Matinee Classics - Kate Beckinsale Biography & Filmography

Kate Beckinsale ACTOR

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KATE BECKINSALE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Kate Beckinsale was born on July 26th, 1973 in Finsbury Park in London with the birth name Kathrin Romany Beckinsale. Her parents, Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe were both working actors and she was an only child.

Since she was being brought up in a family already involved in entertainment, it was no surprise that she also began acting at the young age of four, first appearing on the television series, "This Is Your Life" followed by roles in, "Rising Damp", "Porridge" and "The Lovers".

At the age of five she lost her father to a sudden heart attack and four years later her mother moved in with a director by the name of Roy Battersby. She was happy with her step father and her new step siblings.

Beckinsale attended the private school, Latymer School in West London and later enrolled at New College, Oxford University where she studied French and Russian literature. Throughout all of her school she remained involved in acting and participated in school productions and was a member of the drama society.

While in college she continued trying to also find work as an actress. Early on in her career she began adding small television roles to her resume such as, "Devices and Desires" (1991), "Rachel's Dream" (1992) and "Anna Lee" (1993).

Beckinsale soon broke into the film industry with her biggest role up to that point in the film, "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993) which was filmed in Italy during a summer break from college.

After working on three more films, "Prince of Jutland" (1994), "Uncovered" (1995) and " Marie-Louise ou la permission" (1995) while still pursuing a college degree, she decided to leave University early and focus all her energy on pursuing a career in the industry.

Now with all her energy being channeled to her career, she began adding such roles to her resume as, "Cold Comfort Farm" (1995), "Haunted" (1995), "Shooting Fish" (1997)

Along with now working as a film actress she also began appearing on the stage in such productions as, "The Seagull", "Sweetheart" and "Clocks and Whistles".

Now with quite a bit of experience in the industry she began searching for work in the united States and soon was appearing in such films as, "The Last Days of Disco" (1998), "Brokedown Palace" (1999), "Pearl Harbor" (2001), "Serendipity" (2001), "The Aviator" (2004), "Van Helsing" (2004), "Evolution" (2006), "Click" (2006), "Snow Angels" (2007), "Nothing but the Truth" (2008), "Whiteout" (2009) and "Everybody's Fine" (2009).

In addition to her stage and film work she has appeared in a number of print advertisements and commercials for such products as, Gap, Diet Coke, Absolut Vodka and Lux Shampoo.

Throughout her career in the industry she has received a variety of honors such as being named, "England's Number One Beauty" in 2002 and Esquire magazine named her, "The Sexiest Woman Alive" in 2009. She has also been honored numerous times in, Askmen.com's list of the 99 Most Desired Woman making #3 in 2008, #3 in 2010, #14 in 2011 and #22 in 2012.

She has married only one time to, director, Len Wiseman in 2004 and resides in Los Angeles with him and her only daughter, Lilly, from a previous eight year long relationship with actor, Michael Sheen.

Kate is involved in a number of charitable causes such as the British Heart Foundation, Habitat For Humanity and the Entertainment Industry Foundation.   She was also involved in raising money for the Women's Cancer Research Institute and is now a member of Nestlé's "Share the Joy Reading Program".

More recently, Beckinsale has graced the silver screen in such films as, "Contraband" (2012), "Underworld: Awakening" (2012) and soon to release, "Total Recall" (2012) and "The Trials of Cate McCullough" in 2013.