Academy Award Nominated actress Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek Jiménez, born September 2, 1966, is an Academy Award-nominated actress. Also an Emmy winning director, a film and television producer. The most successful Latin American actress in Hollywood since Carmen Miranda, Hayek has appeared in more than thirty films, worked as an actress outside of Hollywood in Mexico and Spain.

Hayek's charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants.

Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico to Sami Hayek, an oil company executive, and Diana Jimenez, an opera singer. Hayek's paternal grandparents were Lebanese, while her mother is of Spanish background. Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of 12. She was also an accomplished gymnast, with aspirations of becoming an Olympic competitor.

After leaving the school due to alleged behavioral problems with the religious sisters who ran the school, Hayek returned to Mexico for a period, but then she was sent to Houston, Texas, to live with her aunt, where she stayed until she was 17. She subsequently moved to Mexico City for college, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana. To the chagrin of her family, she decided to drop out in order to pursue a career as an actress.

At the age of 23, Hayek landed the title role in Teresa (1989), a successful telenovela (Mexican soap opera) which earned her star status in her native country. Later, in 1994, Hayek starred in El Callejón de los Milagros ("The Alley of Miracles"), which has won more awards than any other movie in the history of Mexican Cinema. For her performance Hayek was nominated to an Ariel Award.

Despite limited fluency in English, Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991 to study acting under Stella Adler with the hopes of starting a career in Hollywood. Robert Rodriguez and his producer wife Elizabeth Avellan soon gave Hayek the break she needed, starring opposite Antonio Banderas in 1995's Desperado. This movie brought Hayek to Hollywood's attention, as moviegoers proved to be as dazzled with Hayek as Rodriguez had been.

She followed her success in Desperado with a brief but memorable role in From Dusk Till Dawn. In 1999 she co-starred in Will Smith's big-budget Wild Wild West and played a supporting role in Kevin Smith's Dogma. In 2000 she had an uncredited acting part opposite Benicio Del Toro in Traffic.

Around this time Hayek founded production company Ventanarosa through which she produces film and television projects.

Frida, co-produced by Hayek, was released in 2002. Starring Hayek as Frida Kahlo, and Alfred Molina as her unfaithful husband, Diego Rivera, the film also featured an entourage of stars in supporting roles, including Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Geoffrey Rush, Edward Norton and Valeria Golino and was directed by Julie Taymor. She earned a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance.

In 2003 she reprised her role from Desperado by appearing in the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

In that same year she directed the The Maldonado Miracle, a Showtime movie which won her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special.

In December 2005 she directed a music video for Prince, titled "Te Amo Corazon" ("I love you, sweetheart") that featured Mia Maestro, with whom she is good friends.

In September 2006 Hayek added another accomplishment, that of executive producer of Ugly Betty, an American television series that has attracted a lot of attention and critical acclaim. Hayek adapted the series for American Television with Silvio Horta who aquired the rights and scripts from the Colombian Telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea in 2001. Originally intended for NBC in 2004, the project would later be picked up by ABC as a 2006-2007 Fall TV season entry thanks in part to the buzz and feedback Hayek's contribution has generated.

Hayek dated fellow actor Edward Norton for four years, between 1999 and 2003, and then Josh Lucas from 2003 until 2004.

Concerning marriage Hayek has said, "Women have been taught that in order to have a place in the world, an identity, they must marry and have children. If that's the life you truly want, great. But for many women, marriage is only about needing the world to know that someone desires them enough to say, 'Here's a contract to prove that I love you and will commit to you for the rest of my life.' For these women, no contract equals no validation - and, thus, no reason for existing." As of 2006, Hayek is single and has homes in Los Angeles and Mexico. She is best friends with Spanish actress, Penelope Cruz. The two co-starred in the 2006 film, Bandidas.

She is a student of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment.

(Source: Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.com)