looks like.  ... To act with my clothes on is a performance.  To act with my clothes off is a documentary.”

“You can be true to the character all you want, but you've go to go home with yourself.”

"The first time I felt I was famous was when I went to the movies with my mom.  I had gone to the loo, and someone in the bathroom said in a very loud voice, 'Girl in stall No. 1, were you in Mystic Pizza?  I paused and I said, ‘Yeah that was me.’ "

“I think one of the smartest things I ever did for my career was not working for two years in the early 90s.  I was being offered a lot of different movies but I just didn't see the point of any of them.  People would say to me ‘How can you just be passing on all those things?’  And my response was ‘Tell me a movie you've seen in the past year that I should have made.’ “

“I'm just a girl from a little town in Georgia who had this giant, absurd dream.”