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Uma Thurman Biography

Uma Thurman performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from dramas and romantic comedies to action thrillers and science fiction. Best she is known for her films released in the 1990s and 2000s, especially those directed by Quentin Tarantino. Her most popular films include Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), Gattaca (1997), and the two Kill Bill movies (2003/2004).

Early life and education

Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Nena von Schlebrugg which was born in 1941, is half-German and half-Swedish, and in 1964 she was briefly married to Timothy Leary after the two were introduced by Salvador Dalí. In 1967 she married Uma's father, Robert Thurman.

Robert Thurman, a professor at Columbia University of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies, gave his children a Buddhist upbringing. Uma is named after an Uma Chenpo (in Tibetan meaning something like Great Middle Way). She has three brothers, with also Tibetan names: Ganden (born in 1971), Dechen (born in 1973) and Mipam (born in 1978), and one half-sister named Taya (born in 1960) 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.

Since her father as a Professor moved between various universities, the family often relocated when Uma Thurman was a child. Mostly she grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts and Woodstock, New York. Thurman is described as having been an awkward and introverted young girl who was frequently teased as a child for her unusual appearance and also her unusual name, thus she sometimes was using the name Uma Karen, instead of her birth-name. When she was ten years old, a friend's mother suggested she receive a nose job, something that bothered her for years. It was undoubtedly one of the many incidents that led to her bout with body dysmorphic disorder, a mental disorder that involves a disturbed body image, which she discussed in an interview with Talk magazine in 2001.

Uma Thurman gained her first acting experiences in school plays at Northfield Mount Hermon, a college preparatory boarding school in Massachusetts. She was unathletic and earned average grades in school, but excelled in acting at a young age. Performing in a production of The Crucible she was noticed by talent scouts, and was persuaded to act professionally. Thurman left her high school to pursue an acting career in New York City. She attended the Professional Children's School, but dropped out before graduating.

Career

Uma Thurman began her career as a fashion model at the age of fifteen, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother who were also former models. In 1988 Thurman made her movie debut, her first two movies were the high school comedy Johnny Be Good and the teen thriller Kiss Daddy Goodnight at the age of seventeen. Thurman's next role was in in the film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, playing the goddess Venus. During her entrance Uma Thurman briefly appears nude. Her fourth role, as Cecile de Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons, was her breakthrough role, which brought Thurman to the attention of the film industry and the general public. Her topless scene garnered great attention, and this proved too much for a 19-year-old who thought she was funny-looking. Thurman fled to London for almost a year and only wore loose, baggy clothing during that time.

Soon after the release of Dangerous Liaisons, magazines and other media outlets were eager to profile the actress, and new roles were available for her. Uma 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.

In 1990, at the age of 19, Uma Thurman starred with Fred Ward in the sexually provocative drama film Henry & June, the first film to receive an NC-17 rating. Thurman's first starring role in a major production was Even Cowgirls Get the Blues in 1993 which was directed by Gus Van Sant, although the film was a misstep for her career. The film was both a critical and financial disappointment, and Uma Thurman was even nominated for a Worst Actress Razzie. Thurman also starred opposite of Robert DeNiro in the crime drama Mad Dog and Glory, another box office disappointment. Later that year, she auditioned for Stanley Kubrick while he was casting a script named Wartime Lies, which was never produced into a film. She described working with him as a really bad experience.

After Mad Dog and Glory, Uma Thurman auditioned for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Tarantino originally had no intention of casting her, after seeing her performance in Mad Dog and Glory. He ultimately decided to cast her after having dinner with her: And Uma and I were doing that scene. We were living the movie, all right? I left thinking. God, she could be Mia!. Thurman was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar the following year and also became one of Tarantino's favorite actors to cast.

Films of varying quality and success followed Pulp Fiction. In 1996 she starred opposite Janeane Garofalo in the moderately successful romantic comedy The Truth About Cats & Dogs as a ditzy blonde supermodel and opposite her future husband Ethan Hawke in the 1998 dystopian science fiction film Gattaca. Gattaca was not a major success at the box office but it drew many positive reviews and became successful on the home video market.

The two biggest film flops of Uma Thurman's career came in 1997 and 1998. She played Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin which was a large failure at the box office and became one of the largest critical flops in history. The next year brought The Avengers, another major financial and critical flop. She received Razzie award nominations for both films, but she closed out 1998 with the film version of Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Misérables, directed by Bille August, in which she played the role of Fantine.

After the birth of her first child in 1998, Uma Thurman took a rest from major roles to concentrate on motherhood. Her next roles were in low budget and television films, including Sweet and Lowdown, Tape, Vatel, and Hysterical Blindness. Thurman won a Golden Globe award for Hysterical Blindness, a film for which she also served as an executive producer.

After a five year intermission from any major film roles, Uma Thurman returned in 2003 in John Woo's film Paycheck, which was only moderately successful. But her next collaboration with Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill relaunched her career. She was offered the role on her 30th birthday from Tarantino, who wrote the part specifically for her. The role was also her most demanding to date, and she spent three months training in martial arts, swordsmanship, and Japanese language. The two-part action epic became an instant cult classic and earned Thurman Golden Globe nominations for both entries, the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance and twice the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight.

Uma Thurman had become one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses by 2005 with a salary of about $12.5 million USD per film. Her first film of the year was Be Cool, the sequel to 1995's Get Shorty, which reunited her with her Pulp Fiction castmate John Travolta. She also starred in the film Prime with Meryl Streep, playing a woman in her late thirties romancing a man in his early twenties. Thurman's last film of the year was a remake of The Producers in which she played Ulla, a Swedish stage actress hoping to win a part in a new Broadway musical. The producers of the film originally planned to have another singer dub in Thurman's musical numbers, but Uma was eager to do her own vocals and is credited for her songs in the credits.

With a successful film career, Uma 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 also became a spokeswoman for the French fashion house Louis Vuitton.

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

Uma Thurman

Uma Thurman Pictures

Uma Thurman Biography

Early life and education

Career

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