by Niken Paramita

Created on: December 04, 2009   Last Updated: December 05, 2009

AUSTRALIAN TO-DIE-FOR

On 20 June 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Australian couple Dr. Antony Kidman (biochemist, clinical psychologist) and Janelle Ann MacNeille Kidman (nursing instructor) welcomed their baby girl, Nicole Mary Kidman. Nicole, along with her parents and sister Antonia Kidman (now an Australian TV personality), lived in US before returning to Australia when she was four.

In her home country, Nicole attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls' High School. She later began to show a flair for acting and decided to study at the Victorian College of the Arts, the Phillip Street Theatre, as well as the Australian Theatre for Young People.

In 1983, Nicole made her way to on-screen world in the music video of Pat Wilson's Bop Girl. The same year, she had roles in the movies BMX Bandits (as Judy) and Bush Christmas, as well as TV films Skin Deep (played Sheena Henderson) and Chase Through the Night. The best friend of actress Naomi Watts continued her performance in such productions as the series Five Mile Creek, the film Windrider (1986), the mini-series Vietnam (1987), Emerald City (1989), and some others.

Nicole, who owns dual citizenship, tried Hollywood and made her US debut as Rae Ingram in the thriller Dead Calm (1989). This eventually brought the aspiring star to her next breakthrough, as she starred as Dr. Claire Lewicki, opposite actor Tom Cruise, in Days of Thunder (1990). It is true that her career did not immediately boost up, but her romantic life with Tom Cruise began to attract public attention.

On December 24, 1990, Nicole and Tom tied the knot. After the marriage, the pair did not let their on-screen career lose out. Nicole got busy with silver screen projects like Billy Bathgate (1991, alongside Dustin Hoffman), the drama Far and Away (1992, opposite husband Tom), and My Life (1993).

The actress earned critical accolades after playing an obstinate, fame-obsessed Suzanne Stone Maretto in Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995). For her brilliant performance, Nicole earned a Golden Globe and five other awards. The role eventually resonated even until a decade later. In 2006, Premiere Magazine listed her role in #40 on 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Nicole, who adopted two children (Isabella Jane and Connor Antony) with her husband, continued to soar. She acted alongside Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995), wore a corset for Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996), became a nuclear scientist in The Peacemaker (1997),

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