Commonly referred to as America’s Sweetheart, especially back in the ’90s when she was headlining popular movies like Mystic Pizza, Pretty Woman and My Best Friend’s Wedding, Julia Roberts is one of the most beloved and well liked actresses in Hollywood. A high achiever, she’s one of the most respected and accomplished actresses with three Golden Globe Awards and an Oscar Award under her belt, and was once the highest paid actress in the world! Now a successful producer, wife and mother of three, Roberts is a fiercely private celebrity. She’s never been a huge fan of her own fame, but she’s turning 50 soon so, in celebration of that, we’ve dug up 12 things you probably didn’t know about her!
12. Family of Actors
Julia Roberts parents, Betty Lou and Walter Roberts, were both actors who founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers workshop. They divorced in 1971. She has two older siblings — her brother Eric is also an actor. He made his film debut in King of the Gypsies in 1978. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Roberts said she never would have become an actress if she didn’t grow up in a theatrical family. “I wouldn’t have seen it as a real option if my parents weren’t actors and my siblings…It just wouldn’t have occurred to me,” she said. “My dad would take my sister and me to plays when we were young, like six or seven years old. We saw Hair in New York on summer vacation. We would go see Yul Brynner do The King and I in Atlanta.” Her parents were strong theater lovers and even started a children’s theater in their home. Sadly, when Roberts was only 4-years-old her parents divorced. Julia moved to Georgia with her mother and sister, Lisa, while Eric and her father Walter stayed in Atlanta.
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