|
|
|
|
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970), is an
American film actress.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she was given a Buddhist upbringing. Her
Swedish mother, Nena, was briefly married to Timothy Leary (to whom she was
introduced by Salvador Dalí) before marrying Uma's father, Robert Thurman, a
professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University. "Uma" is
the name of a Hindu goddess of light and beauty. She has 3 brothers, named
Ganden, Dechen and Mipam. Her height is 1.83m. She is a spokesmodel for
cosmetics company Lancome which has shades of lipstick named after her. She
wears size 11 in shoes. In Portuguese, her name means "one" and in
Polynesian, it means "kiss". Ethan Hawke's book For Karuna was dedicated to
her. She shares her birthday with actress Michelle Pfeiffer, Daniel Day-Lewis
and tennis player Andre Agassi.
Uma Thurman left her high school, Northfield Mount Hermon, at the age of 15
to pursue an acting career in New York City. In 1990 she married actor Gary
Oldman but divorced him two years later. On May 1, 1998, she married actor
Ethan Hawke, whom she had met at the set of Gattaca, and gave birth to a
daughter Maya Ray and later on, son Roan.
Thurman became a pop culture legend when, at an Oscar Awards ceremony,
comedian David Letterman lampooned her name by pretending to introduce her
to talk show host Oprah Winfrey (both were in the audience). As a result, "Uma...Oprah.
Oprah...Uma." became a heavily repeated catch phrase over the next year,
inciting various spinoffs.
In 2003, Thurman and Hawke split, and in 2004, the couple filed for divorce.
She now resides in Hyde Park, New York.
A Russian rock band, Ne Nashego Mira, renamed itself UmaThurman, hoping to
capitalize on her popularity. |
|
