1975-08-07 Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model. She rose to fame in the late 1990s following roles in the films The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). Theron received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), for which she won the Silver Bear, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award for Best Actress among several other accolades, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. In recent years, she has moved into the field of producing, both in television and film. She received further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in North Country in 2005, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Young Adult in 2011. In 2012, she appeared in Snow White & the Huntsman and Prometheus, both of which were box office successes. Theron became a U.S. citizen in 2007, while retaining her South African citizenship. Theron was born in Benoni, in the then-Transvaal Province of South Africa, the only child of Gerda (née Maritz) and Charles Theron (born 27 November 1947). Second Boer War figure Danie Theron was her great-great-uncle. Her ancestry includes French, German, and Dutch; her French forebears were early Huguenot settlers in South Africa. "Theron" is an Occitan surname (originally spelled Théron) pronounced in Afrikaans as [tɜːron], although she has said that the way she pronounces it in South Africa is [θron]. She changed the pronunciation when she moved to the U.S. to give it a more "American" sound. She grew up on her parents' farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg. On 21 June 1991, Theron's father, an alcoholic, physically attacked her mother and threatened both her mother and her while drunk; Theron's mother then shot and killed him. The shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defense and her mother faced no charges. Theron attended Putfontein Primary School (Laerskool Putfontein), a period she later characterised as not "fitting in". At 13, Theron was sent to boarding school and began her studies at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. Although Theron is fluent in English, her first language is Afrikaans.
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Fast & Furious 10 | Cipher | 2023-04-06 |
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The Addams Family 2 | Morticia Addams (voice) | 2021-10-01 |
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F9 | Cipher | 2021-05-19 |
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The Old Guard | Andromache of Scythia / Andy | 2020-07-10 |
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Bombshell | Megyn Kelly | 2019-12-13 |
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The Addams Family | Morticia Addams (voice) | 2019-10-10 |
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Long Shot | Charlotte Field | 2019-05-02 |
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Gringo | Elaine Markinson | 2018-03-08 |
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Tully | Marlo Moreau | 2018-05-04 |
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The Fate of the Furious | Cipher | 2017-04-12 |
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Going Mad: The Battle of Fury Road | Herself | 2017-08-01 |
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Atomic Blonde | Lorraine Broughton | 2017-07-26 |
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The Last Face | Dr. Wren Petersen | 2017-01-11 |
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The Huntsman: Winter's War | Queen Ravenna | 2016-04-06 |
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Kubo and the Two Strings | Mother (voice) | 2016-08-18 |
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The Road Warriors: Max and Furiosa | Self | 2015-09-01 |
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Dark Places | Libby Day | 2015-04-08 |
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Maximum Fury: Filming 'Fury Road' | Herself | 2015-09-01 |
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The Five Wives: So Shiny, So Chrome | Herself | 2015-09-01 |
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Mad Max: Fury Road | Imperator Furiosa | 2015-05-13 |
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Take Flight - The New York Times | Self - Performer | 2015-12-10 |
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A Million Ways to Die in the West | Anna | 2014-05-22 |
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Prometheus | Meredith Vickers | 2012-05-30 |
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The Furious Gods: Making Prometheus | Herself | 2012-10-11 |
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Snow White and the Huntsman | Queen Ravenna | 2012-05-30 |
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Young Adult | Mavis Gary | 2011-11-11 |
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Wikus and Charlize | Charlize Theron | 2010-04-01 |
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The Road | Mother | 2009-11-25 |
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Astro Boy | Narrator | 2009-10-15 |
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Hancock | Mary Embrey | 2008-07-01 |
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The Burning Plain | Sylvia / Mariana | 2008-11-07 |
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Sleepwalking | Joleen | 2008-03-14 |
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In the Valley of Elah | Detective Emily Sanders | 2007-08-31 |
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Battle in Seattle | Ella | 2007-09-07 |
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Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters | Herself | 2006-06-13 |
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North Country | Josey Aimes | 2005-02-12 |
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Æon Flux | Æon Flux | 2005-11-30 |
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The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Britt Ekland | 2004-10-01 |
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Head in the Clouds | Gilda Bessé | 2004-04-29 |
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Monster | Aileen Wuornos | 2003-12-24 |
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The Italian Job | Stella Bridger | 2003-05-30 |
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Trapped | Karen Jennings | 2002-09-20 |
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Waking Up in Reno | Candy Kirkendall | 2002-12-13 |
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Sweet November | Sara | 2001-02-16 |
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15 Minutes | Rose Hearn | 2001-03-01 |
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The Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Laura Kensington | 2001-08-05 |
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Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies | Self - Narrator (voice) | 2001-02-14 |
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The Legend of Bagger Vance | Adele Invergordon | 2000-11-02 |
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The Yards | Erica Soltz | 2000-10-20 |
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Men of Honor | Gwen Sunday | 2000-09-13 |
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Reindeer Games | Ashley Mercer | 2000-02-25 |
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The Astronaut's Wife | Jillian Armacost | 1999-08-26 |
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The Cider House Rules | Candy Kendall | 1999-12-17 |
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Mighty Joe Young | Jill Young | 1998-12-25 |
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Celebrity | Supermodel | 1998-09-07 |
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Trial and Error | Billie Tyler | 1997-05-30 |
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The Devil's Advocate | Mary Ann Lomax | 1997-10-17 |
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Hollywood Confidential | Sally | 1997-04-14 |
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That Thing You Do! | Tina | 1996-10-04 |
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2 Days in the Valley | Helga Svelgen | 1996-09-11 |
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Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest | Eli's Follower | 1995-09-12 |
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Atomic Blonde 2 | Lorraine Broughton | |
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The School for Good and Evil | Lady Lesso | |
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Everything Nice | Michaela (rumored) | |
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The Old Guard 2 | Andromache of Scythia / Andy | |
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