The Hall of Fame

Nicole (Mary) Kidman (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award winning Australian actress, producer, and singer. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Dr Antony David Kidman and Janelle Ann (nee MacNeille). At the time, her father was a cancer research specialist in Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Nicole was four years old, when Tony Kidman took on a lectureship at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Biography

Early life and career

Nicole started taking ballet lessons when she was three, and this led to studies at St. Martin's Youth Theatre in Melbourne, the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, and then to the Philip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and theatre history. She studied at North Sydney Girls' High School, but dropped out when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, as Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother's recovery.

Her first appearance on film came in 1983 when, as a 15 year-old, she appeared in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of the year she had secured a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek, and four film roles, including BMX Bandits and Bush Christmas. During the 1980s and early 1990s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the soap opera A Country Practice, the mini-series Vietnam (1986), Bangkok Hilton (1989) and Flirting (1991). In 1989 she appeared in Dead Calm which gained her notice in the United States.

Marriage to Cruise

Her American debut was in Days of Thunder (1990), a stock-car racing movie opposite Tom Cruise. Although Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers at the time, he and Kidman became “an item“. Cruise divorced Rogers and the couple married on Christmas Eve of 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, and lived in Los Angeles, California, Australia, Colorado, and New York.

After ten years, the marriage was dissolved in 2001: there was much media speculation about the reasons for this, but both celebrities maintained their privacy and were guarded in their public comments. One persistent rumour claims however that Kidman's desire to bring up their children Catholic, and her critical views on Scientology caused the problems in her marriage with Tom Cruise, who is known to be an outspoken follower of the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard.

Hollywood career

After “Days of Thunder“ she starred with Cruise in Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992). Later she was in Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Stanley Kubrick's final film, when she co-starred with her husband as a married couple for the second time.

1995 was to bring much success. She was featured in the all-star cast of Batman Forever and later that same year she starred in To Die For, earning high praise from critics. Although media speculation thought that she would earn an Academy Award nomination for her performance, it was not to be. She did however win a Golden Globe award.

Kidman's most professionally successful year was 2001, with her Oscar-nominated performance in Moulin Rouge! and well-received star turn in a horror film, The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her knee, so Jodie Foster had to replace her in Panic Room. The following year Kidman came back to win the same praise from critics for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role. In the same year she took a hand at production for the film In the Cut.

In 2004, Kidman appeared in the remake of The Stepford Wives alongside Glenn Close, Faith Hill and Bette Midler. In September of the same year, Kidman's film Birth in which the 37 year-old actress' character falls in love with a 10 year-old boy (played by Cameron Bright), who she believed to be a reincarnation of her dead husband, the film was met with a mixed reception. Despite the mixed reception, the film was nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Awards

Film awards

Kidman won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours: for the same film she won a BAFTA award. Kidman was nominated in 2002 for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Academy Award winning musical, Moulin Rouge!.

She has also been nominated seven times for a Golden Globe, the first time being in 1992 for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Kidman won her first of three Golden Globes in 1996 for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Motion Picture for the film To Die For, her second win was in 2002 again for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Motion Picture for Moulin Rouge!, her third win was in 2003 in the Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture for the film The Hours. She was nominated four consecutive times in the Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture Golden Globe, in the years 2002-2005, for the following films in chronological order: The Others, The Hours, Cold Mountain, and most recently Birth.

Kidman has won one British Academy Award(BAFTA), it was for her performance in The Hours. She was nominated for the BAFTA two other times, in 2002 and 1996. In 2003, Kidman was given the American Cinematheque Award. She won two MTV Film Awards in 2002 for Moulin Rouge!. She has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2003, Kidman received her Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California.

In addition to those accolades, Kidman has received Best Actress awards from the following critics' groups or award giving organizations: Australian Film Institute, Berlin International Film Festival, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Empire Awards, Golden Satellite Awards, Hollywood Film Festival, Kansas City Film Critics Circle, Las Vegas Film Critics Society, London Critics Circle, Prestige Academy of Motion Pictures & Television, Russian Guild of Film Critics, Seattle International Film Festival, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association.

Other awards

Kidman publicly supports a variety of charities and causes. She has been a high profile Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Australia since 1994. She has worked to help raise money for and draw attention to the plight of and the most disadvantaged children in Australia and around the world. In (2004) she was honoured as a "Citizen of the World" by the United Nations. Kidman was selected as the New South Wales Australian of the Year 2005. In 2005 she visited the tsunami-hit regions of SE Asia.

Singing

Not known as a singer prior to Moulin Rouge!, Kidman had several well received vocal performances in the film. Her collaboration with Ewan McGregor on the song "Come What May", from the film's soundtrack debuted and peaked at #27 on the UK Singles Chart. Later, she collaborated with Robbie Williams on the song "Somethin' Stupid", a cover of the old swing song on Williams' swing covers album "Swing When You're Winning" (debuting and peaking at #8 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at #1 for three weeks in the UK, also becoming the UK Christmas #1 Single for 2001).

Movies in production

The Lady from Shanghai, Emma's War, Fur, American Darlings, Wedding Season, Bewitched, and the animated musical Happy Feet are future movies for Kidman. Kidman was cast in The Producers however has had to pull out due to filming Eucalyptus in Australia and was replaced with Uma Thurman. Eucalyptus would have been Kidman's first native film since Moulin Rouge! but filming was halted after the cast and crew determined that the script needed to be re-written. The next Kidman movie released will be Bewitched. She is currently filming the Diane Arbus bio-pic Fur. There is a rumour that Kidman may star in an upcoming yet to be titled Baz Luhrmann Australian period film.

Other notes

• As Kidman was born in Hawaii, she is an American citizen by birth. She has dual nationality and carries both Australian and U.S. passports.

• Kidman's sister Antonia is an entertainment reporter for an Australian television program, and also has her own very successful parenting program title 'The Little Things' set to be syndicated around the world.

• Kidman is also a well renowned fashion paradigm and a frequent "Best Dressed" staple.

• In August 2004, the Australian magazine BRW listed Kidman as the richest Australian woman under the age of 40, with an estimated worth of 155 million A$ (Australian dollars), or $107 million in United States dollars.

• In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney-based paparazzi photographers.

• Kidman is a prominent botox and plastic surgery user

Filmography

• BMX Bandits (1983)

• Bush Christmas (1983)

• Wills & Burke (1985)

• Archer's Adventure (1985)

• Windrider (1986)

• Watch the Shadows Dance (1987)

• The Bit Part (1987)

• Emerald City (1988)

• Dead Calm (1989)

• Days of Thunder (1990)

• Flirting (1991)

• Billy Bathgate (1991)

• Far and Away (1992)

• Malice (1993)

• My Life (1993)

• To Die For (1995)

• Batman Forever (1995)

• The Leading Man (1996)

• The Portrait of a Lady (1996)

• The Peacemaker (1997)

• Practical Magic (1998)

• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

• Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001) (documentary)

• Moulin Rouge! (2001)

• The Others (2001)

• Birthday Girl (2001)

• Panic Room (2002) (voice)

• The Hours (2002)

• Dogville (2003)

• Dogville Confessions (2003) (documentary)

• The Human Stain (2003)

• Cold Mountain (2003)

• The Stepford Wives (2004)

• Birth (2004)

• The Interpreter (2005)

• Bewitched (2005)

• Fur (2005) (currently filming)

• Happy Feet (2006) (voice) (currently filming)

• Emma's War (2005) (currently in pre-production)

• American Darlings (2005) (currently in pre-production) (also as executive producer)

• Wedding Season (2006) (announced)

Discography

• Come What May Single (Duet with Ewan McGregor - October 2001) UK #27

• Somethin' Stupid Single (Duet with Robbie Williams - December 2001) UK #1