Kate Winslet

 
Born on October 5, 1975, and raised in Reading, England, as the daughter of stage actors and the granddaughter of a repertory theater manager, Winslet inherited the "drama bug" from her folks. After training exhaustively as a child and securing professional representation she went on the air as a spokesgirl for a popular British cereal, and later attended a performing-arts secondary school. Following an early graduation in 1991 (prior to the age of 16), Winslet launched her regional stage career, highlighted by roles in adaptations of +The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and +Peter Pan. It would be difficult to imagine a more auspicious film bow than the role of Juliet Hulme in Peter_Jackson's Heavenly_Creatures -- or a more difficult one. This characterization -- that of an extroverted adolescent who constructs an incestuously exclusive fantasy world with her best friend (Melanie_Lynskey) -- put Winslet on the map, and opened the door for follow-ups in international megahits such as Ang_Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995), as the willfull, passionate Marianne; and James_Cameron's Titanic (1997), as the object of Leonardo_Di_Caprio's affections, Rose DeWitt Bukater. She received dual Oscar nominations for those roles, but, surprisingly, failed to net either one.