Julia Roberts was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Walter and Betty Roberts. Her mother was a church secretary and actress, and her father was a vacuum cleaner salesman, actor and writer. Her parents divorced when she was five, and her mother remarried Michael Motes. Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child, but soon after graduating from Campbell High School she headed to New York to join her sister and pursue a career in acting. Once there she signed with Click modeling agency and enrolled in acting classes.

Her break into show business is due in large part to the efforts of her brother, Eric, who was cast in the movie "Blood Red". He convinced the director to let his sister join the cast. A year later her role in "Steel Magnolias" made her a star. She won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie. Her fame was solidified the next year with the hit "Pretty Woman" in which she portrayed a prostitute with whom the wealthy Richard Gere falls in love. Roberts won another Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for that role. Since then she has had a string of starring roles and recently received another Golden Globe nomination for "My Best Friend's Wedding". Actress was also nominated for an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on an episode of the television show "Law & Order". Julia has a production company called Shoelace Productions and splits her time between her homes in New York, the Hollywood Hills, and a fifty acre retreat in Taos, New Mexico.