Miss Congeniality

America’s sweetheart, Sandra Bullock is an academy award winning actress, producer, and philanthropist. In 2005, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – almost 20 years since she began her career.

Bullock was listed as one of TIME magazine’s “Most Influential People in the World” and was ranked No.2 on Forbes’s most powerful actresses list this year.  

 

Early life

Sandra Bullock was born on July 26, 1964 in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC, and was then raised for twelve years in Nuremberg, Germany.

As a child, Bullock frequently accompanied her mother – an opera singer and voice teacher – on European opera tours. Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child, taking small parts in her mother’s opera productions. She sang in the opera’s children’s choir at the Staatstheater Nurnberg.

After receiving her degree in Drama in 1986, she moved to Manhattan. There she supported herself as a bartender, cocktail waitress while auditioning for roles.  

 

Career

Sandra began her career with a minor role in a TV movie in 1989.  She gave a memorable performance in “Demolition Man” (1993) but she became a superstar after her work in “Speed” (1994).  

She ruled the mid-1990s with a string of hit movies. In 1998, the actor turned producer by forming her own production company, Fortis Films.

Blockbusters, “The Proposal” (2009) and “The Heat” (2013) made her a bankable star. She received critical acclaim for her roles in “The Blind Side” (2009) and “Gravity” (2014).

 

Achievements

Sandra won the Academy award for “Best actress” for “The Blind Side” (2010).

She was nominated for the BAFTA award for the “Best Actress in a Leading Role” for “Gravity” (2014).  A Golden Globe winner and 3 time Critic’s Choice Movie winner, Bullock has won more than 20 minor awards.

She was honoured with the ‘Favourite Humanitarian Award’ at the 2013 People’s Choice Award for her contributions to a high school which was destroyed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

 

Philanthropy

Bullock has been a public supporter of the American Red Cross, having donated $1million to the organization on more than four occasions.  She did public service announcement as well as urged people to sign a petition for clean-up efforts of the oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.