| Charlize Theron was born on the 7th of August, 1975, and grew up on a farm outside of Benoni, a town 25 kilometres east of Johannesburg. She got an education as a ballet dancer. There wasn't much for a young actress or dancer to do in South Africa, so she soon traveled to United States of America, where she got job at the Joffrey Ballet in New York. She was also able to work as a photo model. However, an injured knee put a halt to her dancing career. Her father died on 21 June 1991, after he was shot by Theron's mother. Theron's father, an alcoholic, physically attacked her mother and threatened both women while drunk. The shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defence and her mother faced no charges.
At the age of 18, her mother made her go to Los Angeles to try a career in the movie industry. Her first speaking role was a supporting but significant part in 2 Days in the Valley. Larger roles in widely released Hollywood films followed, and her career expanded in the late 1990s with box-office successes like The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). In Hollywood, Theron was now very much in demand. 1999 saw her in The Astronaut’s Wife, where she was the titular spouse of Johnny Depp. After such a promising start, it was perhaps inevitable that her career would take a dip. This happened with Sweet November, a movie for which she turned down the Kate Beckinsale role in Pearl Harbour. Now, at last, she secured a role her talents merited, and it sprang from that stand-out performance in The Devil’s Advocate. Writer and director Patty Jenkins had seen it and recognised that an actress who’d allow herself to be filmed with her nose running had to be open enough to star in Monster, a movie she was writing about Aileen Wuornos, America’s first female serial killer. For this role, Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004, as well as the SAG Award and the Golden Globe Award. Next would come Head In The Clouds, an epic romantic drama set in the Thirties and Forties and ranging across England, France and Spain. Following a three-year hiatus from the big screen, Theron returned to the spotlight in 2011 with Young Adult. The film earned critical acclaim especially for Theron's performance. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and several other high profile awards. Theron plays the Wicked Queen in the film Snow White & the Huntsman (2012).
AskMen named her the number one most desirable woman of 2003. She was Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2007. In July 2009, Theron's Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) announced a coalition with LAFC Soccer Club to give soccer fields to rural areas in South Africa.
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