 Nicole
Mary Kidman (born June 20, 1967) is a famous American
and Australian actress and singer. Biography
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 acting
career at 14, when she starred in Bush Christmas. The
movie is still often played at Christmas time. Nicole
dropped out of North Sydney Girls' 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 gained notice
in the US with Dead Calm, which lead to her American
debut in Days of Thunder, a stock-car racing movie opposite
Tom Cruise. Although Cruise was married to actress Mimi
Rogers at the time, he and Kidman became an item. Cruise
divorced Rogers and the couple married 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 starred
along with her husband in Ron Howard's Far and Away.
The couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor,
and lived in Los Angeles, California, Australia, Colorado,
and New York.
Nicole Kidman's profile
increased dramatically in 1995 when she was featured
in the all-star cast of Batman Forever, a financial
success, and later that same year she starred in To
Die For, earning high praise from critics. Many speculated
that she would earn an Academy Award nomination for
her performance. This didn't happen, but her reputation
as an actress benefitted from the publicity. Subsequent
films include The Portrait of a Lady, The Peacemaker,
and Practical Magic. In Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Stanley
Kubrick's final film, she co-starred with her husband
as a married couple for the second time.
In February 2001, Cruise
stunned Hollywood by filing for divorce; the reasons
are still murky. Cruise would only say that Nicole "knows
why", while Kidman let it be known that she was
pregnant by Cruise when he left her just before their
10th wedding anniversay, and had just miscarried the
child. Some speculated that Cruise left Kidman because
he didn't think he was the father, while some questioned
the timing, noting that, since the couple did not have
a prenuptial agreement, Cruise would have had to pay
Kidman many millions if they divorced past the 10 year
mark. As it was, he reportedly paid her $65 million.
Industry insiders commented that the primary cause of
the divorce may have been Nicole's refusal to allow
Isabella and Connor to be raised in Scientology, which
Cruise is a devoted practitioner of; she wanted them
to be raised Catholic instead.
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. While in Australia filming Moulin
Rouge, Kidman injured her knee, so Jodie Foster had
to replace her in Panic Room. She won the 2002 Academy
Award for Best Actress for her performance as Virginia
Woolf in The Hours.
As a singer, she began
her career in 2001 by collaborating with Ewan McGregor
on the song Come What May, on the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
(the song debuted and peaked at #27 on the UK Singles
Chart). Then 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).
In 2004, Kidman appeared
in the remake of The Stepford Wives alongside Glenn
Close, Faith Hill and Bette Midler. In September of
the same year, Kidman was booed at the premiere of her
movie Birth in which the 37 year-old actress' character
falls in love with a 10 year-old boy. Scores of people
walked out of the theater during a scene where the actress
and boy shared a bath together. Despite the poor reception,
the film was nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion
Award.
Emma's War, Alexander
The Great, The Interpreter, The Producers and Bewitched
are future movies for Kidman.
Kidman's sister Antonia
is an entertainment reporter for an Australian television
program.
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.
Later that year, the
United Nations named Kidman "citizen of the world"
for her humanitarian efforts.
Filmography
Bush Christmas (1983)
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)
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Birth (2004)
Discography
Come What May Single
(Duet with Ewan McGregor - 2001)
Somethin' Stupid Single (Duet with Robbie Williams -
2001)
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