Charlize Theron, was born on August 7, 1975 in the small town of Benoni,
South Africa. She was the only child of Charles (German descent) and Gerda
(French decent), who owned a farm and a road construction company. When she was
15, her mother shot her father in self-defense after he threatened, in a drunken
state, to kill her and Charlize. Her father died, and her mother was not charged
in the incident.
Charlize began ballet lessons at the age of 6 and aspired to be a ballerina.
In 1991, at 16, Charlize won a local modeling contest. She started modeling in
Europe, and went to New York a year later. While in New York, she returned to
dancing and performed with the Joffrey Ballet in both Swan Lake and the
Nutcracker Suite. Her dancing career was short-lived when it was ended by a knee
injury.
At the age of 18, despite having no connections, her mother purchased
Charlize a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in order to attempt a career in the
movie industry. After two weeks, talent manager John Crosby discovered her in a
Hollywood bank after he witnessed her yelling at a bank teller for refusing to
cash her out-of-state check. The agent gave her his card in exchange that she
learn English- which she did by watching American soap operas (her first
language is Africaans). After eight months in LA she got her first part,
non-speaking, in a very small film. Since then she has taken acting lessons and
her career has skyrocketed.
Charlize was married to former porn star Steven St. Croix but they were
separated in 1996. From 1998 to 2001, Charlize dated Stephan Jenkins, lead
singer of the band Third Eye Blind.
