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Born in Boston, MA. Named after a goddess in Hindu mythology, the sylph-like Thurman, daughter of a Columbia University professor, segued from modeling to acting in 1987 with the independent feature KISS DADDY GOOD NIGHT (1987), as a young seductress who entices men only to rob them. She received wide attention as the perfectly buxom, virginal victim of John Malkovich's seduction in Stephen Frears' DANGEROUS LIAISONS (1988). Thurman furthered her visibility as Venus the water nymph in Terry Gilliam's madcap opus THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989). Thurman's powerful performance as June, the controlling wife of Henry Miller in Philip Kaufman's HENRY & JUNE (1990), revealed her to be an actress with considerable depth and ability. She turned in another strong performance as a blind woman targeted by a serial killer in Bruce Robinson's dark JENNIFER 8 (1992). She next appeared in MAD DOG AND GLORY (1993) as an indentured servant to cop Robert De Niro and gangster Bill Murray in this unusual gangster romance. 1994 proved to be a profoundly mixed year for Thurman with appearances in one of the year's most praised films as well as in one of its most lambasted. The latter was director Gus Van Sant's lumbering EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES (1994), a long-awaited but unsatisfying adaptation of the popular Tom Robbins novel. She fared better as one of the few females in the powerhouse ensemble of Quentin Tarrantino's PULP FICTION (1994). Playing the coked up wife of a formidable gangster who inadvertently snorts an alarming amount of heroin, Thurman took part in one of the more distressing scenes in recent movie memory. She also got to dance with John Travolta and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Other notable screen credits include BEAUTIFUL GIRLS and THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS (both 1996), BATMAN & ROBIN and GATTACA (both 1997), LES MISÉRABLES and THE AVENGERS (both 1998), SWEET AND LOWDOWN (1999), VATEL and THE GOLDEN BOWL (both 2000), TAPE and CHELSEA WALLS (both 2001), HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS (2002) and KILL BILL: VOL. 1 and PAYCHECK (both 2003), KILL BILL: VOL. 2 (2004), BE COOL, PRIME and THE PRODUCERS (all 2005), MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND (2006), LIFE BEFORE HER EYES (2007), and THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND, MY ZINC BED and ELOISE IN PARIS (all scheduled for release in 2008). Thurman was married to actor Gary Oldman from 1990 to 1992. She married actor Ethan Hawke in 1998, and they divorced in 2004. They have 2 children: Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke, b. 1998, and Levon Roan Thurman-Hawke, b. 2002.  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role 1994: PULP FICTION 1 nomination