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Charlize Theron (born August 7 1975 in Benoni,
South Africa) is a South African Academy Award
winning actress.

Both of her parents are Afrikaans-speaking but her
father was of French Huguenot descent and her
mother is of German descent. Her first language is
Afrikaans language|Afrikaans, and her second is
English language|English. Theron is a French
surname pronounced in Afrikaans as "Tronn". Theron
has stated that she prefers the pronunciation
"Thrown".
http://www.aclasscelebs.com/charlizet/interview.ht
m

Charlize Theron had a traumatic childhood. She
grew up as the only child on her parents' farm
near Johannesburg and was sent to a boarding
school at the age of 13. 

At the age of 15, Charlize witnessed the death of
her father, Charles Theron. He was an abusive
alcoholic and her mother, Gerda Theron, shot him
in self defence when he attacked her. No charges
were pressed.

At the age of 16 she travelled to Milan, Italy, on
a one-year modelling contract after winning a
local modelling competition. Her modelling
contract ended while she was in New York City. 

She decided to remain in New York City and
attended the Joffrey Ballet in New York. She
trained as a ballet dancer and danced in both Swan
Lake and The Nutcracker. A knee injury  ended her
dancing career at the age of 18. 

Unable to dance and almost penniless, she bought a
ticket to Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles.
After eight months in the city she got her first
part. 

In his December 7, 2003 review of the film Monster
(movie)|Monster, respected film critic Roger Ebert
said Theron's performance in the film's lead role
was one of the greatest performances in the
history of film. Ebert added that if she did not
win the Academy Award|Oscar for best actress, then
the award should be cancelled.  She did indeed win
Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress at the
76th Academy Awards in February 2004, as well as
the Screen Actors Guild#SAG Awards|SAG Award and
the Golden Globe Award. She is the first South
Africa|South African to win the Best Actress
Academy Award.

Theron is the current spokeswoman for Dior
perfume.

She currently resides in Los Angeles with her
long-term boyfriend Stuart Townsend.

==Selected filmography ==
*Class Action (2005 film)|Class Action (2005)
(post-production)
*Aeon Flux (2005) (post-production)
*Head in the Clouds (2004)
*The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) - in
the role of actress Britt Ekland
*Monster (movie)|Monster (2003) (also producer)
*The Italian Job (2003)
*Trapped (2002)
*The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
*Sweet November (2001)
*Men of Honor (2000)
*The Yards (2000)
*The Cider House Rules (1999)
*The Astronaut's Wife (1999)
*Mighty Joe Young (1998)
*Celebrity (1998 movie)|Celebrity (1998)
*Devil's Advocate (movie)|Devil's Advocate (1997)
*That Thing You Do! (1996)
*2 Days in the Valley (1996)

== External links ==

*http://www.charlizetheron.com/ Official site
* imdb name|id=0000234|name=Charlize Theron 
*http://charlizeonline.com/ Charlize Online: A
Charlize Theron Fan Page
*http://www.triviatribute.com/charlizetheron.html
TV and Movie Trivia Tribute: Charlize Theron
*http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Performing_Arts/Acting/A
ctors_and_Actresses/T/Theron,_Charlize/ Charlize
Theron Directory
*http://www.aclasscelebs.com/charlizet/interview.h
tm An interview