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Kate Beckinsale

Beckinsale is the daughter of Judy Loe (a stage actress) and the late Richard Beckinsale, a well-known television actor who died in 1979, at the age of 31. Kate's paternal great-grandfather was Burmese, and Beckinsale claims that she was "very oriental looking" as a child [1].

Beckinsale won first prizes in several young writing competitions. After completing school in London, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and began her acting career. Her first role was in , a television film about World War II that was first aired in 1991. Beckinsale then began studying German, French and Russian at New College, Oxford University, though she did not complete her studies (although she speaks these languages fluently). She felt that a general university background would be better for her than attending a school of performing arts.

During her first year at Oxford, Beckinsale was offered a part in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen film, , adapted from the Shakespeare play. She spent her last year of studies in Paris, after which she decided to quit university and concentrate on her acting career. She subsequently appeared in a few notable but low-profile films, including (both in 1998). During this time, Beckinsale also appeared in television films and in stage roles.

, which was one of the highest grossing films of its year. In the years following, she appeared in a series of American films that were high-profile but were given a somewhat poor critical reception, including , a role for which she gained 20 pounds.

In 2005, Beckinsale was placed at #85 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" [2]. Previously, she had also been placed at #16 in Maxim magazine's "HOT 100" (2003), #63 in Stuff Magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002) [3], and was chosen by Hello magazine as "England’s #1 Beauty", also in 2002.

In January 2006, Beckinsale starred in , again directed by her husband, Len Wiseman. The film opened at the #1 spot at the box office, grossing over $26 million in its first weekend of release [4].

On January 24, 2006, Beckinsale was featured on the MTV series,

Beckinsale and Welsh actor Michael Sheen have a daughter, Lily (born 31 January 1999), but they are no longer together. In June 2003, she became engaged to the director of , Len Wiseman, and the two were wed on 9 May 2004 in Bel-Air, California.

Beckinsale suffers from stomach ulcers and was anorexic as a child [5]. She has stated that she hates wearing knickers [6].