Pretty Woman Julia Roberts turns 43 today. Here's a look at the life of America's Sweetheart...
Pretty Woman Julia Roberts turns 43 today. Here's a look at the life of America's Sweetheart...
Born to Betty Lou and Walter Grady Roberts, Julia Fiona Roberts was born and brought up in Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents divorced when she was 4 and her father died of cancer when she was 10.
Her brother is actor Eric Roberts, the dashing Will Butler from TV's Less Than Perfect. The two reconciled in 2004 after a long estrangement. Third sibling Lisa Roberts Gillan is also an actress.
Eric's daughter Emma Roberts used to accompany Julia to movie sets as a young girl, and has now followed in her aunt's illustrious footsteps.
Duplicity: Julia Roberts left behind a string of broken hearts. She was briefly engaged to Steel Magnolias co-star Dylan McDermott.
Runaway Bride: And then to 24's main man Kiefer Sutherland. She called the wedding off 3 days before walking down the aisle.
Soon after her break up with Kiefer, Julia took off to Ireland with actor Jason Patric. They were together for 2 years.
She then said 'I Do' to country singer Lyle Lovett in 1993 but the couple were separated in 2 years and later divorced.
Sparks then flew between her and Law and Order hottie Benjamin Bratt but things went south after she won the Oscar for Erin Brockovich in 2001.
She also famously dated Liam Neeson and Matthew Perry, which explains her high profile appearance on Friends in 1996.
The same year, she met her current husband Daniel Moder on the sets of The Mexican. Moder divorced then-wife Vera Steimberg and married Julia a year later in 2002.
The couple had twins, Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus "Finn" Walter Moder in 2004.
Later they had a new addition to the family in 2007 - a beautiful baby boy Henry Daniel Moder.
This Hollywood superstar who was born to a Baptist and Catholic couple, converted to Hinduism while shooting Eat, Pray, Love in India. In an interview to Elle magazine, earlier this year, Julia said she converted in the hope of having a peaceful life in her next incarnation and regularly visits temples with her family to "chant, pray and celebrate".
She began her career in 1987 with the film Firehouse and later Blood Red, with brother Eric, but her first critical success was Mystic Pizza in 1988. She also played a supporting character in all-girl rock band movie Satisfaction.
Her big break came with 1989's Steel Magnolias. She was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar and she met fiancé #1 Dylan McDermott on the sets of this film. Life was good...
... till along came fiancé #2 Kiefer Sutherland in her next movie Flatliners.
In 1990, Julia went walking down the street and Pretty Woman busted the box office, becoming one of the top romantic movies of all time. Even today the Julia-Richard Gere combo remains a favourite.
Julia won the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress in Hook. But she bounced right back with the adorable rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding in 1997.
She broke away from the rom-com mould with Stepmom, flexing her acting chops as the other woman opposite powerhouse Susan Sarandon.
Julia and Richard Gere made a second stab at the Pretty Woman magic with Runaway Bride. Her commitment-shy character seemed a bit too close for comfort to her own track record of broken engagements.
In Notting Hill, she played a fictionalized version of herself as a famous movie star who falls for regular Joe, Hugh Grant. Well, who wouldn't - those blue eyes, that floppy hair and the stammer.
In 2000, she created history with her phenomenal Oscar-winning performance in Erin Brockovich. Lefty Julia had to learn to use her right hand to authentically portray the role. Much awarded and much rewarded, she was the first actress to command a $20 million paycheck with this film.
She went on to be a cog in the elaborate wheel that was Ocean's Eleven, starring opposite George Clooney and Brad Pitt. She made her first among sequels, Ocean's Twelve – the second crime caper in the series of three - but gave Ocean's Thirteen a miss.
She next played the goofy and lovable Kiki opposite John Cusack in America's Sweethearts. Critics panned the movie but the Julia magic turned it into box office gold.
Julia and uber-hottie Brad Pitt both took pay cuts to work together in The Mexican, a high octane rom com-road movie.
She then played a feminist art teacher trying to inspire her students to rise above their pre-defined roles in Mona Lisa Smile, set in the 1950s.
Closer saw the explosive Julia-Clive Owens-Jude Law in a convoluted tale lovers, friends, midnight trysts, betrayal and lies.
Her next few were Charlie Wilson's War, Fireflies in the Garden and her second outing with Clive Owens, Duplicity.
She was last seen as Elizabeth Gilbert in the film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love. She gave a shining performance, even though the movie received mixed reviews.
She's currently filming Larry Crowne, opposite Tom Hanks, up for release in 2011.
