Thandie Newton Biography




Thandie Newton
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Thandie Newton

Newton at the 2007 BAFTAs
Born Thandiwe Adjewa Newton
November 6, 1972 (1972-11-06) (age 36)
London, England1
Years active 1991-present
Spouse(s) Ol Parker (1997-present) 2 children

Thandiwe Adjewa "Thandie" Newton (born 6 November 1972) is a BAFTA- and SAG Award-winning English234 actress. She has appeared in a number of successful British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness; Run, Fat Boy, Run; Mission: Impossible II; and Crash.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Newton is the daughter of Nyasha, a Zimbabwean health-care worker, and Nick Newton, a white5 English laboratory technician and artist.67 Her birthplace has been incorrectly reported to be Zambia in biographies,67 but she has confirmed in interviews that she was born in London, during a two week trip by her parents.89 The name "Thandiwe" means "beloved" 10 in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa or Swazi and the name "Thandie" is pronounced TAN-dee. According to Newton, her mother is a Zimbabwean Shona Princess.11 She was raised in London and Penzance, Cornwall, and studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Downing College, Cambridge.

Career

Newton made her film debut in Flirting (1991). She gained international recognition in the Merchant-Ivory production of Jefferson in Paris as Sally Hemings, which led to her being cast in Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998), in which she played the title character. She played the female lead Nyah Hall in the film Mission: Impossible II. When this film went over schedule, she had to pull out of the film Charlie's Angelscitation needed, and her character ultimately went to Lucy Liu.

Between 2003 and 2005, Newton played Makemba "Kem" Likasu, the love interest, and later wife of Dr. John Carter on the American television series ER, and in 2004 also appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick and Crash. In the latter, she played a wealthy black woman who, along with her husband, finds herself the target of a racist policeman (played by Matt Dillon). Newton was honoured with a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006. She also played Chris Gardner's wife, Linda Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happyness.

In addition to her film and television credits she played the title role in a 2006 radio pantomime version of Cinderella.12

In 2007, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy in the comedy Norbit as his love interest, and opposite Simon Pegg as his ex-girlfriend in the comedy Run Fat Boy Run.

Newton's next portrayed U.S. National Security Advisor-turned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in W., Oliver Stone's film biography of President George W. Bush. The film was released Friday, October 17, 2008.

Newton was an introducer at Wembley Stadium on 7 July 2007 for the UK leg of Live Earth. She was due to introduce Al Gore to the concert, but he was delayed, leaving Newton to tell jokes to try and entertain the audience.citation needed

Personal life

Newton married English writer/director/producer Ol Parker in 1998. The couple have two daughters: Ripley, born in 2000, and Nico, born in 2004. Her daughters were named after the character Ripley in the Alien films and Nico from Above The Law.

In 2006, she contributed a foreword to We Wish: Hopes and Dreams of Cornwall's Children, a book of children's writing published in aid of the NSPCC. In it, she writes vividly about her childhood memories of growing up in Cornwall and the way in which the county's vibrant cultural heritage made it easy for her to "enrich every situation with layers of magic and meaning".13

Newton swapped her BMW X5 for a Toyota Prius after protesters bombarded the car with eggs at the gates of her daughters’ school. She then wrote to her celebrity friends, asking them to join her in switching to more environmentally sound cars.14

Newton has suffered from bulimia.15

Filmography

Newton at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Year Film Character
1991 Flirting Thandiwe Adjewa
Pirate Prince Becky Newton
1993 The Young Americans Rachael Stevens
1994 Loaded Zita
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles Yvette
1995 Jefferson in Paris Sally Hemings
The Journey of August King Annalees
1996 The Leading Man Hilary Rule
1997 Gridlock'd Barbara 'Cookie' Cook
In Your Dreams Clare
1998 Beloved Beloved
Besieged Shandurai
2000 Mission: Impossible II Nyah Nordoff-Hall
It Was an Accident Noreen Hurlock
2002 The Truth About Charlie Regina Lambert
2003 Shade Tiffany
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick Dame Vaako
Crash Christine
2006 The Pursuit of Happyness Linda
2007 Norbit Kate
Run, Fat Boy, Run Libby
2008 RocknRolla Stella
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Herself
W. Condoleezza Rice
2009 2012 TBA

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ^ http://www.kamwilliams.com/2008/03/thandie-newton-run-fatboy-run-interview.html
  2. ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article4666651.ece
  3. ^ http://www.tribune.ie/archive/article/2008/sep/21/when-thandie-met-condi/
  4. ^ http://sensoryoverload.typepad.com/sensory_overload/2004/08/thandie_newton_.html
  5. ^ Barton, Laura (2008-05-28). "'I was so incredibly self-conscious'". The Guardian.
  6. ^ a b biography at nytimes.com
  7. ^ a b biography at yahoo movies
  8. ^ BBC Two (4 June 2008), "A Taste of My Life", Series 4, Thandie Newton -- Quote: "Nigel Slater (host): You were born in London but you didn't stay here for long did you? You went down to Cornwall? Thandie Newton (answers): Actually I don't know how my mum and dad managed to do this. But we lived in Zambia, and my mum was pregnant with me. And I was born on a two week trip back to London, and then we went back to Zambia and my brother was born there. And we ended up coming to England finally when I was three years old. So my dad could help out with the family antique business."
  9. ^ News Blaze (24 March 2008), Thandie Newton "Run, Fatboy, Run" Interview with Kam Williams
  10. ^ Thandiwe http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Thandiwe
  11. ^ "Daily Telegraph".
  12. ^ Doctor Who poised for radio panto from BBC News
  13. ^ We Wish - Hopes and dreams of Cornwall's children
  14. ^ Craig McLean Telling it like it is Scotsman.com - 7 January 2007
  15. ^ [1]

External links


Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Cate Blanchett
for The Aviator		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2006
for Crash		 Succeeded by
Jennifer Hudson
for Dreamgirls