Charlize Theron
Academy Award-winning actress and producer from South Africa.
Charlize Theron (shar-LEEZ THERR-ən; Afrikaans: [ʃarˈlis ˈtrɔn]; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, her accolades include an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three BAFTAs and two Emmy Awards.
Theron first gained international attention in the late 1990s as the leading lady in major Hollywood films such as *The Devil's Advocate*, *Mighty Joe Young*, and *The Cider House Rules*. Her career-defining performance came in 2003 when she portrayed serial killer Aileen Wuornos in *Monster*, a role that earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first South African to win an acting Oscar. She received two further Oscar nominations: for playing a sexually abused woman seeking justice in *North Country* and for portraying Megyn Kelly in *Bombshell*. She also earned praise for her roles as troubled women in Jason Reitman’s comedy-dramas *Young Adult* and *Tully*. Theron has starred in numerous commercially successful action films, including *The Italian Job*, *Hancock*, *Prometheus*, *Mad Max: Fury Road*, *Atomic Blonde*, and *The Old Guard*, as well as several *Fast & Furious* installments. On television, she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Britt Ekland in *The Life and Death of Peter Sellers*.
Born in Benoni, South Africa, to road builders Gerda and Charles Theron, she is an only child from an Afrikaner family with Dutch, French, and German ancestry. Her first language is Afrikaans. When she was 15, her mother fatally shot her father in self-defense after he drunkenly attacked them with a gun; no charges were filed. Theron attended the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. After a knee injury ended her ballet training at the Joffrey Ballet School, she moved to Los Angeles in 1994 with a one-way ticket. A chance encounter with a talent agent led to her first speaking role in *2 Days in the Valley*. Since the early 2000s, she has produced numerous films through her company Denver and Delilah Productions. She became a U.S. citizen in 2007 while retaining her South African citizenship. In 2016, *Time* named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
- born
- 7 August 1975
- field
- Actress, producer
- nationality
- South African and American
- known_for
- Monster (2003), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Bombshell (2019)
Lore & Background
Theron was born in Benoni, Transvaal Province (Gauteng Province since 1994), the only child of road builders Gerda (née Maritz) and Charles Theron. She is from an Afrikaner family with Dutch, French, and German ancestry; her French forebears were early Huguenots in South Africa. Her first language is Afrikaans. When Theron was 15, on 21 June 1991, her mother killed her father in self-defense after he drunkenly attacked her mother and fired a gun at Charlize and her mother. The shooting was legally adjudged self-defense, and her mother faced no charges. Theron attended Putfontein Primary School and later the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg.
Reader's Guide
Theron left South Africa at age 16 to begin modeling in Europe. That same year, she won a one-year modeling contract at a local competition in Salerno, Italy and moved with her mother to Milan. After a year modeling in Europe, she moved to New York City, attended the Joffrey Ballet School, and trained as a ballet dancer until a knee injury ended that career. In 1994, she flew to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket her mother bought. Talent agent John Crosby cashed a check for her and gave her his business card. Her first non-speaking film role was in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995); her first speaking role was in 2 Days in the Valley (1996). She came to prominence in the 1990s with The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Monster (2003), becoming the first South African to win an acting Oscar. She was nominated twice more for the Oscar for North Country (2005) and Bombshell (2019). Her action films include The Italian Job (2003), Hancock (2008), Prometheus (2012), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Atomic Blonde (2017), The Old Guard (2020), and Fast & Furious installments. She earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). Since the early 2000s, she has produced films through her company Denver and Delilah Productions. She became an American citizen in 2007 while retaining South African citizenship.
Did You Know?
- Theron's mother killed her father in self-defense in 1991.
- She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
- She was a ballet dancer before a knee injury ended that career.
- Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.
More in Writers & Journalists
Elsewhere in the Historical Figures universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record