Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a little farming community outside Johannesburg, South Africa on August 7th, 1975. Her mother, Gerda, is German, while her late father, Charles, was French (she was named after him).

Charlize began her modeling career in 1991 aged 16 when she won a local modeling contest. She started modeling in Europe and came to New York a year later. She didn't like being a model though, and decided to try her luck with ballet, which had been her biggest passion as a child. Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented her from dancing. Her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 1994 and Charlize started visiting all of the agents on Hollywood Boulevard but without any luck. She went to the bank to cash a check for $500 she'd got from her mother and became furious when she learned that the bank could not cash her check because it was an out-state check. She made a scene and an agent gave her his card, in exchange that she learn the language, which she did by watching soap operas on TV. Her first role was as a young mother in a park in a B-film in 1995, but it was a non-speaking role with three seconds of screen time. Her next role was as Helga in 2 Days in the Valley, which landed her the role of Tina in That Thing You Do!. Since then, she has starred in movies like The Devil's Advocate; Mighty Joe Young; The Cider House Rules; The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Italian Job. An important day in her life was February 29th, 2004 when she was awarded with her first Academy Award for her performance in Monster.
Aeon Flux (2005): $10,000,000
When she was 15 her father attacked her mother, and her mother shot him in self-defense. He died, but her mother was not charged in the incident. First language is Afrikaans, English is spoken as her second language. Appeared in the May 1999 issue of Playboy Magazine. Became a fashion model at age 14. Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. (2000). Turned down the female lead in Pearl Harbor to star alongside Keanu Reeves in Sweet November. Auditioned for the female lead in Showgirls. Dated Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind, from January 1998 to July 2001. Was ranked 4th of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001). Placed #1 on Beautiful People Internet Poll, narrowly beating Cameron Diaz in #2 and Kate Beckinsale in #3. The photo featured on the site was the famous 'Diving Board' photo. Both her parents are Africans, born and raised in South Africa. However her father is of French descent and her mother of German descent. Voted the 12th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002. Measurements: 36B-24-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine). Used hypnotherapy as an aid to quit smoking. Was named after her father, whose name was Charles. She gained 30 pounds to play Aileen Wuornos in Monster. On the show, Sunday Morning Shootout, it was revealed that her manager discovered her in a Hollywood bank after he witnessed her yelling at a bank teller for refusing to cash her check. Won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Aileen Wuornos on what would have been Aileen's 48th birthday: 29 February 2004. After winning her Oscar, she returned to great celebrations in her native South Africa, and she even met former South African President Nelson Mandela. When he praised her for putting their country on the map and gave her a hug, Theron broke into tears (she was guest of honor at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on March 11th 2004). She has been dating Irish actor Stuart Townsend since August 2001. Has said her favorite actor is Tom Hanks. In 2004, injured her neck while filming Æon Flux. Luckily, the injury wasn't serious enough to put her in the hospital, but it did shut down production for several weeks. As a teenager in her native South Africa, she learned English by watching American TV. At the 2005 Golden Globes she was sporting a new dark hair color. She is a now a member of the celebrities who have dyed their hair from blonde to brown, or black. They include, among others: Mary-Kate Olsen; Nicky Hilton; Mandy Moore; Renée Zellweger; Christina Aguilera, Melinda Messenger and Ashlee Simpson. She was the first person to sign on to be a presenter at the 77th Annual Academy Awards. Second actress (the first was Kim Basinger) to win an Oscar after appearing naked in Playboy magazine. Met fiancé Stuart Townsend on the set of Trapped. She is the second African to win an Academy Award. The South African-born cinematographer Ted Moore was the first. South African-born actor Basil Rathbone was the first African-born actor to be nominated, followed by Cecil Kellaway. Theron was the first African woman to win an Oscar. Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (September 29, 2005). Named #15 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actress category for her performance in the film Æon Flux. However, she failed to receive a nomination. (Had she gotten the nomination, she would have been the first person to be nominated for both Leading Actress awards at the Oscars, for North Country, and the Razzies.) Named #4 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement (2005). Studied acting with Ivana Chubbuck. Named #15 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006). Dyed her hair black for Æon Flux. Trained as a ballet dancer at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, and performed in both "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". Her dancing career ended after a knee injury. One of the first movies she ever went to see at the theater was Splash. She confessed that after watching the movie, she felt jealous of Daryl Hannah and developed a crush on Tom Hanks. She even said to herself that she could have played the role of Madison better than Hannah. Was the recipient of the German television award "Goldene Kamera" for best international actress and appeared also in the award show. The award is sponsored by the German television program "Hörzu". [2006] Shares the same background as actor Daniel Bonjour who also left South Africa as a teenage actor and traveled to Europe and then America. Both their parents are of European background. Also, both actors have found it easier to simply use an American accent in their work. Chosen by Femme Fatales magazine as one of the "50 sexiest women on the planet". [February 2006] Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2007. Entertainment Weekly predicted her Oscar win for Monster eleven months before she won it. She earns $2 million per year endorsing Dior's J'Adore fragrance as well as $2.5 million per year endorsing Swiss Watch-maker, Raymond Weil. At 16, she won a modeling competition to go to Milan and work on the catwalks and at 18, she won a scholarship to study ballet at the Joffrey School in New York. She turned to acting only because she injured both knees. Mother's name is Gerda. Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year for 2008. Announced on "The Late Show With David Letterman" that she is now a United States citizen (March 12, 2008).