A file photo of Nicole Kidman at the world premiere of 'The Golden Compass' at Odeon Leicester Square in London November 27. Photo Credit: Solarpix / PR Photos April 10, 2008 (Sawf News) - Academy award winning Australian actress Nicole Mary Kidman is one of the highest paid actresses in the film industry. She rose to fame with her role in the thriller Dead Calm (1989), and is best known for films such as Moulin Rouge!, The Others and The Hours.
Born on June 20, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nicole's father is a biochemist, clinical psychologist and author; and her mother is a nursing instructor who edits her husband's books. Nicole attended Lane Cove Public School in her primary years, and later attended North Sydney Girls' High School with close friend Naomi Watts.
After first appearing in a film in 1983, Nicole went on to do a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek, and acted in several Hollywood and Australian films.
Her performance in the thriller Dead Calm, as the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill) held captive on a Pacific Ocean yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane), won her critical acclaim.
Her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours won her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA, besides numerous critic awards.
Kidman met her first husband Tom Cruise on the set of Days of Thunder (1990), when he was married to actress Mimi Rogers. Tom later divorced Mimi and married Nicole on Christmas Eve 1990 in Telluride, Colorado.
The couple adopted two children, daughter Isabella Jane Kidman-Cruise (b. December 22, 1992) and son Connor Anthony Kidman-Cruise (b. January 17, 1995). They separated just after their 10th wedding anniversary; at the time Nicole was 3 months pregnant and subsequently had a miscarriage.
They were granted a divorce in 2001 for irreconcilable differences.
Nicole met her current husband, country crooner Keith Urban, in January 2005. The two married on Sunday June 25, 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney.
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