
Charlize Theron (born 7 August 1975) is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model. She rose to fame in the late 1990s following roles in the films The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). Theron received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), for which she won the Silver Bear, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award for Best Actress among several other accolades, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. In recent years, she has moved into the field of producing, both in television and film. She received further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in North Country in 2005, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Young Adult in 2011. In 2012, she appeared in Snow White & the Huntsman and Prometheus, both of which were box office successes. Theron became a U.S. citizen in 2007, while retaining her South African citizenship. Theron was born in Benoni, in the then-Transvaal Province of South Africa, the only child of Gerda (née Maritz) and Charles Theron (born 27 November 1947). Second Boer War figure Danie Theron was her great-great-uncle. Her ancestry includes French, German, and Dutch; her French forebears were early Huguenot settlers in South Africa. "Theron" is an Occitan surname (originally spelled Théron) pronounced in Afrikaans as [tɜːron], although she has said that the way she pronounces it in South Africa is [θron]. She changed the pronunciation when she moved to the U.S. to give it a more "American" sound. She grew up on her parents' farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg. On 21 June 1991, Theron's father, an alcoholic, physically attacked her mother and threatened both her mother and her while drunk; Theron's mother then shot and killed him. The shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defense and her mother faced no charges. Theron attended Putfontein Primary School (Laerskool Putfontein), a period she later characterised as not "fitting in". At 13, Theron was sent to boarding school and began her studies at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. Although Theron is fluent in English, her first language is Afrikaans.
Movie | Fast X: Part 2 | Cipher | 2025-04-04 |
Movie | The Old Guard 2 | Andromache of Scythia / Andy | 2024 |
Movie | Force | 2024 | |
Movie | Atomic Blonde 2 | Lorraine Broughton | 2024 |
Movie | Everything Nice | Michaela (rumored) | 2024 |
Movie | Fast X | Cipher | 2023-05-17 |
Movie | Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | Clea | 2022-05-04 |
Movie | The School for Good and Evil | Lady Lesso | 2022-10-19 |
Movie | Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness | Clea (archive footage) (uncredited) | 2022-07-08 |
Movie | F9 | Cipher | 2021-05-19 |
Movie | The Addams Family 2 | Morticia Addams (voice) | 2021-10-01 |
Movie | The Old Guard | Andromache of Scythia / Andy | 2020-07-10 |
Series | Home Movie: The Princess Bride | Fezzik | 2020-06-29 |
Series | Desus & Mero | Herself - Illustrious Guest | 2019-02-21 |
Movie | Long Shot | Charlotte Field | 2019-05-02 |
Movie | The Addams Family | Morticia Addams (voice) | 2019-10-10 |
Movie | Bombshell | Megyn Kelly | 2019-12-13 |
Movie | Tully | Marlo Moreau | 2018-05-04 |
Movie | Gringo | Elaine Markinson | 2018-03-08 |
Series | Unapologetic with Aisha Tyler | Herself | 2018-06-04 |
Movie | The Fate of the Furious | Cipher | 2017-04-12 |
Series | The Orville | Pria Lavesque | 2017-09-10 |
Movie | Going Mad: The Battle of Fury Road | Self | 2017-08-01 |
Movie | Atomic Blonde | Lorraine Broughton | 2017-07-26 |
Movie | The Last Face | Dr. Wren Petersen | 2017-01-11 |
Movie | The Huntsman: Winter's War | Queen Ravenna | 2016-04-06 |
Movie | Kubo and the Two Strings | Mother (voice) | 2016-08-18 |
Series | The Grand Tour | Herself | 2016-11-17 |
Series | Chelsea | Herself | 2016-05-11 |
Movie | Dark Places | Libby Day | 2015-04-08 |
Movie | Mad Max: Fury Road | Imperator Furiosa | 2015-05-13 |
Series | Hot Ones | Herself | 2015-03-12 |
Movie | Take Flight | Self - Performer | 2015-12-10 |
Movie | A Million Ways to Die in the West | Anna Barnes-Leatherwood | 2014-05-22 |
Movie | Prometheus | Meredith Vickers | 2012-05-30 |
Movie | The Furious Gods: Making Prometheus | Self | 2012-10-11 |
Movie | Snow White and the Huntsman | Queen Ravenna | 2012-05-30 |
Movie | Young Adult | Mavis Gary | 2011-11-11 |
Movie | Wikus and Charlize | Self (voice) | 2010-04-01 |
Movie | The Road | Mother | 2009-11-25 |
Movie | Astro Boy | Narrator | 2009-10-15 |
Movie | The Burning Plain | Sylvia / Mariana | 2008-11-07 |
Movie | Sleepwalking | Joleen | 2008-03-14 |
Movie | Hancock | Mary Embrey | 2008-07-01 |
Series | Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis | Unknown | 2008-01-04 |
Movie | In the Valley of Elah | Detective Emily Sanders | 2007-09-14 |
Movie | Battle in Seattle | Ella | 2007-09-07 |
Series | The Graham Norton Show | Herself | 2007-02-22 |
Movie | Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters | Self | 2006-06-13 |
Series | The Reichen Show | Unknown | 2005-11-11 |
Movie | North Country | Josey Aimes | 2005-02-12 |
Movie | Æon Flux | Æon Flux | 2005-11-30 |
Series | The Colbert Report | Unknown | 2005-10-17 |
Movie | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Britt Ekland | 2004-10-01 |
Movie | Head in the Clouds | Gilda Bessé | 2004-04-29 |
Movie | The Italian Job | Stella Bridger | 2003-05-30 |
Movie | Monster | Aileen Wuornos | 2003-12-24 |
Series | Arrested Development | Rita Leeds | 2003-11-02 |
Series | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Unknown | 2003-09-08 |
Series | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Unknown | 2003-01-26 |
Movie | Trapped | Karen Jennings | 2002-09-20 |
Movie | Waking Up in Reno | Candy Kirkendall | 2002-12-13 |
Movie | The Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Laura Kensington | 2001-08-05 |
Movie | 15 Minutes | Rose Hearn | 2001-03-01 |
Movie | Sweet November | Sara Deever | 2001-02-16 |
Movie | Men of Honor | Gwen Sunday | 2000-09-13 |
Movie | Reindeer Games | Ashley Mercer | 2000-02-25 |
Movie | The Yards | Erica Soltz | 2000-04-27 |
Movie | The Legend of Bagger Vance | Adele Invergordon | 2000-11-02 |
Series | Rove | Herself | 1999-09-22 |
Movie | The Cider House Rules | Candy Kendall | 1999-12-17 |
Series | The Early Show | Unknown | 1999-11-01 |
Movie | The Astronaut's Wife | Jillian Armacost | 1999-08-27 |
Movie | Celebrity | Supermodel | 1998-09-07 |
Movie | Mighty Joe Young | Jill Young | 1998-12-25 |
Movie | The Devil's Advocate | Mary Ann Lomax | 1997-10-17 |
Movie | Trial and Error | Billie Tyler | 1997-05-30 |
Movie | Hollywood Confidential | Sally | 1997-04-14 |
Series | The View | Herself | 1997-08-11 |
Movie | That Thing You Do! | Tina | 1996-10-04 |
Movie | 2 Days in the Valley | Helga Svelgen | 1996-09-11 |
Series | The Daily Show | Unknown | 1996-07-22 |
Movie | Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest | Eli's Follower (uncredited) | 1995-09-12 |
Series | Inside the Actors Studio | Unknown | 1994-06-01 |
Series | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Unknown | 1993-09-13 |
Series | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Unknown | 1992-05-25 |
Series | This Morning | Unknown | 1988-10-03 |
Series | LIVE with Kelly and Mark | Unknown | 1988-09-05 |
Series | Saturday Night Live | Herself - Host | 1975-10-11 |
Series | Goldene Kamera Verleihung | herself | 1966-01-25 |
Series | The Oscars | Unknown | 1953-03-19 |
Series | Today | Unknown | 1952-01-14 |
Series | Bambi Awards | herself | 1948-01-01 |