Despite winning multiple awards including an Oscar for "The Reader" and many nominations in the last 14 years, Kate Winslet will always be remembered for "Titanic".
The iconic scene everyone remembers is Winslet standing in the bow of the "Ship of Dreams" supported by Leonardo Dicaprio as the haunting tune "My Heart Will Go On" was played in the background.
Born in Reading Berkshire where her grandparents Linda and Archibald Oliver Bridges founded and operated the repertory theatre, her parents were "jobbing actors" and her Uncle Robert was in the original West End production of Lionel Bart's "Oliver".
Winslet's older sister Anna and younger sister Beth are both actresses and she always says she never had a privileged background, she just lived from hand-to-mouth.
Although "Titanic" was the film that brought her to the attention of the world it was not a happy time for the British actress. Her partner writer/actor Stephen Tredre with whom she had lived for nearly five years was suffering from bone cancer. He died after filming finished and she missed the Los Angeles Premiere of "Titanic" to attend his funeral in London.
She started studying at the age of 11-years-old at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, Berkshire where she was head girl, and at the age of 12 she appeared in a Sugar Puffs television advertisement directed by film-maker Tim Pope.
Her television acting career began with a co-starring role in the BBC Children's science-fiction serial "Dark Season" and this was followed by appearances in several other television series.
In 1992 she attended a casting call for Peter Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures" in London. She auditioned for the part of Juliet Hulme, a teenager who assists in the murder of the mother of her best friend Pauline Parker. She won the role over 175 other girls and the film also marked Winslet's singing debut.
She sang a cappella version of Sono Andato, an aria from "La Boheme" which was featured on the film's soundtrack. Winslet won an Empire Award and a London Film Critic's Award for Best Actress of the Year for her performance.
She has gone on to make innumerable films since including the film adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's 1995 novel "The Reader" directed by Stephen Daldry which won her an Oscar.
Winslet and Dicaprio remained friends after "Titanic" and they were united again for the film "Revolutionary Road" in 2008 which was directed by her then husband Sam Mendes.
She is playing the lead in the re-make of the 1945 film "Mildred Pierce" which has been turned into a 5-part one hour HBO mini series which premieres on 27th March 2011 and she has been cast in the Steven Soderbergh disaster film "Contagion" which is due to be released in October 2011.
She is currently filming Roman Polanski's adaptation of the play "God of Carnage" in Paris with Jodie Foster and Christoph Waltz.
On 22nd November 1998 she married film director Jim Threapleton whom she met while on the set of "Hideous Kinky" and they have a daughter Mia who was born on 12th October 2000 in London. They were divorced in 2001 and on 24th May 2003 she married director Sam Mendes on the Caribbean Island of Anguilla.
Their son Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes was born on 22nd December 2003 in New York City but the couple split in March 2010 stating "the split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement".
Winslet says she still believes in marriage despite splitting with two husbands over the years. She says she has no idea if she will tie the knot again saying it is not a question she can possibly answer.
The iconic scene everyone remembers is Winslet standing in the bow of the "Ship of Dreams" supported by Leonardo Dicaprio as the haunting tune "My Heart Will Go On" was played in the background.
Born in Reading Berkshire where her grandparents Linda and Archibald Oliver Bridges founded and operated the repertory theatre, her parents were "jobbing actors" and her Uncle Robert was in the original West End production of Lionel Bart's "Oliver".
Winslet's older sister Anna and younger sister Beth are both actresses and she always says she never had a privileged background, she just lived from hand-to-mouth.
Although "Titanic" was the film that brought her to the attention of the world it was not a happy time for the British actress. Her partner writer/actor Stephen Tredre with whom she had lived for nearly five years was suffering from bone cancer. He died after filming finished and she missed the Los Angeles Premiere of "Titanic" to attend his funeral in London.
She started studying at the age of 11-years-old at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, Berkshire where she was head girl, and at the age of 12 she appeared in a Sugar Puffs television advertisement directed by film-maker Tim Pope.
Her television acting career began with a co-starring role in the BBC Children's science-fiction serial "Dark Season" and this was followed by appearances in several other television series.
In 1992 she attended a casting call for Peter Jackson's "Heavenly Creatures" in London. She auditioned for the part of Juliet Hulme, a teenager who assists in the murder of the mother of her best friend Pauline Parker. She won the role over 175 other girls and the film also marked Winslet's singing debut.
She sang a cappella version of Sono Andato, an aria from "La Boheme" which was featured on the film's soundtrack. Winslet won an Empire Award and a London Film Critic's Award for Best Actress of the Year for her performance.
She has gone on to make innumerable films since including the film adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's 1995 novel "The Reader" directed by Stephen Daldry which won her an Oscar.
Winslet and Dicaprio remained friends after "Titanic" and they were united again for the film "Revolutionary Road" in 2008 which was directed by her then husband Sam Mendes.
She is playing the lead in the re-make of the 1945 film "Mildred Pierce" which has been turned into a 5-part one hour HBO mini series which premieres on 27th March 2011 and she has been cast in the Steven Soderbergh disaster film "Contagion" which is due to be released in October 2011.
She is currently filming Roman Polanski's adaptation of the play "God of Carnage" in Paris with Jodie Foster and Christoph Waltz.
On 22nd November 1998 she married film director Jim Threapleton whom she met while on the set of "Hideous Kinky" and they have a daughter Mia who was born on 12th October 2000 in London. They were divorced in 2001 and on 24th May 2003 she married director Sam Mendes on the Caribbean Island of Anguilla.
Their son Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes was born on 22nd December 2003 in New York City but the couple split in March 2010 stating "the split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement".
Winslet says she still believes in marriage despite splitting with two husbands over the years. She says she has no idea if she will tie the knot again saying it is not a question she can possibly answer.
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