'''Nicole Mary Kidman''', AC (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning actress, and one of Hollywood's leading actresses. She has also ventured into singing. Kidman holds dual citizenship as both an Australian and an American.
Early life and career
Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Dr Antony David Kidman and Janelle Ann MacNeille, who are of Scottish and Irish descent respectively, and were both born in Australia. At the time, her father was a cancer research specialist in Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four years old, when her father took on a lectureship at the University of Technology, Sydney. Kidman has a younger sister born in 1970, Antonia. Kidman's parents and sister both reside in Greenwich, a suburb on Sydney's North Shore.
Kidman started taking ballet lessons when she was four. This led to studies at Sydney's Australian Theatre for Young People, where she is now Patron, then at the Philip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and theatre history. Living in Longueville, New South Wales, she studied at North Sydney Girls High School, but dropped out when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother's recovery.
Her first appearance on film came in 1983 when, as a 15-year-old, she appeared in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of the year she had secured a supporting role in the television series ''Five Mile Creek'' and four film roles, including ''
BMX Bandits'' and ''Bush Christmas''. During the 1980s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the soap opera ''A Country Practice'', the mini-series ''Vietnam'' (1986), ''Emerald City'' (1988), and ''
Bangkok Hilton'' (1989).
Hollywood career
thumb|250px|Kidman (with a Prosthetic makeup|prosthetic nose) in her Academy Award-winning role as Virginia Woolf in ''
The Hours'' (2002).
In 1989 she appeared in the thriller ''
Dead Calm'' as Rae, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific Ocean yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). In 1990 she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in ''
Days of Thunder'', a stock car racing movie. After this, Kidman starred with Cruise in Ron Howard's ''
Far and Away'' (1992). In 1995 Kidman featured in the ensemble cast of ''
Batman Forever'' and later that year starred in ''
To Die For'', a satirical comedy that earned her praise from critics. She won a Golden Globe Award, and five other best actress awards for her portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone
