On this date in 1981, actress Natalie Hershlag (stage name Natalie Portman) was born in Jerusalem, Israel. Portman’s ancestors were Austrian, Russian, Polish and Romanian Jews. Some emigrated to Israel and others died in Auschwitz. Portman’s parents met in the U.S. at Ohio State University. When she was 3 they moved to Washington, D.C., where her father earned a medical degree and became a fertility specialist.
Starting at age 13, Portman landed roles in several popular films, including “The Professional” (1994), “Heat” (1995), “Beautiful Girls” (1996), “Mars Attacks!” (1996) and the musical “Everyone Says I Love You” (1996).
She gained international fame for playing Queen Amidala/Padmé in “Star Wars: Episode I” (1999) and had to skip the premiere to take her high school final exams. Portman reprised that role in “Star Wars” sequels in 2002 and 2005 and had powerful roles in hit films such as “Anywhere but Here” with Susan Sarandon (1999), “Where the Heart Is” (2000), “Cold Mountain” (2003), “V for Vendetta” (2006), “The Other Boleyn Girl” (2008), “Brothers” (2009) and “Black Swan” (2010), for which she won the Best Actress Golden Globe (2011) and the Best Actress Academy Award (2011). She won her first Golden Globe for her role in the 2004 hit film “Closer,” for Best Supporting Actress.
Portman, who has had several papers published in scientific journals, graduated with a degree in psychology from Harvard in 2003. In addition to her screen work, she is an accomplished stage actress, performing in “The Seagull” at the New York City Public Theater alongside Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman (2001), and playing Anne Frank in the Broadway adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1997).
Continuing to act and produce films in the 2010s, Portman was Oscar-nominated for her portrayal in “Jackie” (2016) of Jacqueline Kennedy after JFK’s death. She played a troubled pop star in the 2018 drama “Vox Lux,” for which she received praise.
Portman speaks Hebrew and has dual U.S.-Israel citizenship. In 2012 she married Benjamin Millepied, a French ballet dancer and choreographer whom she met on the set of “Black Swan.” They have a son, Aleph, born in 2011, and a daughter, Amalia, born in 2017.
PHOTO: Portman at the 2011 Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif.
