Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress and producer. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990), which grossed $464 million worldwide. After receiving Golden Globe Awards and Academy Award nominations for Steel Magnolias (1989) andPretty Woman, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Erin Brockovich (2000). Her films Mystic Pizza (1988), The Pelican Brief(1993), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Charlie Wilson's War (2007),Valentine's Day (2010), Eat Pray Love (2010), and Mirror Mirror (2012) have collectively brought box office receipts of over $2.6 billion, making her one of the most successful actresses in terms of box office receipts.^[3]

Roberts had become one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, topping The Hollywood Reporter's annual "power list" of top-earning female stars from 2005 to 2006. Her fee for 1990's Pretty Woman was $300,000;^[4] in 2003, she was paid an unprecedented $25 million for her role in Mona Lisa Smile (2003). As of 2010, Roberts's net worth was estimated to be $140 million.^[5]

Roberts has been named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" eleven times, tied with Halle Berry. In 2011, she was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health.^[6] In 2001, Ladies Home Journal ranked her as the 11th most powerful woman in the United States.

Roberts was born in Smyrna, Georgia,^[8][9] to Betty Lou (née Bredemus) and Walter Grady Roberts^[8][9][10] She is of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent.^[11][12] Her father was a Baptist and her mother a Roman Catholic,^[13] and she was raised a Catholic.^[14][15] Her older brother, Eric Roberts, from whom she was estranged until 2004; sister Lisa Roberts Gillan; and niece Emma Roberts, are also actors.

Roberts' parents, one-time actors and playwrights, met while performing theatrical productions for the armed forces. They later co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia, off Juniper Street in Midtown. While her mother was pregnant with Roberts, she and her husband ran an acting school for children in Decatur, Georgia. The children ofMartin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King attended the school; Yolanda Denise King worked closely with Walter Roberts as her acting coach.^[16] As a thank-you for their service, Mrs. King paid the hospital bill when Roberts' mother gave birth to her.^[17]

Roberts' mother filed for divorce in 1971 with the divorce being finalized early in 1972.^[18] Roberts lived in Smyrna, Georgia in 1972, where she attended Fitzhugh Lee Elementary School, Griffin Middle School, and Campbell High School.^[19] Her mother married Michael Motes, who was abusive and often unemployed and whom Julia despised.^[20] Motes had a daughter, Nancy Motes, in 1976. Roberts' father died of cancer when she was ten.^[21] In 1983, her mother divorced Motes, citing cruelty and stating that marrying him was the biggest mistake of her life.^[20]

Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child.^[22] She played clarinet in the band in school.^[23][24] After graduating from Smyrna's Campbell High School, she headed to New York to pursue a career in acting. Once there, she signed with the Click Modeling Agency and enrolled in acting classes.^[25][26]

Roberts made her first big screen appearance in the film Satisfaction (1988), released on February 12, 1988, alongside Liam Neeson and Justine Bateman, as a band member looking for a summer gig. She had previously performed a small role opposite her brother, Eric, in Blood Red (she has two words of dialogue), filmed in 1987 and released in 1989. Her first television appearance was as a juvenile rape victim in the initial season of the series Crime Story with Dennis Farina, in the episode titled "The Survivor", broadcast on February 13, 1987. Her first critical success with moviegoers was her performance in the independent film Mystic Pizza in 1988;^[27] that same year, she had a role in the fourth season finale of Miami Vice. In 1989, she was featured in Steel Magnolias, as a young bride with diabetes, and received both her first Academy Award nomination (as Best Supporting Actress) and first Golden Globe Award win (Motion Picture Best Supporting Actress) for her performance.

Roberts reportedly had romantic relationships with actors Jason Patric, Liam Neeson, Kiefer Sutherland, Dylan McDermott, and Matthew Perry.^[63][64] On June 25, 1993, she married country singer Lyle Lovett; the wedding took place at St. James Lutheran Church in Marion, Indiana.^[65] They separated in March 1995 and subsequently divorced.^[66] From 1998 to 2001, Roberts dated actor Benjamin Bratt.^[67]

Roberts and her husband, cameraman Daniel Moder, met on the set of her film The Mexican in 2000, while she was still dating Bratt. At the time, Moder was married to Vera Steimberg. He filed for divorce a little over a year later, and after it was finalized, he and Roberts wed on July 4, 2002,^[2] at her ranch in Taos, New Mexico.^[68] Together, they have three children: twins Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus "Finn" Walter Moder (b. 2004) and Henry Daniel Moder (b. 2007).^[69]