Theron was born in Benoni, South Africa, the daughter and only child of Charles and Gerda Theron, and is of German and French descent. Theron's first language is Afrikaans.

Theron grew up on her parents' farm near Johannesburg (Benoni). She attended Putfontein Primary School. At the age of 13, Theron was sent to boarding school and began her studies at the National School Of The Arts in Johannesburg. At 15, Theron witnessed the death of her father, an abusive alcoholic; Gerda shot him in self-defense when he attacked her. The police pressed no charges against her.

At the age of 16, Theron traveled to Milan, Italy, on a one-year modeling contract, after winning a local competition. She went to New York with Pauline's Model Management. She decided to remain after her contract ended, attending the Joffrey Ballet School, where she trained as a ballet dancer. A knee injury closed this career path when Theron was 19. Unable to dance, Theron flew to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket her mother bought her. During her early months there, she went to a bank to cash a check her mother had sent her to help with the rent. When the teller refused to cash it, Theron immediately started into a shouting match with her. Afterwards, a talent agent in line behind her handed her his business card and subsequently introduced her to some casting agents and also an acting school. She later fired him as her manager after he kept sending her scripts for films similar to Showgirls and Species, which would have traded solely on her appearance.

After eight months in the city, she was cast in her first film part, a non-speaking role in the direct-to-video film Children of the Corn III (1995).

Larger roles in widely released Hollywood films followed, and her career skyrocketed in the late 1990s with box office successes like The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).

Having signed a deal with John Galliano in 2004, Theron replaced Estonian model Tiiu Kuik as the spokeswoman in the J'ADORE advertisements by Christian Dior. From October 2005 to December 2006, Theron endorsed Raymond Weil watches. In February 2006, she was sued by Weil for breach of contract. In May 2006, Maxim named Theron #25 in its annual "Hot 100" issue. In October 2007, Esquire named Theron The Sexiest Woman Alive in its annual issue.

Theron dated the lead singer of Third Eye Blind, Stephan Jenkins, from January 1998 to July 2001. Jenkins ended the relationship after failing to take her marriage requests seriously. Theron now resides in Los Angeles in the home of late 1930s actress Helen Twelvetrees, with her long-time boyfriend Stuart Townsend, with whom she starred in the 2004 film Head in the Clouds, as well as in the 2002 film Trapped and uncredited 2005 AEon Flux.

She, like Sarah Silverman, and Brad Pitt, has said that she will not marry until same-sex couples are able to have their marriages recognized.

Townsend recently stated he considers himself and Theron to be husband and wife. "We didn't have a ceremony," he said. "I don't need a certificate or the state or the church to say otherwise. So no there's no big official story on a wedding, but we are married... I consider her my wife and she considers me her husband".

While filming AEon Flux in Berlin, Germany, Theron had suffered a herniated disc in her neck, specifically the disc between the third and fourth vertebrae, which occurred as a result of her suffering a fall while filming a series of back handsprings. This required her to wear a neck collar for a month.

Theron is also involved in women's rights organizations, and marched for abortion rights. In 2006, Theron won GLAAD's Vanguard Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for increasing "visibility and understanding" of LGBT issues. Theron is a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She recently appeared in a PETA ad for their anti-fur campaign.

In a 2008 interview, she repeatedly mixed up two European cities, Budapest and Istanbul. The deputy mayor of Budapest responded by inviting her to spend a luxurious weekend in the Hungarian capital in order to get to know the city.

Charlize Theron's Photos