Today in History - Kate Winslet is born

CAIRO – 5 October 2017: October 5 is the day superstar actress Kate Winslet came into the world, turning 42 this year. While best known for starring in James Cameron’s blockbuster monster "Titanic" alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Winslet has successfully evolved into a versatile and varied actor on her own.

Born on 1975 in England, Winslet came from a family of performers; her grandparents having founded the Reading Repertory Theatre. Both her parents were also actors.

After studying drama at the age of 11, she went on to star in a commercial for Sugar Puffs, her first ever appearance on TV. She would star in various TV series, including the sci-fi show "Dark Season," her first major TV role;



Her debut to the world of film came in 1994, with Peter Jackson’s psychological drama "Heavenly Creatures." Here, Winslet played a young girl named Juliet Hulme, who moves in from England to New Zealand where she befriends Pauline Rieper.

Both lonely outcasts, the two begin to bond over a shared love of fantasy, becoming close friends; however, the two begin to become very obsessed with their fantasy life, to the point that their parents grow concerned. After they are threatened with separation, the two hatch a scheme to take revenge against their parents, with horrific results. Shockingly, the film is based on a real-life story.



A year later, Winslet starred in 1995’s "Sense and Sensibility," directed by Ang Lee. An adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, the film featured big names such as Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman. Though Winslet was fully capable of standing out on her own, even amongst such giants.

Playing the romantic Marianne Dashwood, the film follows the three Dashwood sisters in the wake of their father’s death. Loved by critics, this film helped pave the way for Winslet’s future successes, and she earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.



Next for Winslet was the 1996 big-screen adaptation of Shakesphere’s "Hamlet," directed by Kenneth Branagh, where she played Ophelia. The film even starred Robin Williams.While not a huge box office success, the movie was well-received amongst critics and Winslet’s performance was once again praised, proving her potential and talent. A year later, she would star in one of history’s biggest movies.



With 1997, Winslet was on-board as rich socialite Rose DeWitt in "Titanic." Her most famous role - her tragic romance with DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson enchanted the hearts of millions worldwide. Boasting the record as the highest-grossing blockbuster movie of all time, until Cameron’s "Avatar" that is; the film won 11 Academy awards, with Winslet being nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. This was the film that turned Winslet into a worldwide sensation and a household name.



However, rather than widening the waves of popularity generated by the Titanic, Winslet decided to dip her toes into the independent movie scene. With 1998 she starred in "Hideous Kinky," a film based off the autobiography of Sigmund Freud’s granddaughter, Esther Freud. In the film, Winslet played free-spirited mother Julia, who leads her two young daughters on a trip across Morocco.



In 2001, Winslet would receive yet another Oscar nomination with "Iris," a biographic on novelist Iris Murdoch’s life. She would later star alongside Jim Carrey in 2004’s "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," which once again netted her another Oscar nomination, making Winslet one of the youngest actors to receive so many in such a brief amount of time.



Winslet would win her first and only Oscar with 2008’s "The Reader," where she portrayed an illiterate woman who falls in love with a man during WWII in Germany, only to vanish mysteriously. When he meets her again, she is trialed for war crimes, having participated in the Nazi regime.



In 2012, Winslet was honored as Commander of the Order of the British Empire from the Queen of England herself. More recently, she announced this year that she would be joining the "Avatar" franchise, once again returning to Cameron’s blockbuster movies.