Biography of Salma Hayek (One of Hollywood's most dazzling leading actresses)Date of Birth : 2 September 1966, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico
Birth Name :Salma Valgarma Hayek-Jimenez (Salma is an Arabic name that means "peace" or"calm")
Height :5' 2" (1.57 m)
Measurements: 36C-25-37 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
University :Studied International Relations & Drama at College in Mexico City.
Birth Name :Salma Valgarma Hayek-Jimenez (Salma is an Arabic name that means "peace" or"calm")
Height :5' 2" (1.57 m)
Measurements: 36C-25-37 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
University :Studied International Relations & Drama at College in Mexico City.
Spouse : Brad Pitt (Ex-husband)
Francois-Henri Pinault (14 February 2009 - present)
Child : Welcomed her first child, daughter Valentina Paloma (September 2007)
Father : Sami Hayek (oil company executive)
Mother : Diana Jimenez Hayek (opera singer)
Production House : Ventanarosa.
Francois-Henri Pinault (14 February 2009 - present)
Child : Welcomed her first child, daughter Valentina Paloma (September 2007)
Father : Sami Hayek (oil company executive)
Mother : Diana Jimenez Hayek (opera singer)
Production House : Ventanarosa.
Trivia :Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world [1996]
Is dyslexic : Was ranked 8th of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001).
Language : Fluent in English, Arabic, Spanish and Portugese
Good friends : Penélope Cruz , Ashley Judd, Antonio Banderas and Robert Rodriguez.
Pet : Dogs
Career in Hollywood: Despite limited fluency in English, Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991 to study acting under Stella Adler, hoping for a career in Hollywood. Robert Rodriguez and his producer wife Elizabeth Avellan soon gave Hayek the break she needed, a starring role opposite Antonio Banderas in 1995's Desperado. The movie caught Hollywood's attention, as moviegoers proved to be as dazzled by Hayek as Rodriguez had been. Due to Salma's loyalty to the director she would later decline playing the role Catherine Zeta-Jones eventually took in The Mask of Zorro after Rodriguez abandoned the project.Hayek followed her success in Desperado with a brief but memorable role in From Dusk Till Dawn. In 1999 she co-starred in Will Smith's big-budget Wild Wild West, and played a supporting role in Kevin Smith's Dogma. In 2000 she had an uncredited acting part opposite Benicio Del Toro in Traffic.
Around this time Hayek founded production company Ventanarosa, through which she produces film and television projects. Her first feature as a producer was 1999's El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba, Mexico's official selection for submission for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.
Hayek with Frida co-star and friend Ashley Judd. Frida, co-produced by Hayek, was released in 2002. Starring Hayek as Frida Kahlo, and Alfred Molina as her unfaithful husband, Diego Rivera, the film was directed by Julie Taymor and also featured an entourage of stars in supporting roles, including Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Geoffrey Rush, Edward Norton and Valeria Golino. She earned a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance. This made Hayek, along with Katy Jurado and Adriana Barraza, one of only three Mexican actresses to have been nominated for an Academy Award.
In 2003 she reprised her role from Desperado by appearing in the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
In that same year she produced and directed the The Maldonado Miracle, a Showtime movie which won her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special.
In December 2005 she directed a music video for Prince, titled "Te Amo Corazon" ("I love you, sweetheart") that featured her good friend Mia Maestro.
Hayek with Eric Mabius in Ugly Betty: Hayek is an executive producer of Ugly Betty, television series airing in the United States since September 2006. Hayek adapted the series for American television with Ben Silverman, who acquired the rights and scripts from the Colombian Telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea in 2001. Originally intended as a half hour sitcom for NBC in 2004, the project would later be picked up by ABC for the 2006-2007 season with Silvio Horta also producing. Hayek guest-starred on Ugly Betty as Sofia Reyes, a magazine editor. She also had a cameo playing an actress in the telenovela within the show. The show quickly became a ratings hit and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series in 2007.
Hayek has also been credited as a song performer in three movies. The first was Desperado for the song Quedate AquÃ. In Frida she performed with band Los Vega the Mexican folk song La Bruja. She also recorded Siente mi amor, which played during the end credits of Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
In April 2007 Hayek finalized negotiations with MGM to become the CEO of her own Latin themed film production company, Ventanazul.
Other work: Hayek has been a spokesperson for Avon Products, Inc. since 2004. She formerly served in the same function for Revlon in 1998. She modeled for Chopard in 2001 and was featured in 2006 Campari adverts as photographed by Mario Testino. That same year she helped introduce La Doña, a watch by Cartier SA.
She was also featured in a series of Spanish language commercials for Lincoln cars.
Mini Biography: The amazing Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966, in the oil boomtown of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Hayek has freely admitted that she and her brother, Sami (designs custom chairs) were spoiled rotten by her well-to-do Lebanese-Mexican businessman father and her Mexican-born opera-singing mother. Father was born in Lebanon and came to Mexico to start a small business where he met her mother. Her younger brother is a highly respected make-up artist in Hollwood. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theatre, Salma decided she wanted to become an actress. She was sent to a boarding school in Louisiana at age 12, but was soon sent back home after getting in trouble for frequently terrorizing the nuns! Her education included a stint at a New Orleans convent school, where she pulled pranks on the nuns by setting their clocks back three hours. She was soon expelled. Only after attending Mexico City's Universidad Iberoamericana did she feel ready to pursue acting seriously.She soon landed the title role in "Teresa" (1989), a hugely successful soap opera which earned her the star status in her native Mexico. However, anxious to make films and to explore her talent and passion, Hayek left both
"Teresa" (1989) and Mexico in 1991. Heartbroken fans spread rumors that she was having a secret affair with Mexico's president and left to escape his wife's wrath.
At long last, Salma made her way to Los Angeles. The 24 year old actress approached Hollywood with naïve enthusiasm, and quickly learned that Latin actresses were, if at all, typecast as the mistress maid or local prostitute.
By late 1992, Hayek had landed only bit parts. She appeared on "Street Justice" (1991), "The Sinbad Show" (1993), "Nurses" (1991), and as a sexy maid on the HBO series "Dream On" (1990). She also had one line in the Allison
Anders film Mi vida loca (1993). Feeling under-appreciated by Anglo filmmakers, Hayek vented her frustrations on comedian Paul Rodriguez's late-night Spanish-language talk show in 1992.
The picture was a hit and was nominated for six Oscars, including best actress for Hayek, who became the first Latin actress to be nominated in the category, and won the awards for make-up and its brilliant original score by
Elliot Goldenthal. Hayek established herself as the serious actress that she is and, in the same year, expanded her horizons, directing The Maldonado Miracle (2003) (TV), which was shown at the Sundance Film festival. In 2003,
she starred in the final of Rodriguez's "Desperado" trilogy Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), again opposite Banderas, and has just finished After the Sunset (2004) opposite Pierce Brosnan and Ask the Dust (2006) opposite Colin Farrell.
Awards:
Won Best Newcomer at the 1989 Novela Awards for "Un nuevo amanecer" (1988).
Is the second Latin American actress to be nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Award, for her performance in Frida (2002). Brazilian veteran Fernanda Montenegro was the first, for Central do Brasil (1998).
Made the cut to People magazine's 50 most beautiful people list twice. in 1996 and 2003
Was named one of the ten most stylish women in the world by Mr. Blackwell (aka Richard Selzer) in 1997. InStyle named her the most stylish celebrity of 2003 and Eonline.com ranked her as the best dressed female celebrity.
Ranked # 31 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002).
E! entertainment voted her look at the 1997 Academy Awards one of the 5 most memorable in Oscar history. At the event she wore a beaded Armani gown complemented by a 1920s diamond tiara.
Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005
Played a (mythological creature disguised as a) stripper twice: in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and in Dogma (1999) (A Vampire and a Muse respectively).
Named # 34 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.
Named # 12 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005)
Visited Guatemala from 2 May 2005 to 5 May 2005 as ambassador to Youth/AIDS, to promote the prevention of the mortal disease. Ashley Judd and Colombian pop singer Juanes also came with her.
Named # 36 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
As the announcer for the Oscars 2007, she was able to announce best friend Penélope Cruz' nominations for Best Actress for Volver (2006/I).
Engaged to businessman Francois-Henri Pinualt. Pinault owns PPR, the luxury goods firm that owns iconic fashion houses Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent [March 9, 2007].
Gave birth to her first child, a baby girl named Valentina Paloma Pinault, on Friday September 21th 2007. Father is Salma's fiancé Francois-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of the luxury goods company PPR SA.
Ranked # 90 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.
Recently diagnosed with diabetes while pregnant (July 2007).
