Top Hollywood Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow

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Gwyneth Paltrow - Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow distinguished herself from the pack of rising young stars in the 1990s with surprisingly mature performances in "Se7en" (1995) and "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), for which she received well-deserved critical praise. With her sharp intelligence and her fair, patrician looks, Paltrow earned comparisons to Grace Kelly as she carved out a steady niche in British period dramas like "Emma" (1996), but kept audiences guessing with occasional comedies like "Shallow Hal" (2001) and richly drawn portraits of complex women, including the fur-wearing eccentric sister in Wes Anderson's "Royal Tenenbaums" (2001). Though she excelled in films like "Proof" (2005), in which she reprised her acclaimed West End role as the troubled daughter of a late mathematics genius, Paltrow also made time for big budget studio films, including the comic book-based "Iron Man" (2008). The graceful and poised New York-bred actress also emerged as an admired style icon and portrait of the cool, modern woman who had it all, including a family with Chris Martin of Coldplay fame - but not before several high-profile relationships with the likes of Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt made her the perfect tabloid fodder. Though sometimes criticized for being a bit too urbane, particularly after she launched GOOP.com, which touted high-end products out of reach for the average person, this daughter of Hollywood nonetheless remained one of the more compelling actresses of her generation.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - Gwyneth Paltrow was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 27, 1972, the daughter of TV producer Bruce Paltrow and Tony-winning stage and screen actress Blythe Danner. Her arts-loving parents moved the family to New York City when she was 11 years old, resulting in Paltrow and her younger brother Jake being towed (sometimes against their will) to downtown experimental theater productions and uptown operas. After spending countless summers watching her mother perform at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, Paltrow made her own professional stage debut there in 1990; the same year she graduated from the exclusive Spence School. From her Upper East Side townhouse, Paltrow headed back to California and a semester at the University of California in Santa Barbara before deciding that she really preferred to be down in her hometown pursuing an acting career.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - Paltrow landed her first screen role in the forgettable "Shout" (1991), and family friend Steven Spielberg cast her as the young Wendy in his slightly overblown family favorite "Hook" (1991). That summer, Paltrow also shared the stage with her mother in a Williamstown production of "Picnic" (1991). She was cast first in the 1992 true crime NBC miniseries "Cruel Doubt" before her mother was tapped to play her on-screen parent. With a supporting role in 1993's "Flesh and Bone" as a Texas con woman traveling with the much older James Caan, Paltrow first displayed her uncanny knack for accents, bringing a much needed vitality to the otherwise dreary film and earning the lion's share of critical kudos. She followed up with a series of finely-tuned supporting turns, first as a bitchy actress in the ensemble of Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994) and next as the ambassador's knowing daughter in the Merchant-Ivory production "Jefferson in Paris" (1995). It was that same year that the young actress stepped out from under her look-a-like mother's considerable shadow. David Fincher cast Paltrow as the loving wife of a homicide detective in the hit thriller "Seven" (1995), which not only gave the actress her first high-profile role, but also introduced her to co-star Brad Pitt - at that time, the hottest actor in the business. The pair's well-publicized romance arguably introduced her to a wider audience than her acting work had done thus far - thanks in large part to tabloid exposure and nude photos of the couple lounging on a beach - as well as grouped her with the exclusive club of gorgeous up-and-comers of the late 1990s.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - Paltrow made her first foray into comedy with the disappointing David Schwimmer vehicle "The Pallbearer" (1996), before solidifying her reputation as a star-in- the-making with a superb turn as Jane Austen's meddling heroine in "Emma" (1996). Her dead-on English accent even left the uninitiated convinced that she was British and put to rest any preexisting thoughts of nepotism or famous boyfriends playing a role in her success. In an about-face from genteel to gritty, she next played a Reno cocktail waitress and part-time hooker in Paul Thomas Anderson's directorial debut "Hard Eight" (1996). Paltrow celebrated a year well done by cementing her super couple status and becoming engaged to marry Pitt, but by spring of the following year the couple announced their split. Despite rumors of infidelity or professional jealousy playing into the split, it was obvious that the break-up affected both actors tremendously.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - By 1998, the actress who had often been compared to Grace Kelly for her fluid movements, pale beauty and elegant fashion style, easily slipped into Kelly's role in a loose remake of Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" (1954), "A Perfect Murder." Paltrow was alluring as a wealthy philandering wife, though much of the film's ink was devoted to her questionable May-December pairing with Michael Douglas, who was actually a family friend Paltrow had known since she was young. The misstep was soon forgotten in the face of her triumph as a 16th-century woman who yearns for romance and poetry rather than arranged marriage in the frothily delightful "Shakespeare in Love." Her spirited outing as the Bard's muse garnered her Best Actress Oscar and SAG wins, as well as Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Creating almost as much buzz was the timeless pink gown she wore to the Academy Awards, designed specifically for her by Ralph Lauren. Walking the red carpet with her father, Paltrow dazzled fans and solidified the Grace Kelly comparisons by wearing a similar dress the late actress wore when she won her Oscar for "The Country Girl" (1954).

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Gwyneth Paltrow - At the same time every chic ensemble she donned made fashion news, she also embarked on a short-lived romance with "Shakespeare" co-star Ben Affleck, which set the tabloids on fire. After their break-up, it was rumored that the couple were just in two different head spaces, maturity-wise, with Affleck gambling and hitting the clubs and Paltrow more settled. Apart from her high-wattage relationship, all eyes remained planted squarely on the actress of the year, as she catapulted to the top of many best-dressed lists for a personal flair that reflected her modern, casual sophistication. She would only take one notable fashion misstep, but it was a doozie - the gothic, Alexander McQueen gown she wore to the 2002 Academy Awards, in which she appeared to be braless in the scrunched, sheer top. Fashionistas had a field day, but it was a testament to Paltrow's style status that she was raked over the coals to the extent that she was.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - In Paltrow's first post-Oscar performance, she was cool and conniving in a murderous Italian-set love triangle with Matt Damon and Jude Law in Anthony Minghella's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999), adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel. A first-time collaboration with her director father, "Duets" (2000), offered the popular actress a chance to show off her considerable singing talents in the thin tale of a father-daughter team of karaoke hustlers. Paltrow found herself an unwitting pop star when a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'" performed by her and screen dad Huey Lewis made its way onto the music charts. Later that year, she co-starred with former flame Affleck in Don Roos' "Bounce," turning in a charming and convincing performance in a rare blue-collar role. It was in large part to Paltrow's influence that Affleck was cast in the dramatic lead role of a man riddled with guilt after giving up his seat on a doomed plane to Paltrow's husband. The exes remained close friends off-screen, with Affleck giving Paltrow all the credit for helping him develop into a deeper, more accomplished actor than he had been in years past. Paltrow, herself, stepped outside her comfort zone by following up the somber "Bounce" with the lead role in the Farrelly Brothers comedy "Shallow Hal" (2001), donning a fat suit to teach Jack Black's character a lesson about inner beauty. Paltrow came under fire by some for her role in the surprisingly gentle romance, which required her to wear prosthetics as the 300-pound character her suitor Hal cannot see.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - After a pair of pandering mainstream films, Paltrow made a refreshing return to more challenging indie fare in Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001). The actress was a seamless fit in Anderson's quirky world, with her appropriately reined in performance as the enigmatic and uncommunicative playwright Margot. She likewise gave a rich performance in Jennifer Jason Leigh's and Alan Cummings' ensemble piece "The Anniversary Party" (2001), sending up her image as Hollywood's "golden girl" in her portrayal of an up-and-coming starlet and uninvited party guest of aging (and jealous) actress Leigh. In 2002, Paltrow made her West End debut in David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a young woman who has sacrificed much of her life caring for her father, a brilliant but schizophrenic mathematician (Anthony Hopkins), whose death leaves her wondering whether she has inherited his genius or his madness.

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Gwyneth Paltrow - Tapped again for her believability in an academic setting, Paltrow co-starred with Aaron Eckhart as competing scholars investigating the possible romance between the 18th-century writers in Neil LaBute's adaptation of A.S. Byatt's novel, "Possession" (2002). Sadly, at year's end Paltrow lost her father - with whom she was extremely close - to complications of pneumonia and recurring throat cancer; in fact, the pair had been on a father/daughter vacation in Italy to celebrate her 30th birthday only days before. Paltrow was devastated by the loss in her uncommonly close family, but banded together with mom Danner in mother-daughter roles as renowned poet Sylvia Plath and her mother Aurelia in the British-produced biopic of the ill-fated literary icon, "Sylvia" (2003). During Paltrow's emotionally trying year, the actress met Chris Martin, frontman of the British rock band Coldplay, backstage at a concert. Perhaps due to the process of reassessing life after a tragic loss, the pair formed an intense romance that led to marriage only a year later.