Charlize Theron Biography

harlize Theron is a South African and American actress and producer. She is one of the highest-paid actresses and has received numerous awards for their tremendous effort in the entertainment industry.

Charlize is famously known for her roles in movies like ‘Monster’, ‘Snow White, and ‘Fate of the Furious’ among other hit movies.

Full Name	Charlize Theron
Date of Birth	7th of August 1975
Nationality	South Africa
State of Origin	Transvaal province,
Place of Birth	Benoni
Occupation	Actress, Model
Parents	Gerda Maritz ( Mother) Charles Theron (Father)
Net Worth	$110 million
Social Media Handles	Instagram: charlizeafrica Twitter: @CharlizeAfrica Facebook: Charlize Theron

Early Life and Education

Charlize Theron was born to Gerda Maritz and Charles Theron in Benoni, Transvaal province, South Africa on the 7th of August 1975. She is an Afrikaner and her ancestry includes Dutch, French and German.

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She grew up with her parents on their farm in Benoni, Johannesburg where they tend livestock. Theron’s family was quite an unhappy one as Charles, Theron’s father was an alcoholic who was abusive. He frequently abuses her mother physically whenever he gets drunk.

However, when Theron was 15, her father physically attacked her and her mother, firing a gun at both of them. In a bid to protect her child and herself, Theron’s mother reached out for a gun and shot Theron’s father. The murder was deemed a self-defence act and was never charged with a crime.

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At an early age, Theron grew a passion for dance so to foster her artistic learning, she started ballet classes at the age of six. Her parents were supportive of her dreams and at 12, she was sent to a Johannesburg boarding school to study dance at the National School of Arts in Johannesburg.

Career

Charlize started her career as a dancer although it was not professional. At 16, she won a year of modelling contract at a local competition she engaged in Salermo. She then moved in with Milan, Italy. When she finished her contract with Salermo, she moved to the US with her mother.

While in New York, she attended the Joffery Ballet School and got trained to be a ballet dancer until she had a knee injury which ended this career path. In 1994, Theron flew to Los Angeles with the intent of working in the film industry. When she got there, she stayed in a motel for some months with the $300 budget her mother had given to her. She also sustained herself with the paycheck she receives from New York.

Life didn’t come easy for Theron as she grew from living from paycheck to paycheck to the point that she has to steal bread from a restaurant to survive. One day, she went to the Hollywood Boulevard bank to cash out a few cheques but it was rejected because she was not an American citizen. While she was pleased with a bank teller accepting her cheque, a talented agent, John Crosby, who was the next customer after Theron, cashed her cheque for her and gave her his business card.

Crosby introduced Theron to an acting school and in 1995, she landed her first non-speaking role in the horror movie Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest. Later, she had her first speaking role in the movie 2 Days in the Valley, playing the role of a hitwoman.

When auditioning for the movie showgirls, Co-casting director Johanna Ray introduced Theron to a talent agent J.J Harris. She was surprised that Harris believed in her potential so much that to introduced her to one of the big guns in the American entertainment industry. Harris helped Theron a lot. He usually found scripts and movies for Theron in a variety of genres and encouraged her to become a producer. For 15 years, Harris was Theron’s agent till he passed away.

In the 1990s, Theron was exposed to larger roles in widely released Hollywood movies. She had her breakthrough when she acted in the horror drama The Devil’s advocate, where she featured Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino.

Subsequently, she starred in the adventure movie Mighty Joe Youn in 1998 and also in the drama The Cider House Rules (1999). The Devil’s advocate and the Cider House of Rules were successful. She was on the cover of the January 1999 issues of Vanity Fair as the White Hot Venus and also shown in the May 1999 issue of Playboy Magazine.

In the 2000s, Theron consistently featured in several movies including; The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), The Yards (2000), Reindeer Games (2000), The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) etc. all the movies, unfortunately, achieved limited commercial success but helped her to establish herself as an actress.

In 2003, Theron starred in the 2002 heist film The Italian Job, a movie directed y F. Gary Gray, starring Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Jason Statham, Seth Green, and Donald Sutherland. The movie was a box success as it amassed $176 million worldwide.

In 2003. She starred in the movie Monster where she portrayed serial killer Aleen Wuornos, a former prostitute who was executed in Florida for killing six men in the late 1980 and 1990s. Roger Ebert , a film critic, felt that Theron gave “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema”. For her tremendous effort in the movies, she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004. She also got awarded in Screen Actors Guild Award and the Golden Globe Award.

Theron was also the first South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress. This win helped her make Hollywood Reporter’s 2006 list of highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, earning up to US$10 million for a film as she ranked seventh. Theron was also named by AskMen as one most desirable women of 2003.

In the 2004 HBO film, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, she played the role of a Swedish actress and singer, Britt Ekland. This role helped her win the Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award.

In 2006. She played the ripple role of Rita, a mentally challenged love interest of Micheal Bluth (Jason Bateman), in the third season of Arrested Development. She also starred in the thriller Aeon Flux and received a Spike Video Game Award for Best Performance by a Human Female.

Theron also starred in the drama North Country where she played the role of a single mother and an iron mine worker who experienced sexual harassment. Theron was praised for her great acting in the movies as David Rooney of Variety said in writing that North Country represent a confident step for the lead, Charlize Theron.

Robert Ebert also echoed the same sentiment calling Theron “ “an actress who has the beauty of a fashion model but has found resources within herself for these powerful roles about unglamorous women in the world of men.”

For her performance in the movies, she received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress. Ms Magazine also recognised her for her performance with a featured article in its Fall 2005 issue. Theron received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the 30th of September 2005.

In 2007, Theron acted the role of a police detective in the crime movie, In the Valley of Elah. she produced the movies, starring Nick Stahl and AnnaSophia Robb. Theron kept her fire burning as she starred in another drama, The Burning pain. She played the role of a woman who faced a traumatic childhood. the movie was directed by Guillermo Arriaga and starred Jennifer Lawrence and Kim Basinger.

She also played the wife of a drunkard superhero alongside Will Smith in the movie Hancock. Both movies were hit movies as the Buring Pain had a gross of $5,267,917 despite having a limited release in the US. Hancock also made US$624.3 million worldwide which was remarkable.

Also in 2018, Theron was titled the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year and was offered the appointment of a UN Messenger of Peace by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In 2009, the majority of the films Theron released were post-apocalyptic dramas. In The Road, she appeared briefly in the flashback and in the animated film Astro Boy, she only provided her voice for a character. On the 4th of December 2009, Theoren hosted the draw of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cape Town alongside several other celebrities.

During the rehearsals, she drew an Ireland ball instead of France as a joke, referring to the Thierry Henry handball issue in France vs. Ireland play-off match. FIFA was sufficiently startled by the prank to be concerned that she would repeat it live in front of a worldwide audience.

After two years of being absent on-screen, Theron showed in 2011 with the Black comedy Young Adult, directed by Jason Reitman. The movie received favourable reviews, especially for her portrayal of a miserable, divorced, and alcoholic 37-year-old ghostwriter.

Richard Roeper acknowledged the movie saying, “Charlize Theron delivers one of the most impressive performances of the year”. For her tremendous effort in the movie, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and several other awards.

In 2012, Theron took on a villain role in two blockbuster movies. She played the role of the evil Queen Ravenna, Snow white’s stepmother, in the movie Snow White and the Huntsman. She starred Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth and made an appearance as a crew member with hidden intent in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.

The two movies were major hits, grossing around $400 million internationally each. In 2013, Vulture/NYMag gave her the title of the 68th Most Valuable Star in Hollywood because despite being absent for a year, she still stayed relevant.

On the 10th of May 2014, Theron hosted Saturday Night Live on NBD. Later that year, she took on the role of the wife of an infamous outlaw in the movie A Million Ways to Die in the West, directed by Seth MacFarlane.

In 2015, Theron starred as the lone survivor of her family’s massacre in the Gilles Paquet-Brenner-directed Dark Places adaptation. For the movie, she also received producer credit and co-starred with Tom Hardy as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Mad Max received a lot of accolades, with praise going toward Charlize Theron for the dominant nature taken by her character. The movie earned $378.4 million in total worldwide. In 2016, she co-starred with Sean Penn, as a physician and activist in the romantic drama The Last Face. she also provided her voice for the 3D stop-motion fantasy movie Kubo and the Two Strings, and produced the indie drama Brain on Fire in 2016.

In 2017, Theron appeared in the movie The Fate of the Furious, as she played the role of the cyberterrorist Cipher, the main antagonist of the entire franchise. She also played the role if a spy in the movie Atomic Blonde, an adaptation of the novel The Coldest City, directed by David Leitch.

In 2019, she produced and starred in the movie Long shot, a romantic comedy, starring Seth Rogen and directed by Jonathan Levine. The movie premiered in March and was released in May 2019.

Charlize Theron is an iconic film artist as she was nominated for several awards for her work in the film industry. Among the awards include; Academy Award for Best Actress, Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role among others.

That same year, Forbes ranked Theron as the ninth highest paid actress in the world with an annual income of $23million. In 2020, she produced and appeared alongside Kiki Layne in The Old Guard, a movie directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.

Among other movies, she acted in are the F9, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The School for Good and Evil and The Boys to mention but a few.

Personal Life

Charlize Theron is born and bred in South Africa but in 2007, she became a naturalised citizen of the United States, retaining her South African citizenship. She currently stays in Los Angeles. Theron has always been interested in adoption since she was a child. This led to adopting two children; a daughter in March 2012 and another girl in July 2015.

Theron is inspired by Sigourney Weaver and Susan Sarandon. She also adores Tom Hanks and described her admiration as a “love affair” and watched many of his movies throughout her youth.

In 2018, she went for therapy in her thirties because of anger and later found out that her anger issues were the result of the frustration she experienced growing up during South Africa’s apartheid, which ended when she was 15 years old.

Theron has had several relationships but most of them were put to an end. Her first public relationship was with Craig Bierko, whom she dated for just two years (1995-1997). After her breakup, she dated a popular singer Stephan Jenkins for three years, until 2001 when they both went their separate ways.

That same year, she began a relationship with an Irish actor, Stuart Townsend, after they both met on the set of the movie Trapped. They both stayed together in Los Angeles and Ireland ut split up in 2009.

In December 2013, she started dating Sean Penn, an American Actor. The couple announced their engagement in late December but ended the relationship in 2015. Currently, update about her relationship status are inaccessible.

Awards

2021 People’s Choice Awards-Favorite Movie Actress: Nominated
2021 People’s Choice Awards-Favorite Action Movie Actor: Nominated
2020 People’s Choice Awards-Favorite Action Movie Actor: Nominated
2020 People’s Choice Awards-Favorite Movie Actress: Nominated
2020 BAFTA Film Awards-Best Leading Actress: Nominated
2020 Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Nominated
2019 Oscar-Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Nominated
2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: Nominated
2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Nominated
2019 Critics’ Choice Awards-Best Actress: Nominated
2019 Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy: Nominated
2015 AACTA Awards-Best Lead Actress: Nominated
2015 Critics’ Choice Awards-Best Actress: Nominated
2012 Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: Nominated
2011 Detroit Film Critics Society-Best Actress: Nominated
2006 Critics’ Choice Awards-Best Actress: Nominated
2006 Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Nominated
2006 BAFTA Film Awards-Best Actress in a Leading Role: Nominated
2005 Emmy-Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie: Nominated
2005Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Nominated
2005 Oscar-Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Nominated
2005 Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television: Nominated
2005 BAFTA Film Awards-Best Actress in a Leading Role: Nominated
2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries: Nominated
2004 Golden Globe-Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Winner
2004 Independent Spirit Awards-Best Female Lead: Winner
2004 Critics’ Choice Awards-Best Actress: Winner
2004 Berlin Film Festival-Silver Bear for Best Actress: Winner
2003 Los Angeles Film Critics Association-Best Actress – Runner-up: Winner
2003 San Francisco Film Critics Circle-Best Actress: Winner
2003 Oscar-Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Winner
2003 Chicago Film Critics Association-Best Actress: Winner
2003 Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Winner
2003 National Society of Film Critics-Best Actress: Winner
1999 Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: Nominated

Charlize Theron Net Worth

Theron has over the years built a successful career as an actress and model. She is also tagged to be one of the highest-paid actresses in the US and has her net worth estimated to be $110 million.