First language is Afrikaans, English is spoken as her second language.
Appeared nude in the May 1999 issue of Playboy Magazine. The photos had been taken years earlier before she had became famous, and she unsuccessfully tried to prevent the magazine from publishing them.
Became a fashion model at age 14.
Named one of "People" magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. (2000).
Was ranked #4 in the 100 Sexiest Women list by FHM Taiwan (2001).
Placed #1 on Beautiful People Internet Poll, narrowly beating Cameron Diaz in #2 and Kate Beckinsale in #3. The photo featured on the site was the famous 'Diving Board' photo.
Both of her parents were born and raised in South Africa. Her ancestry is largely Afrikaner (Dutch), as well as French (the origin of her surname) and German.
Voted #12 Sexiest Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine (September 2002).
Used hypnotherapy as an aid to quit smoking.
Is the only child of Charles, whom she was named after, and Gerda Theron.
On the show, Sunday Morning Shootout (2003), it was revealed that her manager discovered her in a Hollywood bank after he witnessed her yelling at a bank teller for refusing to cash her check.
Won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Aileen Wuornos on what would have been Aileen's 48th birthday: 29 February 2004.
After winning her Oscar, she returned to great celebrations in her native South Africa, and she even met former South African President Nelson Mandela. When he praised her for putting their country on the map and gave her a hug, Theron broke into tears (she was guest of honor at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on March 11th 2004).
Has said her favorite actor is Tom Hanks.
In 2004, injured her neck while filming Æon Flux (2005). Fortunately, the injury wasn't serious enough to put her in the hospital, but it did postpone production for several weeks.
As a teenager in her native South Africa, she learned English by watching American TV.
At the 2005 Golden Globes she was sporting a new dark hair color. She is a now a member of the celebrities who have dyed their hair from blonde to brown, or black. They include, among others: Mary-Kate Olsen; Nicky Hilton; Mandy Moore; Renée Zellweger; Christina Aguilera, Melinda Messenger and Ashlee Simpson.
She was the first person to sign on to be a presenter at the 77th Annual Academy Awards, in 2005.
Second actress (the first was Kim Basinger) to win an Oscar after appearing naked in Playboy magazine.
She is the second South African-born person to win an Academy Award. The South African-born cinematographer Ted Moore was the first. South African-born actor Basil Rathbone was the first South African-born actor to be nominated, followed by Cecil Kellaway. Theron was the first South African-born woman to win an Oscar.
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (September 29, 2005).
Named #15 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 women of 2005 list.
Named #4 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement (2005).
Studied acting with Ivana Chubbuck.
Named #15 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
Dyed her hair black for Æon Flux (2005).
Trained as a ballet dancer at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, and performed in both "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". Her dancing career ended after a knee injury.
One of the first movies she ever went to see at the theater was Splash (1984). She confessed that after watching the movie, she felt jealous of Daryl Hannah and developed a crush on Tom Hanks. She even said to herself that she could have played the role of Madison better than Hannah.
Shares the same background as actor Daniel Bonjour who also left South Africa as a teenage actor and traveled to Europe and then America. Both their parents are of European background. Also, both actors have found it easier to simply use an American accent in their work.
Chosen by Femme Fatales magazine as one of the "50 sexiest women on the planet". [February 2006]
Esquire magazine's Sexiest Woman Alive in 2007.
Entertainment Weekly predicted her Oscar win for Монстр (2003) eleven months before she won it.
She earns $2 million per year endorsing Dior's "J'Adore" fragrance, as well as $2.5 million per year endorsing Swiss Watch-maker, Raymond Weil.
At 16, she won a modeling competition to go to Milan and work on the catwalks and at 18, she won a scholarship to study ballet at the Joffrey School in New York. She turned to acting only because she injured both knees.
Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year for 2008.
Announced on Late Show with David Letterman (1993) that she is now a United States citizen (March 12, 2008).
Ranked #11 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.
Was considered for the role of Vickie Kittrie in Mercy (2000).
Replaced Angelina Jolie in the role Dagny Taggart in Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011) before being replaced by Taylor Schilling.
Was originally cast as Greta Wegener in The Danish Girl but after dropping out of the project when production was delayed she was replaced by Gwyneth Paltrow, who in turn was replaced by Marion Cotillard.
Lives in Los Angeles and Malibu, California.
Named the "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire Magazine (2007).
Received the "Decade of Hotness" award from Spike TV (Guy's Choice).
Voted #24 in the 2007 Askmen Australia "top 99 most desirable women" list. She was voted #6 the previous year in 2006.
Voted #3 in the 2005 Askmen "top 99 most desirable women" list.
Voted #1 in the 2003 Askmen "top 99 most desirable women" list.
Ranked #20 in the 2011 FHM Australia list of "100 Sexiest Women in the World".
Always speaks Afrikaans with her mother, who lives 2 minutes from her in L.A. They have matching fish tattoos.
Suffers from OCD to the extent that, if renting a house/hotel room during a movie shoot, cannot relax until she has explored every closet, locker and drawer in the premises.
The correct pronunciation of her name: Sharleese Ti-ron. The "Ti" pronounced as in till. The surname is a well known Afrikaans surname which originated from France, coming to South Africa by way of the immigration of the French Huguenots.
Theron is involved in women's rights organizations, and has marched in pro-choice rallies.
Is a supporter of animal rights and appeared in a PETA ad for its anti-fur campaign.
Has her own charity called the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which is committed to reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence among African youth.
Friends with Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson and Bill Paxton.
Has an adoptive son, Jackson Theron (b. November 2011), whom she adopted in March 2012.
Named as the "Sexiest actress" by Victoria's Secret What Is Sexy list (2012).
(April 24, 2012) Received America's National Association of Theatre Owners - Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film Award, at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
Returned to work 4 months after adopting her son Jackson in order to begin filming Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).
Was in a relationship with Stuart Townsend from 2001 to 2010.
Named one of the "most desirable" women for 2013 in Askmen's list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women.
U.N. Messenger of Peace.
On Greek island, Santorini, having a vacation with Stuart Townsend. [June 2005]
Took a break from filming Æon Flux (2005) due to a minor injury, but returned to the set. She was also a presenter at the Golden Globes in the middle of January. [January 2005]
Ranked #5 on the list of "Hollywood's Top-Earning Actresses in 2012" by Forbes Magazine. Her income between May 2011 and May 2012 was estimated to be $18 million.
