Charlize Theron ,an actress and former fashion model, was born in Benoni, South Africa on 7 August 1975. She is best-known for her portrayal as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film Monster, for which she won her Acedemy Award for Best Actress.
Trained as a ballet dancer, she was sent to Milan at 16 to become a model following the death of her father. After tiring of modeling, Theron returned to her first love, dancing, which resulted in a move to New York to dance with the Joffrey Ballet. Unfortunately, her career was halted by a knee injury, which led Theron -- at her mother's behest -- to travel to Los Angeles to try her luck with acting. After a long, unprofitable struggle, fate smiled upon Theron in the form of a bank encounter.
As legend has it, Charlize Theron was discovered by an agent while fighting with a bank manager on Hollywood Boulevard. Eighteen and starving, Theron purportedly got into the argument after the manager refused to cash her check. The outburst caught the agent's attention, and eight months later Theron got her first acting job.
Charlize won her first dose of recognition with 2 Days in the Valley (1996). The film, although not particularly successful, gave her both much-needed exposure and critical praise. The film also served as the stepping stone to her first leading role, that of Keanu Reeves' embattled wife in The Devil's Advocate (1997). The film drew poor reviews, but Theron managed to win widespread praise for her performance.
After appearing in a few notable films, Charlize starred as the lesbian serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster in 2003.
Film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema".
For this role, Theron won her Best Actress Oscar in February 2004, as well as the SAG Award and Golden Globe Award. She is the first South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress.
The Oscar win pushed her to The Hollywood Reporter's 2006 list of highest-paid actresses in Hollywood; earning $10,000,000 for both her subsequent films, North Country and Aeon Flux, where she ranked seventh.
2005 would be a decidedly mixed year for Theron. She first appeared in the live-action adaptation of the cult animated series Aeon Flux, a film that was nearly unanimously maligned by critics and largely avoided by audiences. Luckily, she also starred in the well-received docudrama North Country. Playing a woman who successfully battled sexual harrassment, Theron was honored with her second Oscar nomination for the performance. She also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Charlize currently resides in Los Angeles, with her long-time boyfriend actor Stuart Townsend, with whom she starred in Head in the Clouds and Trapped.
Charlize is also involved in women's rights organizations. In 2006, Charlize won GLAAD's Vanguard Award for increasing "visibility and understanding". Charlize is a supporter of animal rights and is an active member of PETA.
Charlize became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 2007.
