'''Uma Karuna Thurman''' (born April 29 1970) is an American Oscar-nominated film actress.
She performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action thrillers. She is best known for her films directed by Quentin Tarantino. Her most popular films include ''
Dangerous Liaisons'' (1988), ''
Pulp Fiction'' (1994), ''
Gattaca'' (1997), and the two ''
Kill Bill'' movies (2003–04).
Biography
Early life and education
Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Nena von Schlebrügge (b. 1941), was a Swedish fashion model, who was briefly married in 1964 to LSD guru Timothy Leary after the two were introduced by Salvador Dalí. She married Uma's father, Robert Thurman, in 1967.
Robert Thurman, a recognized scholar and professor at Columbia University of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies, was the first westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He gave his children a Buddhist upbringing: Uma is named after an Uma Chenpo (in Tibetan; Mahamadhyamaka in Sanskrit, meaning “Great Middle Way”). She has three brothers, Ganden (b. 1971), Dechen (b. 1973) and Mipam (b. 1978), and a half-sister named Taya (b. 1960) from her father's previous marriage. She and her siblings spent extended amounts of time in India as children, and the Dalai Lama would sometimes visit their home.
[Tiscali http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/uma_thurman_biog.html Tiscali Film and TV ''Uma Thurman biography''. Retrieved 5 January 2006.] She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Tibet House.
Since Professor Thurman moved between various universities, the family often relocated when Uma was a child. She grew up mostly in Amherst, Massachusetts and Woodstock, New York. Thurman is described as having been an awkward and introverted young girl who was frequently teased as a child for her large frame, unique angular bone structure, unusual name (sometimes using the name “Uma Karen” instead of her birth-name), and size 11 feet (Thurman's famously large feet would later be lovingly filmed by Quentin Tarantino in the films he made with her).
When she was ten years old, a friend's mother suggested she receive a nose job, something which bothered her for years. It was undoubtedly one of the many incidents that led to her bout with body dysmorphic disorder, a psychiatric disorder that involves a disturbed body image, which she discussed in an interview with ''Talk'' magazine in 2001.
[Sherry Kahn.http://canoe.talksurgery.com/consumer/new/new00000056_1.html Talk. Golden Girl Uma admits to having Body Dysmorphic Disorder. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2006.]Thurman attended Northfield Mount Hermon, a college preparatory boarding school in Massachusetts, where she received her first acting experiences in school plays. She was unathletic and earned average grades
