Kate Winslet was born October 5 1975, in Reading UK, into a theatrically orientated family. Her grandmother owned a repertory theatre in Reading, and both her sisters are actresses. She was raised as any normal child, with a solid and down to earth background.

She realised her true love for acting when she played Mary in a Christmas nativity play. To pursue her interest further, she attended Redroofs Theatre School, were she completed her GCSEs at 16.

After graduating, she landed her first acting job in a British comedy called 'Get Back', her previous job being in a 'Sugar Puffs' ad, at age 13. This led on to a succession of roles including those in 'Shrinks' (1988), 'Casualty' (1989), 'Dart Season' (1991) and 'Anglo Saxon Attitudes' (1991).

Her first motion picture debut was made in 'Heavanly Creatures', for which she received critical acclaim. After the success of 'Heavenly Creatures', she landed a part in 'A Kid In King Authors' Court', which led to the role of Marianne Pashwood in Jane Austin's 'Sense and Sensibility', for which she won an Academy Award nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, in 1996.

In 1996 she played the challenging role of the troubled Ophelia in William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', and later took on the obscure character in 'Jude'.

And of course, her latest role as Rose DeWitt Bukater in James Cameron's 'TITANIC', again, won great critical acclaim, Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, in 1997.

"you never think about the nominations or awards. You think about what you're doing, and doing the work the best you possibly can - and the finished result"

Kate will next be seen in 'Hideously Kinky', in which she will play a hippy mother of the 1960s, who moves to Morroco. She has also signed on to do 'Holy Smoke' which will commence in the summer of 1998. We will be seeing a lot more of the talented young Kate!