Nicole Mary Kidman (born
June 20,
1967) is a famous
American and Australian
actress.
Kidman was born in
Honolulu, Hawaii. She lived in the
United States until she was four, when
her family moved to
Australia. Her father, Tony Kidman, was
researching
breast cancer in
Washington, D.C and at one stage, a
lecturer at the University of Technology,
Sydney. She started taking
ballet lessons when she was three and
studied at St. Martin's Youth Theater,
Australian theater for Young People, and
Philip Street Theater. Nicole's father had
her and her younger sister do push ups and
jumping jacks in the morning, to keep them
fit.
She started her career at 14, when she
starred in Bush Christmas. The
movie is still often played at Christmas
time. Nicole dropped out of North Sydney
High School when her mother got breast
cancer. When her mother recovered, Nicole
continued with her acting career. Throughout
the
1980s she appeared in many Australian
movies and TV series, notably including
BMX Bandits, and the miniseries Bangkok
Hilton.
Nicole starred in Dead Calm in
1989 and later with
Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder,
a stock-car racing movie. She married Tom
Cruise on Christmas Eve of
1990 in
Telluride, Colorado. The wedding was a
secret at the time. She was in Billy
Bathgate with
Bruce Willis and
Dustin Hoffman and in
1992 she was in
Ron Howard's Far and Away. She
starred in Batman Forever, and then
in The Portrait of a Lady.
She and Tom adopted two children and
lived in
Los Angeles, California,
Australia,
Colorado, and
New York. She and Tom starred in
Eyes Wide Shut in
1999 - the last
film by
Stanley Kubrick - and in
1998 Nicole was one of the three witches
in Practical Magic. In late
2002 Nicole and Tom divorced, though the
divorce was amiable. Celebrity gossip
commented frequently that the primary cause
of the divorce may have been Nicole's
refusal to allow their children to be raised
in
Scientology, which had been heavily
promoted by Tom; she wanted them to be
raised
Catholic instead.
Nicole Kidman's most professionally
successful year was
2001, with her
Oscar-nominated performance in
Moulin Rouge and well-received star
turn in a horror film, The Others.
However, her personal life received more
tabloid interest when she and Cruise
divorced. She had a knee injury from
Moulin Rouge, so
Jodie Foster had to fill in for her in
Panic Room. She won the
2002
Academy Award for Best Actress for her
performance as
Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
Emma's War, Alexander The
Great, The Interpreter,
The Stepford Wives and Bewitched
are future movies for Kidman.
Singing
Not known as a singer
prior to Moulin Rouge!,
Kidman had several well
received vocal performances
in the film. Her
collaboration with Ewan
McGregor on the song "Come
What May", from the film's
soundtrack debuted and
peaked at #27 on the UK
Singles Chart. Later, she
collaborated with Robbie
Williams on the song "Somethin'
Stupid", a cover of the old
swing song on Williams'
swing covers album "Swing
When You're Winning"
(debuting and peaking at #8
in the Australian ARIAnet
Singles Chart, and at #1 for
three weeks in the UK, also
becoming the UK Christmas #1
Single for 2001).
Other
notes
- As
Kidman
was born
in
Hawaii,
she is
an
American
citizen
by
birth.
She has
dual
nationality
and
carries
both
Australian
and U.S.
passports.
-
Kidman's
sister
Antonia
is an
entertainment
reporter
for an
Australian
television
program,
and also
has her
own very
successful
parenting
program
title
'The
Little
Things'
set to
be
syndicated
around
the
world.
-
Kidman
is also
a well
renowned
fashion
paradigm
and a
frequent
"Best
Dressed"
staple.
- In
August
2004,
the
Australian
magazine
BRW
listed
Kidman
as the
richest
Australian
woman
under
the age
of 40,
with an
estimated
worth of
155
million
A$
(Australian
dollars),
or $107
million
in
United
States
dollars.
- In
January
2005,
Kidman
won
interim
restraining
orders
against
two
Sydney-based
paparazzi
photographers.
Filmography
BMX Bandits (1983)
Wills & Burke (1985)
Archer's Adventure (1985)
Windrider (1986)
Watch the Shadows Dance (aka
Nightmaster) (1986)
The Bit Part (1987)
Emerald City (1988)
Dead Calm (1989)
Days of Thunder (1990)
Flirting (1991)
Billy Bathgate (1991)
Far and Away (1992)
Malice (1993)
My Life (1993)
Batman Forever (1995)
To Die For (1995)
The Leading Man (1996)
(minor)
The Portrait of a Lady
(1996)
The Peacemaker (1997)
Practical Magic (1998)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
The Others (2001)
Birthday Girl (2001)
The Hours (2002)
Dogville (2003)
The Human Stain (2003)
Cold Mountain (2003)
Cold Mountain (2003)
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Birth (2004)
The Interpreter (2005)
Bewitched (2005)
Fur (2005) (currently
filming)
Happy Feet (2005) (voice)
(currently filming)
Emma's War (2005) (currently
in pre-production)
American Darlings (2005)
(currently in pre-production) (also as
executive producer)
The Lady from Shanghai (2006)
(currently in pre-production)
Wedding Season (2006)
(announced)
Untitled Baz Luhrmann Project
(2006) (announced)
