Kate Beckinsale Biography

Kate Beckinsale, actress

Birthdate: July 26, 1973

Birthplace: London, England

Sign: Leo

Kate Beckinsale, star of films like "Underworld," "Pearl Harbor" and "Vacancy," was born in London on July 26, 1973. She was born to two actors: Judy Loe, who works primarily in British television productions, and Richard Beckinsale, who starred in 70's British television comedies like "Rising Damp" but died tragically at the young age of 31.

Beckinsale attended the all-girl Godolphin and Latymer School in London and twice won the W.H. Young Writer's competition while in her teens. After a rebellious adolescence and a bout of anorexia, she followed in her parent's footsteps and began acting in 1991. Her first major acting debut was in a 1991 television movie titled "One Against the Wind." She then began attending Oxford University's New College in the Fall of 1991. She then landed a role in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakepeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." She also worked on three other films while attending Oxford University.

She continued to act in smaller films and television movies but in 1999, she co-starred with Claire Danes in her first major American film, "Brokedown Palace." The film wasn't a huge box-office success, but her next film grossed $450 million worldwide: 2001's Michael Bay-directed "Pearl Harbor." After that, Beckinsale had some critically divided but ultimately successful films like 2003's "Underworld" and its sequel "Underworld: Evolution," and the 2006 comedy "Click."

In 1999, she had a daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, with actor Michael Sheen. In 2004, she married her "Underworld" director Len Wiseman. Beckinsale can next be seen in the thriller "Whiteout" with Gabriel Macht, and "Everybody's Fine" with Drew Barrymore and Robert De Niro.