Sandra Bullock

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Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock in Cannes in 2002.
Birth name	Sandra Annette Bullock
Born	July 26, 1964 (age 42) Jackson, Michigan

Sandra Annette Bullock (born July 26, 1964 in Jackson, Michigan) is an American film actress. She came to fame in the 1990s, after roles in successful films like Speed and While You Were Sleeping, and has since established a career as a well-known Hollywood leading actress, with the box office comedy Miss Congeniality and one of her most recent film roles, in 2005's Crash, receiving critical acclaim.

1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Bullock was born in Jackson, Michigan, to John Bullock (a Pentagon contractor and part-time vocal coach from Alabama) and Helga Meyer (a German opera singer who died of cancer on April 4, 2000); her maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist from Nuremberg. Bullock lived in Nuremberg until age twelve, where she sang in the opera's childrens' choir at the Staatstheater Nürnberg.^[1] She frequently traveled with her mother on her opera tours, and lived in Germany and other parts of Europe for much of her childhood. She is said to be fluent in German, although when starring in German TV shows, she prefers to speak English (the TV hosts speak German though). Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child, taking small parts in her mother's opera productions, and later attended Washington-Lee High School, where her graduating class voted her "Most Likely to Brighten up Your Day". She attended East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, but left school during her senior year to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. She later completed her coursework and was awarded a bachelor's degree from East Carolina University.

[edit] Career

Bullock subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, and was cast in a series of small roles in several independent films as well as in the lead role of the television version of the film Working Girl. One of Bullock's first notable movie appearances was in Demolition Man (1993), which led to her breakthrough performance in Speed the following year. She became a high-level movie star in the late 1990s, carrying a string of successes, including While You Were Sleeping (she replaced actress Demi Moore, who was originally scheduled to star), Miss Congeniality and Two Weeks Notice.

She has been selected as one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1996 and 1999, and has also been ranked #58 in Empire magazine's Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list.

She runs her own production company, Fortis Films; her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado,^[2] is vice-president of the company. Bullock tried to produce a film based on F.X. Toole's short story Million-Dollar Baby, but couldn't interest studios in a female boxing drama.^[3] The story was eventually made as the Oscar-winning film Million Dollar Baby (2004).

In 2005, Bullock had a supporting role in the film Crash. She received positive reviews for her performance, with some critics suggesting that it was the best performance of her career. Bullock's latest film is The Lake House, a romantic drama also starring her Speed co-star, Keanu Reeves; it was released on June 16, 2006. Because their film characters are separated throughout the film (due to the plot revolving around time travel), Bullock and Reeves were only on set together for two weeks during filming.^[4] Bullock will next appear in Infamous, in which she will play author Harper Lee; Bullock will also play author Grace Metalious, who was best known for the controversial novel Peyton Place, in an upcoming film. She also stars in Premonition with Julian McMahon, set for February 2007 release.

[edit] Personal life

Bullock married motorcycle builder and Monster Garage host Jesse James on July 16, 2005; they met when Bullock arranged for her ten-year-old godson to meet James as a Christmas present. On her husband and her marriage, Bullock has commented "So basically through a courtship of letters... I learned about a human being. It was not something I wanted, needed, or looked for, but because he was a stronger person than I was, spiritually and on a tolerance level, I was lucky enough that he educated me... I always thought of marriage as a death sentence, that there'd be a ball and chain, and you'd be told, 'You need to stop doing these things and become a good little wife.'" Now people say 'oh my God you're going to have sex with one person the rest of your life!' I hope I have sex with him for the rest of my life - because I like it!"^[5] Bullock was once engaged to actor Tate Donovan, and had previously dated football player Troy Aikman, blues guitarist Guy Forsythe, Austin musician Bob Schneider and film co-stars, Ryan Gosling and Matthew McConaughey.

On December 20, 2000, Sandra Bullock survived the crash of a chartered business jet at Jackson Hole airport. The aircraft missed the runway resulting in both the nose gear and nose cone being ripped off, the right wing partially separated from the aircraft and the left wing bent back.

When the September 11th, 2001 attacks occurred, Bullock was staying at the Soho Grand hotel, twelve blocks from the World Trade Center. She saw the attacks from her hotel bedroom window and went to a nearby hospital to offer help. As all phone lines in New York City were down, she spent the rest of the day using her Palm Pilot to send e-mails on behalf of patients wanting to contact their families.^[6]

Bullock has twice donated $1 million to the American Red Cross, first to its Liberty Disaster Relief Fund and four years later in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis.

In October 2004, Bullock won a multimillion dollar judgment against Benny Daneshjou, the builder of her Lake Austin Texas mansion; the jury ruled the house was uninhabitable. It has since been torn down.