Kate Beckinsale Biography

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Kate Beckinsale is a native of London, born July 26, 1973. Living under a roof of actors, Kate’s father was TV actor Richard Beckinsale, her mother Judy Loe a TV and stage actress and half-sister actress Samantha. Kate Beckinsale attended a private school, Godolphin and Latymer, where she won two W.H. Smith Young Writer’s competition for 3 short stories and 3 poems. As a teenager, she rebelled, became anorexic and started smoking. However, Kate easily outgrew her rebellious stage and followed the footsteps of her parents by trying a career in acting.

Kate Beckinsale’s first role was a 1991 TV film about World War II, “One Against the Wind”. After this film, she decided to attend New College, Oxford University and take up French and Russian literature to broaden her range of acting roles. During her first year in college, Beckinsale was offered a role in a big Kenneth Branagh film, “Much Ado About Nothing”. After three years of studies and spending her last year in Paris, she decided to quit college and focus on her acting career.

In 1996, Kate Beckinsale starred in a low profile TV adaptation, “Emma” and continued to appear in big-screen films, “Shooting Fish” and “The Last Days of Disco” in 1998. Aside from her TV and film roles, Beckinsale also appeared in stage roles, such as “Cold Comfort Farm”. However, it was only until 1999, when Kate Beckinsale's first major American film “Brokedown Palace” gave way to her Hollywood fame. Although her first American film was not a commercial success, she was still given a female lead in the 2001 “Pearl Harbor”, giving way to several other high-profile films including, 2001 “Serendipity”, 2003 “Underworld”, 2004 “Van Helsing”. Unfortunately, most of these films were given poor critical reception.

In 2006, Kate Beckinsale again played as the sexy vampire in the movie “Underworld: Evolution”, a sequel to the 2003 film directed by Len Wiseman (her current husband). During its first week of release, her second vampire film grossed over $25 million. She then appeared with Adam Sandler in a comedy film, “Click”. It was also in 2006 that Beckinsale was named #23 of FHM’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World”. In 2007, Beckinsale took the lead role in the suspense film “Vacancy” and is scheduled to release “Snow Angels” some time in 2008.

Kate Beckinsale has a daughter (named Lily Mo Sheen) with her ex-boyfriend Michael Sheen, whom she costarred in Underworld. She split with Sheen and became involved with the director, Len Wiseman. The two were married on May 9, 2004 in California.