Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow is an Academy Award-winning actress and entrepreneur.

Paltrow was born in California on September 27, 1972, to parents Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner. She grew up spending time in both Los Angeles and New York with her family, including her younger brother. After completing high school at the Spence School, she enrolled in the University of California, Santa Barbara. She did not obtain any degree and instead pursued acting.

Paltrow accepting her Oscar in 1999

Paltrow leveraged her nepotistic connections to launch her acting career by getting roles in projects her parents were working on, such as TV movie High (which was directed by her father) in 1989 and TV series Cruel Doubt (a project in which her mother also had a role) in 1992.She was also in her godfather's (Steven Spielberg) film Hook in 1991, where she played a young Wendy.

She continued acting throughout the 1990s and appeared in major films such as Se7en, Emma, and Great Expectations.In 1998, Paltrow starred in Shakespeare in Love and won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in the film the following year. Paltrow continued making films, including The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Royal Tenenbaums, and the Iron Man franchise.

In 2008, Paltrow forayed into business when she launched a newsletter for her now-global health and wellness brand Goop. The company has branched out to offer health-related products, such as vitamins and skincare. It has also grown its content offerings with a podcast and written guides for topics such as travel.

Paltrow's personal life has been in the news since she started acting in the 1990s. She has dated fellow actors Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. In 2003, she married Chris Martin, a British musician who is the frontman of the band Coldplay. The couple had two children together before separating in 2014 and eventually divorcing in 2016.

In 2014, Paltrow began dating Glee co-creator, Brad Falchuk. They announced their engagement in early 2018 and got married in fall of the same year.

Paltrow has been involved in several controversies since being in the limelight.

Paltrow won her first and only Oscar in 1999 for Shakespeare in Love. There were critics, including other actors, who thought that other actresses who were nominated that year were more deserving of the win.

Paltrow's brand, Goop, has had several controversies over the years. Many surround the excessive cost of seemingly mundane products, such as a $75 candle. The products themselves have also sparked controversies, such as a crystal vaginal egg that was originally marketed as a wellness product to balance hormones.

In 2023, Paltrow had to appear in court for a trial related to a 2016 skiing accident. She was accused of having caused physical harm and damage to another skier on a slope in Utah in 2016. Her accuser claimed that she had lost control on the slope and slammed into him, knocking him to the ground and causing broken ribs and a brain injury. He sued her for $3 million.

Paltrow countersued for $1 plus lawyers' fees. She maintained her innocence, claiming she did not run into him and that the accuser actually ran into her. At the end of the trial, the jury delivered a verdict in favor of Paltrow.