| Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale was born on 26 July 1973 in England, and has resided in London for most of her life. Her mother is Judy Loe, an actress/BBC executive who has appeared in a number of British dramas and sitcoms. Her father was Richard Beckinsale, a well known comedic actor he starred in series like "Rising Damp" (1974), "Porridge" (1974) and "The Lovers" (1970). He passed away tragically early in 1979 at the age of 31 when Kate was 5. She had a nervous breakdown and developed anorexia at the age of fifteen and underwent Freudian psychoanalysis for four years.Her major acting debut came in a TV film about World War II called "Hallmark Hall of Fame: One Against the Wind" (1991), filmed in Luxembourg during the summer of 1991. Kate received her big break in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). She performed as the lead in the contemporary mystery drama “Uncovered” (1994); she followed with a co-starring role in the mystery “Haunted” in 1995. Leading roles in the BBC remake of “Emma” (1996), the UK comedy “Shooting Fish” (1997) and the US dramas “Last Days of Disco” (1998), and “Brokedown Palace” (1999) followed. Kate’s box office woes were about to end as she was cast in the 2001 film “Pearl Harbor”, which was one of the highest grossing films of its year.Kate took a chance, and made a major change in both her career and personal life by accepting the role of Selene in the action movie “Underworld”, directed by Len Wiseman. In 2004, Beckinsale starred in action horror film Van Helsing. In 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as Selene in the successful vampire sequel Underworld: Evolution. in 2009, Beckinsale starred in family drama Everybody's Fine alongside Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore and Rockwell, her Snow Angels co-star. Beckinsale reprised her role as Selene in the fourth installment of the vampire franchise Underworld: Awakening (2012).Kate had an eight-year relationship with actor Michael Sheen from 1995 until 2003. Their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, was born in London, England on 31 January 1999. While filming “Underworld” Kate and Wiseman fell in love, though the two remained only friends while completing the movie. In June 2003, a few months after she had separated from Sheen, Kate became engaged to Len Wiseman, and the two were wed on 9 May 2004 in Bel-Air, California.
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