Category: Oscar Profile

Born November 6, 1946 to actress Margaret Field and her husband, an Army captain and later salesman, the doctor who delivered Sally Field allegedly told her mother “you have an actor”. Field’s parents divorced when she was five and her mother later married stunt man turned actor Jock Mahoney. She began her film career in…

Born May 31, 1976 in Dublin, Ireland to Rita and Eamon Farrell, a professional athlete, Colin Farrell became interested in acting when he saw E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial at the age of six and was brought to tears by ten-year-old Henry Thomas’ performance. Encouraged by his older brother to study acting, Farrell made his screen debut…

Born May 14, 1969 in Ivanhoe, Australia, a suburb of Melbourne, Catherine Elise (Cate) Blanchett was the middle child of a property director/teacher Australian mother and an advertising executive Texas-born father. Her father died when she was ten, leaving her mother to raise the family with the help of her grandmother. Blanchett graduated from Australia’s…

Born August 21, 1944 in Sydney, Australia, the son of Peggy and Lindsey Weir, a real estate agent, Peter Weir studied arts and law at the University of Sydney where his interest in film was sparked by his involvement with fellow students including Philip Noyce and other future filmmakers. Weir first worked in Australian TV…

Born September 9, 1980 in Kalispell, Montana to Carla, a homemaker, and Larry Williams, an author and commodities trader, Michelle Williams grew up in a family with three half-siblings from her father’s earlier marriage and a younger sister. The family moved to San Diego, California when she was 9. Interested in acting from an early…

Born October 5, 1923 in Pretoria, South Africa while her Welsh parents were on tour, Glynis Johns was the daughter of actor Mervyn Johns (1899-1992) and pianist Alice Maude Steele (1901-1970). A trained dancer, pianist, and singer as well as actress, Johns made her first stage appearance as a child ballerina in London’s Garrick Theatre…

Born September 22, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, Owen Roizman was born into a family of filmmakers. His father, Sol Roizman, was a cinematographer for Fox Movietone News. His uncle, Morrie Roizman, was an editor of documentary films. Morrie received an Oscar nomination for producing the 1954 short subject, Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait. As a child,…

Born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of an automotive entrepreneur and his wife, Guillermo del Toro is a world renown filmmaker who throughout his career has alternated between Spanish and English language films. Del Toro first began to experiment with his father’s Super 8 camera when he was about 8. He worked…

Born October 28, 1967 in Smyrna, Georgia to Betty Lou and Walter Grady Roberts, one-time actors and playwrights who ran an acting school in Decatur, Georgia when she was born, Julia Roberts’ mother’s maternity bill was paid for by Coretta Scott King in gratitude to Julia’s father, her daughter Yolanda’s acting coach. Following in the…

Born December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio to a concert pianist/restaurateur mother and electrical engineer father, Steven Spielberg grew up in Haddon Township, New Jersey; Phoenix, Arizona; and Saratoga, California. His early fascination with movies led to his career as one the most successful and influential filmmakers in the history of the movies. His career…

Born July 14, 1928 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Henry Olson, a physician, and his wife, Evelyn, Nancy Olson was discovered on stage at UCLA which she transferred to in 1948. Nicknamed Wholesome Olson, the peaches-and-cream blonde was given a walk-on in 1948’s Portrait of Jennie and then given a contract by Paramount. Olson made her…

Born October 8, 1949 in New York, New York, Susan Alexandra Weaver is the daughter of pioneer TV producer Sylvester (Pat) Weaver (1913-2002)and his wife, actress Elizabeth Inglis (1913-2007). Raised by nannies and maids, she estimated that she lived with her family in 30 homes by the time she was 12. By the age of…

Born September 26, 1877 in London, England, Edmund John Kellaway was the eldest son of a British civil servant who expected his son to follow in his footsteps. However, young Kellaway had a mind of his own and was determined to become an actor against his father’s wishes. Changing his name to Edmund Gwenn, he…

Born June 14, 1909 in Hunt City, Illinois, Burl Ives was one of seven siblings born tp a farming family. A prolific singer all his life, Ives first sang in public for a soldiers’ reunion when he was age 4. In high school, he learned the banjo and played fullback, intending to become a football…

Born January 7, 1929 in Glendale, California, Helen Luella Koford grew up in a Mormon family. She worked as a child model before making her film debut in 1940. Either unbilled or billed under various names during her first eight years in films, her early appearances were in such films as The Howards of Virginia,…