'''Charlize Theron''' (born August 7 1975) is an Academy Award-winning Afrikaner actress and former fashion model, who was born in South Africa.
Biography
Early life
Theron was born in Benoni, South Africa. Her father, Charles Theron, was a construction company owner of French Huguenot descent; her mother, Gerda, is of German descent and took over her husband's business after his death. Theron's first language is Afrikaans. She is also fluent in English and speaks some Xhosa, as well as having varying levels of fluency in around thirty other African languages and dialects, learned from neighbors and employees on her parents' farm. In the United States, both in her films and while being interviewed, etc., Theron speaks with a typical American accent and style of speech, leading most people to assume she is American.
"Theron" is a French surname pronounced in Afrikaans as "Tronn," although she has said that she prefers the pronunciation "Thrown."http://www.aclasscelebs.com/charlizet/interview.htm The pronunciation commonly used in the United States involves two syllables, with stress on the first.
Theron grew up as the only child on her parents' farm near Johannesburg (Benoni) and was sent to a boarding school at the age of thirteen. At fifteen, Theron witnessed the death of her father, an abusive alcoholic; her mother shot him in self-defense when he attacked her. No charges were pressed.
Career
left|175px|thumb|Theron in ''Sweet November (2001 film)|Sweet November''
At the age of sixteen, Theron traveled to Milan, Italy, on a one-year modeling contract, after winning a local competition. Her contract ended while she was in New York City, and she decided to remain there, attending the Joffrey Ballet School, where she trained as a ballet dancer. A knee injury ended this career path at the age of 18.
Unable to dance, she bought a ticket to Los Angeles. After eight months in the city, she was cast in her first film part, a non-speaking role in the direct-to-video film ''Children of the Corn III''. She followed this with larger roles in widely released Hollywood films, and her career skyrocketed in the late 1990s, with box office successes like ''
The Devil's Advocate'', ''
The Cider House Rules'', and ''
Mighty Joe Young''.
The May 1999 issue of Playboy published nude photos of Theron, taken during the early years of her modeling career. Claiming they had been "for private use", Theron ended up suing photographer Guido Argentini.
After appearing in a few notable films, Theron starred as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film ''
Monster'' (2003). Film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema" http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040101/REVIEWS/40310032/1023, for which
