Julia Roberts

Born:
Julie Fiona Roberts,
October 28, 1967,
Atlanta, Ga., USA

Nickname: Jules

Height 5'9"

Raised in Smyrna, Ga.

Father: Walter "Rob" Roberts, vacuum cleaner salesman, actor, writer; married 1955; divorced 1971; died of cancer 1977.

Mother: Betty Lou Roberts (née Motes), real-estate agent, church secretary, actress.

Brother: Eric Roberts, actor, born 1956 (estranged)

Sister: Lisa Roberts Gillan, actress; born 1965

Half-sister: Nancy Motes; born 1976

Husband: Eric Moder, married
July 4, 2002, at Julia's estate near Taos, N.M.

Children: Twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus, born Nov. 28, 2004.

Ex-husband:
Lyle Lovett (singer, songwriter, actor);
1993-1995

Ex-fiances:
Kiefer Sutherland, actor, 1990-91;
Dylan McDermott, actor, 1989;
Benjamin Bratt, actor, 1997-2001.

That girl-next-door persona that made Roberts famous has roots in reality; she was born in the small-townish Atlanta suburb of Smyrna, Georgia, the daughter of a vacuum salesman and a church secretary. Her parents divorced when she was 4, and her father, with whom Roberts shared a deep attachment, died of cancer when she was just 9. Though both mom and dad were experienced thespians, having conducted workshops for actors and playwrights for several years prior to their daughter's birth, Julia grew up hoping to become a veterinarian.

That dream lasted until she graduated from high school, whereupon, at the age of 17, she joined her actress sister, Lisa, in New York to pursue a career in acting. Roberts signed on with the Click modeling agency to pay the bills, and enrolled in several acting classes, none of which she found enlightening enough to complete. Nepotism got Roberts her first big break in 1986, when older brother Eric convinced director Eric Masterson to cast his little sister as, well, his little sister, in the sun-ripened winery drama Blood Red. The film got shelved shortly after it was finished (it was finally released in theaters in 1990), and Roberts didn't end up making her professional debut until 1988, when she appeared on an episode of television's Crime Story.

Roberts met her husband while filming The Mexican. It's the second marriage for both, and was the fourth engagement for the 34-year-old actress. Before dating Moder, Roberts had been in a relationship with former Law & Order cop, Benjamin Bratt.