Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet (born 5.10.1975)

Kate Winslet is a British Oscar-nominated actress.

Kate Winslet: Childhood

Kate Winslet was born in Reading, Berkshire. Her mother, Sally Ann, was a barmaid and her father, Roger, was a swimming pool contractor. Both were also actors, as are her sisters, Beth and Anna.

Kate began to study acting at the Redroofs Theatre School when she was 11. Whilst she was still at school, Winslet appeared in an advert for Sugar Puffs, directed by Tim Pope.

Kate Winslet: Acting Career

Kate Winslet's TV career began with a role in Dark Season, a BBC children's science fiction series. She also appeared in an episode of Casualty, a popular BBC weekend hospital drama.

Winslet's film career began successfully, when she appeared in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, playing a girl that helps a friend murder her mother.

Kate's breakthrough film was her appearance in Sense and Sensibility, alongside Emma Thompson, who had written the film's screenplay.

In 1997, Kate Winslet's performance in Titanic, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio saw her become an international star. The film was a huge commercial success and won 11 Academy Awards.

Following the massive success of Titanic, Winslet went on to make smaller independent films, such as Hideous Kinky and Holy Smoke! She has also turned down a number of roles that have gone on to be iconic, such as Éowyn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. For some time, Winslet became known as 'Corset Kate' as she had a propensity for taking roles in period dramas, such as Quills and Finding Neverland.

In 2005, Ricky Gervais invited Kate Winslet to appear in his comedy show Extras, sending herself up. In the show she tells another character that she is doing a film about the Holocaust because she is tired of losing out on Oscars. Gervais has since commented that Kate Winslet was his favourite guest on the show.

In 2007, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio signed up to be reunited onscreen again, in Revolutionary Road, a film set in the 1950s.

Kate Winslet: Personal Life

Kate Winslet dated the actor Stephen Tredre for five years, early on in her acting career. When Tredre died of cancer, Kate missed the premiere of Titanic to attend his funeral. She also had a relationship with another actor, Rufus Sewell.

In 1998, Kate Winslet married the film director Jim Threapleton. The pair have a daughter, Mia Honey, who was born in 2000. Winslet and Threapleton divorced in 2001 and Kate began dating Sam Mendes. She married Mendes in 2003, in the Caribbean. They have a son, Joe Alfie, who was born in 2003. They currently live in New York City but also own a house in Gloucestershire in England.