Actor Biography - Gwyneth Paltrow Posted by: Hollywood Lot Staff

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow was born on September 28, 1972 in Los Angeles, California. Her Dad is film director Bruce Paltrow and her mother is award winning actress Blythe Danner. When Paltrow was 11 years old, her family moved to Massachusetts for Bruce Paltrow's work. She started her early acting training under the education of her parents. She attended school at the Spence School in New York and graduated in 1990 then attending The University of California at Santa Barbara as an Art History major, dropping out in 1991 to pursue acting full time.

Paltrow's first film was a small part in the 1991 film Shout. She then followed with a various mix of films. In 1995 she was in the shocking, but popular movie Se7en staring with Brad Pitt. The two of them became engaged, but the much publicized relationship was broken off in 1997. After playing the lead role in Emma (1996), an English country girl in the Jane Austin novel, and another British woman in the film Sliding Doors, Paltrow was offered one of the lead roles, Viola, in the film Shakespeare in Love (1998). In March of 1999 she was awarded the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in this movie. Paltrow's popularity soared thereafter.

Continuing to gain acclaimed roles in movies, she next moved on to star with Jude Law and Matt Damon in the film The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). In 2002 Paltrow celebrated her 30th birthday in Rome, Italy with her father who soon after tragically died of a recurrence of throat cancer and pneumonia.

Some of Paltrow’s numerous other films include The Royal Tennenbaums, View from the Top, Possession, Sylvia, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and Proof.

In December of 2003 Gwyneth Paltrow married British Coldplay singer Chris Martin. They met at one of his concerts in 2002. Together they have a daughter named Apple and have a home in London, England.