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Biography
An actress noted as much for her exotic, almost otherworldly beauty
as she is for her considerable talent, Uma Thurman is one of the
most renowned actresses of her generation. The daughter of
celebrated professor of Buddhist Studies, Robert F. A. Thurman, and
Nena von Schlebrugge, a model and psychotherapist who was once
married to Timothy Leary, Thurman was born in Boston on April 29,
1970. Raised with three brothers in Amherst, where her father
taught at Amherst College, she enjoyed a fairly bohemian
upbringing, one that was marked by visits from Eastern holy men and
Tibetan refugees. Encouraged to think for herself and to be
independent, Thurman, who had been interested in acting from an
early age, left her Massachusetts boarding school at the age of 15
to pursue an acting career. Moving to New York, she earned a living
by washing dishes and modeling, though the latter means of support
never agreed with her. The fledgling actress made her debut in
_Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1987)_ (qv), a forgettable film that cast
her as a teen vamp who seduces and robs unsuspecting men. She also
had a starring role in the teen comedy _Johnny Be Good (1988)_
(qv), but it was with her role in Stephen Frears' _Dangerous
Liaisons (1988)_ (qv) as Cecile de Volanges, the impressionable
convent girl deflowered by John Malkovich's slimy Vicomte de
Valmont, that Thurman first gained recognition. Her scenes with
Malkovich, particularly the one in which he offered to teach her a
few bedroom terms in Latin, proved to be some of the most memorable
of the year, resulting in a sizable helping of fame for the young
actress. Further recognition followed with Thurman's portrayal of
Henry Miller's wife -- and the object of both his and Anais Nin's
affections -- in Philip Kaufman's _Henry & June (1990)_ (qv).
Unfortunately, the actress' role in the NC-17 film -- which
required her to take part in explicit love scenes with Maria de
Medeiros -- inspired a great deal of unwelcome, stalker-like
attention from any number of "fans," causing Thurman to shy away
from doing a subsequent number of films. The projects she did take
part in -- _Robin Hood (1991/I) (TV)_ (qv), _Final Analysis (1992)_
(qv), _Jennifer Eight (1992)_ (qv), _Mad Dog and Glory (1993)_
(qv), Gus Van Sant's _Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994)_ (qv) --
all proved to be forgettable affairs. By the time she received the
script for Quentin Tarantino's _Pulp Fiction (1994)_ (qv),
Thurman's career was in great need of resuscitation. Fortunately,
Pulp Fiction provided just that. A huge, unanticipated success,
Pulp Fiction was the most talked-about film of the year, eventually
becoming recognized as one of the most influential films of the
decade. For her part, Thurman gave a sly, smoldering performance as
Mia Wallace, the coke-snorting wife of gangster Marsellus Wallace,
and soon found herself enjoying both a Best Supporting Actress
Oscar nomination and an accompanying resurgence in Hollywood
popularity. She followed the success of Pulp Fiction with three
relatively modest romantic comedies, _Month by the Lake, A (1995)_
(qv), _Truth About Cats and Dogs, The (1996)_ (qv), and _Beautiful
Girls (1996)_ (qv). The 1997 future dystopia _Gattaca (1997)_ (qv)
did little for Thurman but introduce her to co-star and future
husband Ethan Hawke (the two married in May of 1998 and had a
daughter later that year; Thurman had been married once before, to
Gary Oldman); _Batman & Robin (1997)_ (qv), that same year, was
less than a bright spot in Thurman's career. 1998 proved to be
similarly disappointing, with both _Avengers, The (1998)_ (qv),
which cast the actress as the cat-suited Emma Peel opposite Ralph
Fiennes' John Steed, and Bille August's _Misérables, Les (1998)_
(qv) experiencing swift deaths at the box office. Thurman
resurfaced in 1999 in Woody Allen's widely acclaimed _Sweet and
Lowdown (1999)_ (qv). The story of a famed jazz guitarist (Sean
Penn) whose talent is inversely proportional to his merits as a
human being, it cast Thurman as his brilliant but unfaithful wife.
In the spring of 2000 Uma signed on to become the new "face" of
cosmetics giant Lancome. This, needless to say, catapulted Uma's
popularity, nabbing her over 9 magazine covers in just 12 months.
Her new-found model status garnered her many movie offers, and in
late 2000 she played Anne in _Vatel (2000)_ (qv), followed by a
very strong performance as Charlotte Stant in _Golden Bowl, The
(2000)_ (qv), co-starring Anjelica Huston. With several films due
for release and her second child on the way, it looks like the
second decade of Uma Thurman's career will be even more interesting
than the first.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Uma Thurman
