Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, Transvaal Province, South Africa. Her biological parents were co-owners of a road construction company. At age six, Charlize started attending ballet lessons, and at age twelve, she was sent to a boarding school to study dance. Her home life, however, grew strained. Her father fell into alcoholism and physically abused her mother. One weekend, while Charlize was home from camp, her father assaulted her mother, who in turn shot him dead. The incident was viewed as self-defense, and her mother did not serve any prison time.
At age sixteen, Charlize entered a Johannesburg modeling contest and won. She flew to Italy to represent South Africa at the International New Model Today competition. She won again, and attended modeling gigs all over Europe. A year later, Charlize moved to New York City to study at the Joffrey Ballet School and supported herself attending modeling gigs. However, she was forced into early retirement after injuring her knee in class.
Charlize then travelled to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. However, she found her Afrikaner accent a barrier in landing speaking roles. In turn, Charlize watched hours of television to improve her dialect in order to hide her South African roots. It was 1994, and Charlize was broke, living in a cheap hotel and eating primarily bread she had taken from restaurants. During an argument with a bank teller, who refused to cash a $500 check from her mother's South African bank account, Charlize was discovered by John Crosby, a long-time talent manager. Crosby organized acting classes, and within months, Charlize made her acting debut in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995). She then landed roles in 2 Days in the Valley (1996) and That Thing You Do! (1996).
By 1997, Charlize established a reputation as one of the most promising actresses in Hollywood, appearing in Trial and Error (1997), a few television series, as well as in an advertisement for Martini. She entered mainstream Hollywood starring alongside Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate (1997).
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Thrive: 30 Inspirational Rags-to-Riches Stories
Non-FictionThrive: 30 Inspirational Rags-to-Riches Stories shows the power of perseverance to achieve unbelievable success. Follow the stories of ordinary people who overcame adversity to become wealthy entrepreneurs, innovative businessmen, and famous artists...
