Charlize Theron grew up on a farm outside Benoni, South Africa, as the only child. She got an education as a ballet dancer and has danced both the "Swan Lake" and the "Nutcracker Suite". There wasn't much for a young actress or dancer to do in South Africa, so she soon traveled to Europe and United States of America, where she got job at the Joffrey Ballet in New York. She was also able to work as a photo model. However, an injured knee put a halt to her dancing career.At the age of 18, her mother made her go to Los Angeles to try a career in the movie industry. She came to Los Angeles without knowing anyone in the city but after two weeks when she was standing in line on Hollywood Boulevard an agent gave her his card. After eight months in Los Angeles she got her first part. Since then, she has taken acting lessons and her career has skyrocketed, most lately in The Devil's Advocate (1997).

1. Snow White and the Huntsman (Albă ca Zăpada şi Războinicul Vânător) (2012) - The Evil Queen 2. Prometheus (Prometheus) (2012) - Meredith Vickers

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3. Young Adult (Tânăra adultă) (2011) - Mavis Gary 4. Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon: An American Cinematheque Tribute (2010) - Herself 5. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010) - Herself - Presenter: 'Precious' Film Clip 6. The Road (Drumul) (2009) - Woman 7. The Burning Plain (2008) - Sylvia

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8. Sleepwalking (2008) - Joleen

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9. Hancock (2008) - Mary

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10. In the Valley of Elah (2007) - Det. Emily Sanders

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11. Æon Flux (2005) - Æon Flux 12. North Country (2005) - Josey Aimes 13. Michael Moore, el gran agitador (2004) - Herself (archive footage) (uncredited) 14. Head in the Clouds (2004) - Gilda Bessé 15. The Italian Job (2003) - Stella Bridger 16. "Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (2003) - Herself (2 episodes, 2005-2011) 17. "Arrested Development" (2003) - Rita (5 episodes, 2005) 18. Monster (2003) - Aileen 19. Waking Up in Reno (2002) - Candy Kirkendall 20. Trapped (2002) - Karen 21. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Laura Kensington 22. Sweet November (2001) - Sara Deever 23. 15 Minutes (2001) - Rose Hearn 24. Sweet November: From the Heart (2001) - Herself 25. The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) - Adele Invergordon 26. Men of Honor (2000) - Gwen Sunday 27. The Cider House Rules (1999) - Candy Kendall 28. The Astronaut's Wife (1999) - Jillian Armacost 29. Celebrity (1998) - Supermodel 30. Mighty Joe Young (1998) - Jill Young 31. The Devil's Advocate (1997) - Mary Ann Lomax

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32. 2 Days in the Valley (1996) - Helga Svelgen 33. That Thing You Do! (1996) - Tina 34. "The Daily Show" (1996) - Herself (3 episodes, 2000-2008) 35. Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) - Young Woman (uncredited) 36. "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) - Herself - Guest / ... (5 episodes, 2003-2011) 37. "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993) - Herself (8 episodes, 1997-2007)

1. When she was 15 her father attacked her mother, and her mother shot him in self-defense. He died, but her mother was not charged in the incident.

2. First language is Afrikaans, English is spoken as her second language.

3. Appeared in the May 1999 issue of Playboy Magazine.

4. Became a fashion model at age 14.

5. Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. (2000).

6. Turned down the female lead in Pearl Harbor (2001) to star alongside Keanu Reeves in Sweet November (2001).

7. Auditioned for the female lead of Nomi Malone in Showgirls (1995).

8. Dated Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind, from January 1998 to July 2001.

9. Was ranked 4th of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001).

10. Placed #1 on Beautiful People Internet Poll, narrowly beating Cameron Diaz in #2 and Kate Beckinsale in #3. The photo featured on the site was the famous 'Diving Board' photo.

11. Both her parents are Africans, born and raised in South Africa. However her father is of French descent and her mother of German descent.

12. Voted the 12th Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.

13. Measurements: 36B-24-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).

14. Used hypnotherapy as an aid to quit smoking.

15. Is the only child of Charles, whom she was named after, and Gerda Theron.

16. She gained 30 pounds to play Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003).

17. On the show, "Sunday Morning Shootout" (2003), it was revealed that her manager discovered her in a Hollywood bank after he witnessed her yelling at a bank teller for refusing to cash her check.

18. Won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Aileen Wuornos on what would have been Aileen's 48th birthday: 29 February 2004.

19. After winning her Oscar, she returned to great celebrations in her native South Africa, and she even met former South African President Nelson Mandela. When he praised her for putting their country on the map and gave her a hug, Theron broke into tears (she was guest of honor at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on March 11th 2004).

20. Has said her favorite actor is Tom Hanks.

21. In 2004, injured her neck while filming Æon Flux (2005). Luckily, the injury wasn't serious enough to put her in the hospital, but it did shut down production for several weeks.

22. As a teenager in her native South Africa, she learned English by watching American TV.

23. At the 2005 Golden Globes she was sporting a new dark hair color. She is a now a member of the celebrities who have dyed their hair from blonde to brown, or black. They include, among others: Mary-Kate Olsen; Nicky Hilton; Mandy Moore; Renée Zellweger; Christina Aguilera, Melinda Messenger and Ashlee Simpson.

24. She was the first person to sign on to be a presenter at the 77th Annual Academy Awards.

25. Second actress (the first was Kim Basinger) to win an Oscar after appearing naked in Playboy magazine.

26. She is the second South African-born person to win an Academy Award. The South African-born cinematographer Ted Moore was the first. South African-born actor Basil Rathbone was the first South African-born actor to be nominated, followed by Cecil Kellaway. Theron was the first South African-born woman to win an Oscar.

27. Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (September 29, 2005).

28. Named #15 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list.

29. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2006 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actress category for her performance in the film Æon Flux (2005). However, she failed to receive a nomination. (Had she gotten the nomination, she would have been the first person to be nominated for both Leading Actress awards at the Oscars, for North Country (2005), and the Razzies.)

30. Named #4 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement (2005).

31. Studied acting with Ivana Chubbuck.

32. Named #15 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).

33. Dyed her hair black for Æon Flux (2005).

34. Trained as a ballet dancer at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, and performed in both "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". Her dancing career ended after a knee injury.

35. One of the first movies she ever went to see at the theater was Splash (1984). She confessed that after watching the movie, she felt jealous of Daryl Hannah and developed a crush on Tom Hanks. She even said to herself that she could have played the role of Madison better than Hannah.

36. Shares the same background as actor Daniel Bonjour who also left South Africa as a teenage actor and traveled to Europe and then America. Both their parents are of European background. Also, both actors have found it easier to simply use an American accent in their work.

37. Chosen by Femme Fatales magazine as one of the "50 sexiest women on the planet". [February 2006]

38. Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2007.

39. Entertainment Weekly predicted her Oscar win for Monster (2003) eleven months before she won it.

40. She earns $2 million per year endorsing Dior's J'Adore fragrance as well as $2.5 million per year endorsing Swiss Watch-maker, Raymond Weil.

41. At 16, she won a modeling competition to go to Milan and work on the catwalks and at 18, she won a scholarship to study ballet at the Joffrey School in New York. She turned to acting only because she injured both knees.

42. Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year for 2008.

43. Announced on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) that she is now a United States citizen (March 12, 2008).

44. Ranked #11 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.

45. Was considered for the role of Vickie Kittrie in Mercy (2000).

46. She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

47. Was in consideration for the part of Satine in Moulin Rouge! (2001) but Nicole Kidman, who went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, was cast instead.

48. Replaced Angelina Jolie in the role Dagny Taggart in Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011) before being replaced by Taylor Schilling.

49. Was originally cast as Greta Wegener in The Danish Girl (2012) but after dropping out of the project when production was delayed she was replaced by Gwyneth Paltrow, who in turn was replaced by Marion Cotillard.

50. Made jalapeño cornbread with two turkeys for Thankgiving [November, 2009].

51. Loves soccer.

52. Was in a relationship with Stuart Townsend, having met on the set of Trapped (2002) (August 2001-January 2010).

53. Good friends with her North Country (2005) costar Jeremy Renner.

54. Lives in Los Angeles and Malibu, California.

55. Was in consideration for the role of Helen Gandy in J. Edgar (2011), but Naomi Watts was cast instead.

56. Named the "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire Magazine (2007).

57. Received the "Decade of Hotness" award from Spike TV (Guy's Choice).

58. Voted #24 in the 2007 Askmen Australia "top 99 most desirable women" list. She was voted #6 the previous year in 2006.

59. Voted #3 in the 2005 Askmen "top 99 most desirable women" list.

60. Voted #1 in the 2003 Askmen "top 99 most desirable women" list.

61. Ranked #20 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".