Uma Thurman booking

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The glacial beauty went from wide-eyed ingenue in Dangerous Liaisons to revenge-driven assassin in
Kill Bill. Did her career renaissance as Tarantino’s muse doom her marriage? Uma Karuna Thurman
was born into a highly unconventional family. Her mother, Nena, was the daughter of the renowned
Swedish beauty, Brigit Holmquist, who’d married a German nobleman Baron Karl von Schlebruge in
the 1930s. Uma’s mother, Nena, grew up to be just as stunning as Brigit; she was talent-spotted in
Stockholm by top British photographer Norman Parkinson when she was only 16, who brought her
over to London where she began modelling for Vogue magazine. As one of the top supermodels of her
day, she soon began mixing with the high-flyers of swinging 60s London, and in 1964 she married the
controversial psychedelic guru Dr Timothy Leary, one of the trendiest intellectuals of his day. Leary
was much older than Nena, so he was considered to be something of a father figure. Nena’s first
marriage didn’t last, and soon afterwards she met and fell in love with Uma’s future father, Robert
Thurman.
Robert Thurman’s background was just as unusual as Nena’s, though in an entirely different way. He
was the son of New York stage actress Elizabeth Farrar, and had studied classics at Harvard. At 19,
he’d married an oil heiress, but soon divorced and went off to ride a motorbike across India with his
friends. In India, he met the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, converted to Buddhism, and
became the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan monk! He adopted a Tibetan name – Tenzin -
and even his own children still call him that to this day. Uma’s parents met and married in 1966, and
soon began a family. Most of her childhood was spent in Amherst, Massachussetts, or Woodstock,
New York, where her father held various posts as a professor of religion. Uma is the second oldest
child, and has three brothers: Ganden, who is now a computer expert; Dechen, who is an actor and
director, and finally, Mipam, the baby of the family. All four children are named after Tibetan gods.
Growing up in such an unusual family, Uma felt herself to be something of an outsider, even from an
early age. Uma’s parents disapproved of popular American culture, and discouraged her from joining
in with normal high school pursuits and hobbies – Uma wasn’t exactly praised to the hilt when she
joined the cheerleading squad. She attended several schools in quick succession and was frequently
teased on account of her oddball name, and her even more oddball parents. To overcome this
problem, Uma even took to calling herself Kelly or Linda, instead of Uma. Unsurprisingly she grew up
into an angry and difficult teenager: it was then that she first got involved in acting, however, and she
was instantly hooked. Right from her first school play, she fell in love with theatre, and soon asked for
acting lessons. Aged 14, she was sent to Northfield Mount Hermon School, but she’d already decided
that she was done with school and wanted to become an actress. Uma dropped out of Northfield a
year later and transferred to the Professional Children’s High School. With the help of her mother’s
contacts, she signed up with various modelling agencies: she was taken on by Click, and soon began
modelling for Glamour magazine, where she worked with many of the country’s top fashion
photographers. But Uma’s big dream was to act in the movies. She was soon spotted by talent scouts
while at drama school and landed a part in her first film, ‘Kiss Daddy Goodnight’, where she played the
role of a young temptress who picks up older men. The offers soon began to flood in, leading Uma to
drop out of school before she graduated. Her next film was ‘Johnny be Good’, a satirical film about the
US education system: Uma played Anthony Michael Hall’s girlfriend, but the film wasn’t wildly
successful. Uma’s next two films, however, really helped to establish her as a top Hollywood actress.
First came Terry Gilliam’s fantastically over-the-top movie, ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’,
which told the story of a legendary baron who went time-travelling and had all sorts of adventures
along the way. Uma played the role of the ‘God of War’s’ wife (the God was played by Oliver Reed),
and posed naked as Venus on a giant sea-shell, where she’s being dressed by cherubs. The film was
a huge box-office hit, as was ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, Uma’s next movie, where she acted alongside
Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer and John Malkovich.

The movie was an historical feature set against the background of the decadent 18th-century French
aristocracy, and Uma played the role of a “sweet young thing” who is seduced by the wicked Vicomte,
played by John Malkovich. The film was a huge success, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best
Film, as well as winning other nominations for Michelle Pfeiffer and Glenn Close. Perhaps because so
many of her first movie roles involved removing her clothes, Uma was dismayed to discover that she
was rapidly acquiring a reputation as a sex symbol. Horrified, she withdrew from public life for a while,
fled to London, and even took to wearing baggy clothes. A short time later, however, she met actor
Gary Oldman, and the couple were instantly attracted to each other. Despite the fact that Oldman was
twelve years her senior, they enjoyed a whirlwind romance, which ended in marriage in October 1990.
The same year, Uma appeared in two more quality movies, which she’d specially chosen in order to
help dismantle her unwanted image as a sex goddess: the first was John Boorman’s ‘Where The Heart
Is’, a comedy where Uma acted the role of daughter of a demolition tycoon. The second was ‘Henry
and June’, a film based on the triangular relationship between the writer Henry Miller, his wife June
(played by Uma) and the sexually voracious diarist Anais Nin.
Offstage, however, Uma’s private life was in turmoil. Her marriage to Gary Oldman was ending, amid
rumours of heavy drinking, and the couple divorced in 1992. At the time, Uma was quoted as saying,
“Teenage weddings are among the things that don’t count.” Around this time, Uma’s career hit
something of a plateau, but she was gaining valuable acting experience nevertheless, and improving
her craft. She acted in ‘Final Analysis’, alongside Richard Gere, a classy thriller where Gere played the
role of a psychiatrist who is treating a disturbed patient, played by Uma. In ‘Jennifer 8′, she played the
role of a blind woman, Helen Robertson. Sadly, it was not a hit. Next, she acted in ‘Mad Dog and
Glory’, alongside Robert de Niro, who, it’s rumoured, screamed at her off camera in order to get her in
the right frame of mind for shooting a particular scene! Then came ‘Even Cowgirls Get The Blues’,
where Uma played her first real leading role. Sadly, the movie was panned, and some critics believed
that this would be the end of Uma’s career. But they hadn’t reckoned with the visionary skills of
Quentin Tarantino, who cast her in the role of Mia Wallace, wife of the thug Marcellus in ‘Pulp Fiction’,
a complex blockbusting crime drama. Thurman beat off competition from Holly Hunter and Meg Ryan
to win the role, and she was Oscar-nominated for her performance. Far from her career being over,
overnight Uma became one of the leading actresses in Hollywood.
Having firmly established her reputation as a leading lady, Uma took a break from making big-budget
movies. Her next films included ‘A Month By The Lake’, ‘Beautiful Girls’, and ‘The Truth About Cats
and Dogs’. Next, however, she chose a role in the new Batman movie, and thus returned to the big
time. She played the part of Poison Ivy, a former botanist who’s now intent of killing all humans and
leaving planet earth free for plant life! But the new film, ‘Batman and Robin’, wasn’t particularly
successful, although Uma was praised for her performance. She has gone on to play the lead in
comedy drama ‘Motherhood’ (2009) before starring as evil Greek goddess Medusa in ‘Percy Jackson
& The Lightening Thief’ the same year. After getting engaged to Busson, the couple split in 2009. Uma
then starred in another romantic comedy called ‘Ceremony’ in 2010 before taking a break. She made
up with Busson in 2011 and they soon announced that she was expecting their first child together.
Their daughter, who has yet to be named, was born on 15 July 2012.
In 2012, Uma acted in drama ‘Bel Ami’ with Robert Pattinson and in several episodes of musical TV
show ‘Smash’. She is also set to appear in ‘Playing the Field’ later this year and is rumoured to be
acting alongside Clive Owen in ‘Blind’. Next year, she is set to appear in a new comedy by ‘Dumb and
Dumber’ writers – the Farrelly brothers – as well as ‘Eloise in Paris’ and ‘Girl Soldier’. Despite the ups
and downs of her private life, Uma’s stunning looks, fabulous grace, undoubted acting ability and
sheer hard work have all served to secure her place as one of Hollywood’s leading ladies – a position
she’s certain to enjoy for many years to come.