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Uma Thurman (born April 29, 1970Uma Thurman is an American model and Academy Award nominated film actress. She began her career as a young model and modeled professionally throughout the late 1980s before moving to acting in 1988. She performs predominantly in leading roles in a wide variety of low-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to playing heroines in science fiction and action thrillers. She is best known for her films released in the 1990s and 2000s, specifically those with director Quentin Tarantino. Her most popular films include

Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her half-Swedish, half-German mother Nena von Schlebrugg (b. 8 January 1941) was briefly married in 1964 to Timothy Leary after the two were introduced by Salvador Dalí. The marriage ended in divorce less than a year later, and in 1967 she married before Thurman's father Robert Thurman (b. 4 August 1941), a professor at Columbia University of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies.

Robert Thurman gave his children a Buddhist upbringing, and she is named after a Hindu goddess. She has three brothers, also with names originating in Tibet: Ganden, Dechen (b. 18 January 1973) and Mipam (b. 1978), and one half-sister named Taya from her father's previous marriage. She and her siblings also spent extended amounts of time in India as children, and the Dalai Lama would sometimes visit their home.sup

Due to her father frequently teaching at different universities, her family often relocated when she was a child. She grew up mostly in Amherst, Massachusetts and Woodstock, New York. Described as an awkward and introverted young girl, and was frequently teased as a child for her large frame, size eleven feet, unique angular bone structure, and unusual name. Although later, Thurman's famously large feet would be lovingly filmed by Quentin Tarantino in the films he would make with her, to general public amusement. She was unathletic and earned average grades in school, but excelled in acting at a young age.

Her first acting experiences came in elementary and high school plays. It was after performing in a production of that she was noticed by talent scouts, and was convinced to act professionally. Thurman left her high school, Northfield Mount Hermon, to pursue an acting career in New York City and to attend the Professional Children's School, but dropped out before graduating.sup

Thurman began her career as a model at the age of fifteen, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother who were also former models. Standing six feet tall with a naturally lanky frame, Thurman was a successful model, and would later be featured in a layout in Glamour magazine. In 1989, Thurman appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, for the magazine's annual "Hot issue".sup at the age of seventeen, but both films were only marginally successful and failed to gain her notice. Thurman's next role was a part in the film . With a budget of $46 million USD and box office receipts of only $8 million, the film was a commercial failure.sup was her breakthrough role, which brought Thurman to the attention of the film industry.

Soon after the release of , magazines and other media outlets were eager to profile the young actress, and new roles were available for her. Thurman also received praise from her co-stars of the film for her professionalism with the role. Co-star John Malkovich said of her, "There is nothing twitchy teenager-ish about her, I haven't met anyone like her at that age. Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there's something else. She's more than a little haunted."sup

In 1990, the 19-year-old Thurman starred with Fred Ward in the sexually provocative drama film , the first film to receive an NC-17 rating. Due to the film's restrictive rating, it never played in a wide release but would attract more attention to Thurman's career. Critics embraced Thurman in her first leading role, 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."sup (directed by Gus Van Sant), although the film was a misstep for her career. The film was both a critical and financial disappointment, and Thurman was even nominated for a Worst Actress Razzie. The Washington Post described her acting as shallow, writing that, "Thurman's strangely passive characterization doesn't go much deeper than drawling and flexing her prosthetic thumbs."sup , another box office disappointment. Later that year she auditioned for Stanley Kubrick while he was casting a , which was never produced into a film. She described working with him as a "really bad experience."sup "Thurman in 1994's Pulp Fiction. Her character in the film was based on Danish actress Anna Karina."

1994 brought Thurman's most successful performance to date as Mia Wallace, in a starring role in Quentin Tarantino's film . The Washington Post wrote that Thurman was "serenely unrecognizable in a black wig, [and] is marvelous as a zoned-out gangster’s girlfriend."sup Thurman was also nominated for an Best Supporting Actress Oscar the following year. Entertainment Weekly wrote that, "of the five women nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category this year, only [Thurman] can claim that her performance gave the audience fits."sup would also become one of the most successful cult hits of all time when it grossed over $107 million on a budget of only $8 million USD.sup as a ditzy blonde supermodel. In 1998 she starred opposite of her future husband Ethan Hawke in the dystopian science fiction film was not a major success at the box office, both the film and Thurman drew many positive reviews, and the film became successful on the home video market.sup

The two biggest film flops of Thurman's career came in 1997 and 1998. She played Poison Ivy in was a failure at the box office and would become one of the largest critical flops in history. Thurman's performance in the campy film received mainly mixed reviews, but some critics praised her enthusiastic acting.sup The New York Times wrote about Thurman, "like Mae West, she mixes true femininity with the winking womanliness of a drag queen."sup CNN described Thurman as, "so distanced you feel like you're watching her through the wrong end of a telescope."sup

After the birth of her first child in 1998, she took a hiatus from major roles to concentrate on motherhood. Her next roles were in low budget and television films, including , a film which she also served as the executive producer. In the film she played an agitable 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 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."sup she played one of the world's top assassins, out on a revenge quest against her former lover. She was offered the role on her 30th birthday from Tarantino, who wrote the part specifically for her. He also cited Thurman as his muse while writing the film, and also gave her a formal joint credit for the character of Beatrix Kiddo, whom the two conceived on the set of from the sole image of a bride covered in blood.

Production was delayed for several months after Thurman became pregnant, and her part was almost recast with Rosanna Arquette, but Tarantino decided against recasting and delayed the film's production.sup The film reportedly took nine months to shoot, and was filmed on location in five different countries. The role was also her most demanding to date, and she spent three months training in martial arts, swordsmanship, and Japanese language.sup The two-part action epic was hit with audiences and scored highly with critics, and earned Thurman Golden Globe nominations for both entries, and three MTV Movie Awards for Best Female Performance and twice for Best Fight. Rolling Stone magazine likened Thurman to "an avenging angel out of a 1940s Hollywood melodrama."sup

The main inspirations for "The Bride" were several B-movie action heroines. Thurman's main inspirations for the role were the title character of (played by Gena Rowlands). She said that the two characters are "two of the only women I've ever seen be truly women [while] holding a weapon."sup was screened for Thurman by Tarantino prior to beginning production on the film, to help her model the character.sup

By 2005, Thurman had become one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses, commanding a salary of $12.5 million USD per film.sup castmate John Travolta. In the film she played the widow of a deceased music business executive. Later in 2005 she starred in the film with Meryl Streep, playing a woman in her late thirties romancing a young man in his early twenties. Thurman's last film of the year was a remake of in which she played Ulla, a Swedish stage actor 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,sup however it has not been confirmed if she performs all of the vocals in the film.

With a successful film career, Thurman once again became a desired model. Cosmetics company Lancôme selected her as a spokesmodel. The company named several lipstick shades after her, but they were only sold in Asia. In 2005, she became a spokesmodel for the French fashion house Louis Vuitton.

On February 7, 2006, Thurman was named as a knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, an award for outstanding achievement in the field of art and literature.

co-star Gary Oldman, but the two divorced two years later. The divorce was reportedly caused by the little time they spent together, due to their busy acting schedules.

On May 1, 1998, she married actor Ethan Hawke, after the two had met at the set of . Prior to their engagement, Hawke had proposed twice before she accepted. Thurman herself acknowledged that they married early because she had become pregnant; at the time of their wedding she was seven months along.sup They have two children, a daughter Maya Ray (b. 8 July 1998) and a son Levon Roan (b. 15 January 2002). Hawke also dedicated his novel to her.

In an interview with Talk magazine, she revealed that she had Body dysmorphic disorder, a mental disorder which involves a disturbed

In 2003, Thurman and Hawke separated, and in 2004 the couple filed for divorce. Many news outlets reported that the cause of the divorce was because Hawke had cheated on Thurman with Canadian model Jen Perzow, after he had suspected Thurman of cheating on him with Quentin Tarantino. Hawke denied that the cause of the divorce was infidelity, and that it was caused by their busy work schedules.sup In a 2004 Rolling Stone cover story, both Thurman and Tarantino denied ever having a romantic relationship, despite Tarantino once having told a reporter, "I'm not saying that we haven't, and I'm not saying that we have." sup

She now resides in Hyde Park, New York and has been dating the New York hotelier Andre Balazs. They live together in a loft apartment in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, down the street from Balazs's Mercer Hotel.

Thurman also dedicates herself to variety of social causes. She is a large supporter of gun control laws, and in 2000 she participated in Marie Claire's "End Gun Violence Now" campaign.

"Dangerous Liaisons' violated beauty, Uma Thurman, 18, is a little risky herself." People Weekly 31.n5 (Feb 6, 1989) Joe Brown. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. The Washington Post. 20 May 1994. Retrieved 13 February 2006. Spingarn, Jed. "Uma Thurman: her piercing role in 'Pulp' is not for the fainthearted." Entertainment Weekly nSPEISS (March 1995 nSPEISS) Paul Tatara. CNN. "Review: 'The Avengers' is retro-boring" 21 August 1998. Retrieved 20 February 2006. repulsive beauty in '80s Jersey Thurman's histrionics fit 'Hysterical Blindness' well. San Francisco Chronicle. 23 August 2002. Retrieved 13 February 2006. Jamie Malanowski. Catching up with Uma Thurman. USA Today. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2006. Sherry Kahn.Talk. Golden Girl Uma admits to having Body Dysmorphic Disorder. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2006.