Julia Roberts

At the age of 32, Julia Roberts maintains her sex appeal, continuing to star year after year in top box office movies, raking in approximately $2.5 billion worldwide. Her pay per movie ratio ranges in the eight digits, placing her as one of the top paid actresses in Hollywood. This comes, as no surprise to many moviegoers since Roberts' name itself and her leading roles in movies is what lands her at the top of box office charts. 

Her face is recognized worldwide; gracing magazine covers, not to mention her claim to fame, her natural curly red hair whose color and cut seems to be changing with every movie she stars in, and her million-dollar smile. However, this Georgia born actress is anything but egotistic. "I'm the last person in the world who should be rich. I don't do anything with the stuff. I mean, I bought a house-it's an old dump, but I like it and will probably spend a considerable amount of money to do all of the little things that I want to do with it…the money is sort of invisible security. I pay no attention to it, yet there's an element of power to it. Because I know if everything fell, I could live 10 lifetimes."

Born October 28, 1967 in a small town called Smyrna in Georgia, Roberts was raised by parents, Walter and Betty, who divorced when Julia was four years old. Walter died from throat cancer when Julia was only nine and Julia has said that her father's death altered every philosophy of life she ever had. Roberts remains close to her mother Betty, and tries hard, "To make my mother proud." Roberts grew up with older siblings, Lisa and Eric, who are also in the Hollywood business, and younger half-sister Nancy.

As a child, Roberts dreamed of being a veterinarian until graduating from high school. She then decided to follow her sister's footsteps to New York to pursue an acting career. Roberts signed with Click modeling agency while enrolling in acting classes. It wasn't until 1986, when her brother Eric (Runaway Train, Final Analysis) convinced director Eric Masterson to consider Julia in his film Blood Red where she eventually played a supporting role opposite her brother. The movie was released to theaters in 1989.

The actress landed several guest roles in television shows such as Miami Vice, Friends, and Murphy Brown as well as the television movies Forever Young (1983), Firehouse (1987), and Baja Oklahoma (1988). Her smaller roles further launched her career and her popularity soared. She was soon cast in movies year after year with each performance impressing viewers everywhere. The movie Steel Magnolia (1989) earned her an Academy Award nomination and title Best supporting actress for the Golden Globe Awards in 1990.

Perhaps the movie that earned Julia Roberts a place in the spotlight was the top grossing Cinderella story of 1990, Pretty Woman, directed by Garry Marshall. Roberts played a hooker named Vivian, who falls in love with Edward, a businessman, played by Richard Gere (The Red Corner, Primal Fear, Runaway Bride). Roberts got the Best Actress in a Motion Picture Award from the Golden Globes in 1991 for Pretty Woman and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 1991. And the awards didn't stop there. In 1997, Hasty Pudding Theatricals named her Woman of the Year. 

In 1998, she was given the People's Choice Award as Favorite Motion Picture Actress and the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress in the comedy My Best Friend's Wedding. She also received the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress in the suspense/drama Conspiracy Theory and ShoWest's International Star of the Year. This year, Roberts has already been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture for the movie Notting Hill, her sixth film to cross the domestic $100 million mark. She also took home the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actress.