Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet - "as down-to-earth and unpretentious as actors get". She is the youngest actress to have received three Academy Award nominations, and has been described by many film critics as "the most gifted actress of her generation.

Kate Winslet - "as down-to-earth and unpretentious as actors get". She is the youngest actress to have received three Academy Award nominations, and has been described by many film critics as "the most gifted actress of her generation." "Kate Winslet is the most talented young actress working in the business today. Her ability to convey emotion is unmatched by any other actress of her generation. There is something almost inexplicable about her presence that makes her so supremely wonderful in any film that no film graced with her performance could ever be bad." Nathaniel R. Atchison, film critic "God bless Kate Winslet. So many of her fellow actresses of British lineage or association derive their so-called charisma by glaring poutily into a camera and maintaining dress sizes that aren't even whole numbers. While Winslet does have one of the best pouts in the business, she's just as ready with a radiant smile. And, even more important, when she's feeling Rubenesque, she goes with the feeling.

Her screen presence has a robust, vibrant, generous sensuality." Glenn Kenny, Premiere Magazine Early Years: Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born on October 5, 1975 into an acting family and was raised in Reading, Berkshire, England (40 miles west of London). Kate's maternal grandfather, a dentist, also ran the Reading Repertory Theater. Her maternal uncle, Robert Bridges was an actor and is best known for playing Mr. Bumble in the West End production of "Oliver." Kate's mother is Sally Bridges Winslet. Her father, Roger Winslet, is an actor, as are her older sister Anna and younger sister Beth. The youngest of the four Winslet children is brother Joss. [In the photo, Kate is on the far left.] Kate on her childhood: "Mum and Dad were very much friends, and up for life. There was no anxiety for anything when I was growing up, they just taught me to be me." "My parents disciplined us, but they brought us up as little independent individuals. When you're allowed to find your way at the beginning of your life, I think it enforces a certain level of confidence." The acting bug bit Kate when she was in a play at her elementary school - "I was so into the moment, I seriously remember getting a lump in my throat. I was five, and that was when I knew I was going to act." Kate's schoolteacher, Father John Mortiboys, on Kate: "She wasn't goody-goody. Kate has a wicked sense of humor." "I have a vision of Kate pouring her heart into Jack and the Beanstalk, outshining everybody. No, there was never any doubt as to what she was going to do." Teen Years: Kate's first "professional" role was in a Sugar Puffs cereal commercial at the age of eleven. As a teen, she had roles in the British television series, Dark Season (sci-fi) and Get Back (comedy). She also made appearances on the shows Casualty and Shrinks. Stage experience was obtained through roles in Adrian Mole, Peter Pan, and What the Butler Saw (a performance for which she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress by the Manchester Evening News). Kate attended the Redroofs School (a performing arts school) in Maidenhead, England (25 miles west of London). A younger classmate stated in a television interview: "She used to help us with school work. I was only 8 when I came, so she sort of looked after me." Another classmate who sat next to Kate in acting class said: "I know she loved what she did and she did have an inner confidence. She was so much more of an adult that we were. She was very friendly with the teachers because she was a mature girl. So, she would call them by their first names and she would go and talk to them. But she was on their level, basically... We were doing the play 'Steel Magnolias' and we had to cut it down to about 10 minutes. And she said, 'Oh, I tell you what: I'll take it home for you and I'll type it up for you, and I'll cut it properly for you.' And she was like that. She would just offer to do things." The principal commented: "She was always very good on the dance side. The head of dance thought she might make a wonderful teacher. Kate obviously had other ideas... We thought, 'yes, this girl is going to go places,' but we never dreamt how fast and how far."