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Gwyneth Paltrow began performing as a youngster, the daughter of Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner and television producer Bruce Paltrow.She co-starred with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in the controversial film Se7en in 1995. Paltrow went on to star in a number of films, including Emma (1996), Great Expectations (1998), and A Perfect Murder (1998).She won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1999 for her performance in Shakespeare in Love. Paltrow went on to appear in Iron Man (2008) and subsequent Marvel flicks. She is also renowned for her marriage to Coldplay vocalist Chris Martin, which lasted from 2003 to 2016, and for founding the GOOP lifestyle brand.
Early Life and Career
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California on September 27, 1972. Paltrow grew raised in Hollywood as the daughter of Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner and television producer Bruce Paltrow. Paltrow relocated to New York with her family at the age of 11 after growing up in Los Angeles. At the age of five, the precocious young blonde made her theatrical debut in a theater in Massachusetts’ Berkshire Mountains, where her mother worked in summer stock.
Paltrow’s blossoming attractiveness and emerging acting talent won her tiny film jobs as she grew older, beginning with Shout and Hook in 1991. Paltrow dropped out of her art history studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after a well-received role alongside her mother in the television miniseries Cruel Doubt (1992).
Films and TV Shows
‘Malice’ to ‘Se7en’
The gamble paid off: Paltrow landed roles in films such as Malice (1993), in which she co-starred with Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin, Flesh and Bone (1993), and Jefferson in Paris (1995), in which she co-starred with Nick Nolte. Paltrow co-starred in the controversial film Se7en with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in 1995.
‘Emma,’ ‘Sliding Doors,’ Oscar Win for ‘Shakespeare in Love’
Paltrow’s connection with the latter helped thrust her into the spotlight at the same time she began to land prominent roles in The Pallbearer (1996), Emma (1996), Great Expectations (1998), Sliding Doors (1998), and A Perfect Murder (1998). Paltrow cemented her superstar status with an amazing portrayal as Shakespeare’s reputed muse in 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. The portrayal earned her an Oscar for Best Actress and established her as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after female actors.
The willowy blonde has made headlines for her high-profile relationships and break-ups with Pitt and Ben Affleck, the Oscar-winning co-screenwriter of Good Will Hunting (1997).
‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’ ‘Duets’
Paltrow co-starred with Matt Damon in Anthony Minghella’s lavish adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999. In 2000, she starred in Duets, a karaoke comedy-drama directed by her father, and Bounce, a romance opposite Affleck.
‘Shallow Hal,’ ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’
Paltrow wore an unsightly fat suit for parts of her appearances in the vulgar comedy Shallow Hal, directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly and co-starring Jack Black. She also appeared in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, alongside Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, and Luke and Owen Wilson. She appeared in the film adaptations of Possession and Miramax’s romantic satire A View From the Top in 2002.
‘Sylvia,’ ‘Dealbreakers’
Paltrow starred in the 2003 film Sylvia, which told the story of the renowned poet and author Sylvia Plath. The picture fell short of expectations and flopped at the box office. Running with Scissors (2003), Proof (2005), and Infamous (2006) were among the less successful sequels. She even tried her hand at filmmaking with the short film Dealbreakers in 2005.
Marvel’s ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Avengers’
Paltrow joined the ranks of A-listers who made the jump to comic-book movies in 2008, playing Pepper Potts opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark in Iron Man. The film received positive reviews and the biggest box office statistics of any picture starring the actress to date. Paltrow reprised her roles in the second and third Iron Man films, which were released in 2010 and 2013, respectively, as well as in other Marvel franchise films such as The Avengers (2012) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).
‘Country Strong,’ ‘Glee,’ ‘The Politician’
While committed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Paltrow also appeared in films such as the drama Country Strong (2010) and the comedy Mortdecai (2015), both of which she co-starred with Johnny Depp. She also started appearing on television, getting the recurring part of Holly Holliday on the musical series Glee. In 2019, she was cast as the adoptive mother of Ben Platt’s Payton Hobart in the Netflix comedy drama The Politician.
GOOP
Paltrow began her lifestyle brand GOOP in 2008 with a weekly newsletter. She quickly created a website, expanding the forum for discussing wellness themes and establishing an e-commerce arm of the firm.
Paltrow has been chastised for advertising goods on her website that purport to give health advantages but lack scientific proof. After the consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising filed a complaint in 2017 about GOOP’s misleading claims, the company was ordered to pay a settlement of $145,000.
Personal Life
Gwyneth’s father, Bruce, died of pneumonia complications after a fight with throat cancer in October 2002, while on holiday in Italy to celebrate her 30th birthday.
Paltrow married Chris Martin, the vocalist of the British rock band Coldplay, in 2003. Apple Blythe Alison Martin, their daughter, was born in May 2004. Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, the couple’s son, was born two years later.
In March 2014, via GOOP, Paltrow announced that she and Martin had separated: “It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate,” she stated. “We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much, we will remain separate.” Their divorce was finalized in 2016.
In the meantime, Paltrow started dating Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk. The pair confirmed their engagement in January 2018. “We feel incredibly lucky to have come together at this juncture in our lives, when our collective successes and failures can serve as building blocks for a healthy and happy relationship,” Paltrow and Falchuk said in a joint statement. They tied the knot in the Hamptons on September 29, 2018.
