Born April 29, 1970 Uma Karuna Thurman Hawk better known as Uma Thurman, is an American actress. She performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action thrillers. She is best known for her work under the direction of Quentin Tarantino. Her most popular films include Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), Gattaca (1997) and Kill Bill (2003–04).
"Tall, sandy blonde, with sort of blue eyes, skinny in places, fat in others. An average gal."
- Uma Thurman, on herself
"I would love to do something like Austin Powers to show off my comic timing. "
"As they say in gambling, I`ve gotten to stay at the table. I`ve hung in! They pull the plug on people all the time. The sky hook comes out, and it`s all over. But there are much bigger sky hooks - as well we know. (In Style - February 2006 - "Uma In Full".
“It is better to have a relationship with someone who cheats on you than with someone who does not flush the toilet”
"Desperation is the perfume of the young actor. It`s so satisfying to have gotten rid of it. If you keep smelling it, it can drive you crazy. In this business a lot of people go nuts, go eccentric, even end up dead from it. Not my plan"
"When asked if I consider myself Buddhist, the answer is, Not really. But it`s more my religion than any other because I was brought up with it in an intellectual and spiritual environment. I don`t practice or preach it, however."
"My washing machine overwhelms me with its options and its sophistication."
"I`m very happy at home. I love to just hang out with my daughter, I love to work in my garden. I`m not a gaping hole of need. "
- Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman's success can invariably be linked to her unique looks, but so can that of most of Hollywood's leading actresses. Uma Thurman, who started out as a fashion model, is one of the sexiest women in the world, though it is a gentle, quiet sexy -- the kind James Bond would love.
Thurman began her career as a fashion model at age 15.She signed with the agency Click Models. Her modeling credits included Glamour Magazine. In 1989, she appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's annual Hot issue.Thurman made her movie debut in 1988, appearing in four films that year. Her first two were the high school comedy Johnny Be Good and the teen thriller Kiss Daddy Goodnight. Thurman appeared in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, playing the goddess Venus alongside Oliver Reed’s Vulcan. During her entrance Thurman briefly appears nude in a homage to Botticelli’s painting The Birth of Venus. With a budget of $46 million and box office receipts of only $8 million, the film was a commercial failure.
In 1990, Thurman co-starred with Fred Ward in the sexually provocative drama Henry & June, the first film to receive an NC-17 rating. Because of the rating, it never played in a wide release but critics embraced her; The New York Times wrote, “Thurman, as the Brooklyn-accented June, takes a larger-than-life character and makes her even bigger, though the performance is often as curious as it is commanding”.After the birth of her first baby in 1998, Thurman took a rest from major roles to concentrate on motherhood. Her next roles were in low-budget and television films, including Tape, Vatel, and Hysterical Blindness. In 2000 she narrated a theatrical work by composer John Moran entitled Book of the Dead (2nd Avenue) at The Public Theater. She won a Golden Globe award for Hysterical Blindness, a film for which she also served as executive producer.
In the film she played a New Jersey woman in the 1980s searching for romance. The San Francisco Chronicle review wrote, “Thurman so commits herself to the role, eyes blazing and body akimbo, that you start to believe that such a creature could exist — an exquisite-looking woman so spastic and needy that she repulses regular Joes. Thurman has bent the role to her will”By 2005, Thurman was one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses, commanding a salary of $12.5 million per film. Her first film of the year was Be Cool, the sequel to 1995's Get Shorty, which reunited her with her Pulp Fiction castmate John Travolta. In the film she played the widow of a deceased music business executive. The film received poor reviews, and came in below expectations at the box office.
In 2005 she starred in Prime with Meryl Streep, playing a woman in her late thirties romancing a man in his early twenties. Thurman's last film of the year was a remake of The Producers in which she played Ulla, a Swedish stage actress hoping to win a part in a new Broadway musical. Originally, the producers of the film planned to have another singer dub in Thurman's musical numbers, but she was eager to do her own vocals, She is credited for her songs in the credits. The film was considered a bomb at the box office, but many praised Thurman's efforts, including A. O. Scott of the New York Times who said: "Uma Thurman as a would-be actress is the one bit of genuine radiance in this aggressively and pointlessly shiny, noisy spectacle."
Thurman supports the United States Democratic Party, and has given money to the campaigns of John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Joseph Driscoll. She supports gun control laws, and in 2000, she participated in Marie Claire’s “End Gun Violence Now” campaign. She also participated in Planned Parenthood’s “March for Women’s Lives” to support the legality of abortion. Thurman is a member of the board of the New York- and Boston-based organization Room to Grow, a charitable organization providing aid to families and children born into poverty. She serves on the board of the Tibet House.
In 2007, Thurman hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway with actor Kevin Spacey
Filmography
Producer:
1. The Accidental Husband (2008) (producer)
2. Hysterical Blindness (2002) (TV) (executive producer)
Soundtrack:
1. The Producers (2005) (performer: "When You Got It, Flaunt It", "That Face", "Springtime for Hitler", "Prisoners of Love", "Goodbye!")
2. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) (performer: "The Legend of Pai Mai")
... aka Kill Bill (USA: closing credits title)
... aka Kill Bill 2 (USA: informal title)
... aka Vol. 2 (USA)
Writer:
1. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) (character The Bride) (as U)
... aka Kill Bill (USA: closing credits title)
... aka Kill Bill 2 (USA: informal title)
... aka Vol. 2 (USA)
2. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) (character The Bride) (as U)
... aka Kill Bill (USA: informal short title)
... aka Kill Bill 1 (USA: informal title)
... aka Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume One (USA: promotional title)
Nickname:"U"
Hookups:Phil Joanou, Gary Oldman (ex-husband), Ethan Hawke, Andre Balazc, Arpad Busson, Richard Gere, Robert De Niro
Hometown:Boston, Massachusetts
Assets:gangly sensuality
Sign:Taurus
Height:6'0
Job:Actress, Spokeswoman
Hobbies:Buddhism, humanitarianism, parenting
Ethnicity:White
Country of Origin:United States
