Julia Roberts

Lore & Background

Julia Roberts was born on October 28, 1967 at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta to Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts. Her parents, onetime actors and playwrights, met while performing for the United States Armed Forces and later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop. Roberts was raised Catholic and has English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. Her older brother Eric, older sister Lisa, and niece Emma are also actors. Her parents divorced in 1972, after which she lived in Smyrna, Georgia, and attended Fitzhugh Lee Elementary School, Griffin Middle School, and Campbell High School. Her father died of cancer when she was ten. After high school, she moved to New York City to pursue acting, signing with the Click Modeling Agency and enrolling in acting classes.

Roberts made her television debut in 1987 on Crime Story and her big screen debut in Satisfaction (1988). Her first critical success came with Mystic Pizza (1988), followed by Steel Magnolias (1989), which earned her an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe win. She gained worldwide fame with Pretty Woman (1990), playing a freelance sex worker, which earned her a second Oscar nomination and Golden Globe. She later starred in Flatliners (1990), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991), Hook (1991), and Dying Young (1991). After a two-year hiatus, she returned with The Pelican Brief (1993). Renewed success in romantic comedies came with My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Erin Brockovich (2000).

Roberts runs the production company Red Om Films, through which she has served as an executive producer for various projects, including the first four films of the American Girl franchise (2004–2008). She has been the global ambassador for Lancôme since 2009. She was the world's highest-paid actress throughout most of the 1990s and first half of the 2000s. People magazine has named her the most beautiful woman in the world a record five times.

Reader's Guide

Julia Roberts's significance lies in her status as one of Hollywood's most bankable and recognizable stars, particularly during the 1990s and early 2000s. Her breakthrough in Mystic Pizza and Steel Magnolias established her as a rising talent, but it was Pretty Woman that cemented her as a leading lady and made her a global icon. The film's commercial success—the highest ticket sales in the U.S. for a romantic comedy at the time—demonstrated her box-office draw. Roberts's ability to transition from romantic comedies to dramatic roles, culminating in an Academy Award for Erin Brockovich, showcased her range. Her production company, Red Om Films, allowed her to exert creative control over her projects. Beyond acting, her role as a global ambassador for Lancôme and her record as the highest-paid actress reflect her enduring influence in entertainment and popular culture. Her legacy includes shaping the modern romantic comedy genre and inspiring a generation of actresses.

Did You Know?

• Roberts's parents' hospital bill for her birth was paid by Coretta King in gratitude for her father's work running the only racially integrated theater troupe in the region.
• She played the clarinet in her school band.
• Roberts was paid $300,000 for her role in Pretty Woman.
• She guest-starred in the second season of Friends in the episode 'The One After the Superbowl'.