Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born October 5th 1975. Occasionally she sings but is better known for her acting. Raised in Reading, Berkshire, England. At the age of 12, Winslet appeared in a television advertisement directed by filmmaker Tim Pope for Sugar Puffs . Pope said her naturalism was "there from the start". Her acting career really took off in British television 1991. In 1997 she starred in the blockbuster smash hit Titanic, which was the highest grossing film for more than 12 years until
Avatar beat it in 2010
(both movies directed by James Cameron). Cast as the sensitive seventeen-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater, a fictional first-class socialite who survives the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, Winslet's experience was emotionally demanding
. "
Titanic was totally different and nothing could have prepared me for it. We were really scared about the whole adventure. Jim Cameron is a perfectionist, a real genius at making movies. But there was all this bad press before it came out, and that was really upsetting." Obviously they were wrong about Titanic.
New York magazine's writter David Edelstein described her as "the best English-speaking film actress of her generation".
Kate Winslet is the daughter of Sally Anne (née Bridges), a barmaid, and Roger John Winslet, a swimming-pool contracto
r. Her parents were "jobbing actors", which led Kate to comment that she "didn't have a privileged upbringing" and that their daily life was "very hand to mouth".
Her maternal grandparents, Linda (née Plumb) and Archibald Oliver Bridges, founded and operated the Reading Repertory Theatre and her uncle, Robert Bridges, appeared in the original West End production of Oliver! Her sisters,Beth and Anna Winslet are also actresses. The Washington Post writer Desson Thomson commented: "As Juliet, Winslet is a bright-eyed ball of fire, lighting up every scene she’s in. She's offset perfectly by Lynskey, whose quietly smoldering Pauline completes the delicate, dangerous partnership." Speaking about her experience on a film set as an absolute beginner, Winslet noted: "With
Heavenly Creatures, all I knew I had to do was completely become that person. In a way it was quite nice doing [the film] and not knowing a bloody thing."
While on the set of Dark Season, Kate met actor/writer Stephen Tredre, with whom she had a nearly five-year relationship.
He died of bone cancer soon after she completed filming
Titanic, causing her to miss the film's premiere in order to attend his funeral in London.
She and
Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio have remained good friends since the filming.
Kate later was in a relationship with Rufus Sewell,
but on November 22nd, 1998 she married director Jim Threapleton, whom she met while on the set of Hideous Kinky.
They have a daughter, Mia Honey, who was born on 12 October 2000 in London.
Winslet and Threapleton divorced in 2001,
Kate then began a relationship with Sam Mendes, whom she married on May 24th, 2003 on the island of Anguilla in the Caribbean.
Their son, Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes, was born on 22 December 2003 in New York City.
Mendes and Winslet announced a separation in March 2010, stating, "The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement."
The media have tried to document her constant weight fluctuations over the years.
She has been outspoken about her refusal to allow Hollywood to dictate her weight.
In February 2003, British GQ magazine published photographs of Kate Winslet which had been digitally altered to make her look dramatically thinner than she really was.
Kate issued a statement that the alterations were made without her consent, saying "I just didn't want people to think I was a hypocrite and that I'd suddenly lost 30 lbs. or whatever".
GQ in turn issued a full apology.
She won a libel suit in 2009 against British tabloid The Daily Mail after it printed that she lied about her exercise regime.
Kate stated she had always expressed the opinion that women should be encouraged to accept their appearance with pride, and therefore "was particularly upset to be accused of lying about my exercise regime, and felt that I had a responsibility to request an apology in order to demonstrate my commitment to the views that I have always expressed about body issues, including diet and exercise."
Kate now resides in Greenwitch Village, New York City.
Nicknames include English Rose and Corset Kate. Height 5' 6½" (1.69 m)
Here is an odd fact... Sam Mendes was scheduled to fly on American Airlines Flight 77, which was hijacked on September 11th, 2001 which was the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.! In October 2001, Winslet was seven hours into a London-Dallas flight with her daughter Mia when a passenger who claimed to be a terrorist, later charged with creating mischief, stood up and shouted "We are all going to die." As a result of these incidents, Winslet and Mendes never fly together on the same aircraft, for the fear of leaving their children parentless.
