Property Search
Cars Online
Buy DVDs online
Local sleepovers
Book flights online!
Work money smarter
Wine of the Week
Life Insurance Quote
Online Dating
Save on your insurance
Houses for sale
Go shopping!
Convert anything 
Henrie's Recipes
Hollywood’s most talented bachelorette
Posted Fri, 16 Feb 2001
In the past Gwyneth Paltrow was referred to as "Brad Pitt’s fiancée" or "the daughter of Blythe Danner". But the tables have turned - now Gwyneth's name alone can pack any movie house as her performances continue to improve.
Gwyneth’s journey was not on the Tinseltown road as her father, Bruce Paltrow, a successful producer with programmes such as "St. Elsewhere" and "The White Shadow," and her mother, an award-winning actress, never encouraged her. After spending her childhood in Los Angeles, her family moved to New York when she was 11.
She later enrolled at the Spence School where she graduated before moving back to the West Coast. She enrolled at the University of California in Santa Barbara with the intention of studying Art History, but after realising she did not feel committed, she withdrew.
Despite her father's advice to continue her studies, Gwyneth pursued a career in acting, which began with a moving performance in the Williamstown Theatre production of "Picnic" in which Gwyneth starred alongside her mother. Her first film audition resulted in an offer for a supporting role in the feature film "Shout" opposite John Travolta.
But her big break came when she and her father went to see "Silence of the Lambs" with mates Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. While standing in line, Spielberg pondered Gwyneth's presence; he then offered her the part of young Wendy in his big-budget Peter Pan-derivative, "Hook" in 1991. She accepted on the spot. Soon thereafter, she landed a lead role in a mini-series, "Cruel Doubt" (1992), only to return from a European vacation to learn that her mother had accepted the co-starring part. Gwyneth — who longed for a legitimate career — worried that Hollywood wouldn't credit her for finally earning a role without pulling family strings.
In 1993, the roles started pouring in. She played a doomed student in the thriller "Malice", which starred Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman, and she played James Caan's smart-mouthed girlfriend in "Flesh and Bone". In small scenes in movies such as "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994), "Jefferson in Paris"(1995), "Moonlight and Valentino" (1995) Hollywood started taking notice of her.
But the movie which rocketed her to fame was "Seven" (1995) which starred ex-fiancée, Brad Pitt. Gwyneth became a worldwide celebrity not only because of her performance but also because of her association with Pitt.
Over the next three years Paltrow starred in movies such as "The Pallbearer", "Emma", "Hard Eight", "Great Expectations", "Hush", "Sliding Doors", "Dial M for Murder". But it was a solid performance as muse to history's most famous versifier in "Shakespeare in Love" that she snatched a Best Actress Oscar.
Her post-Oscar performances include "The Talented Mr. Ripley", in which she co-starred with Matt Damon and Jude Law as well as "Duets" a karaoke-bar comedy directed by her father.
He luck, however, does not seem to be in
matters of the heart as a very promising relationship with Ben Affleck also ended up in a split. Nevertheless, her Oscar will definitely be able to keep her company.
