Penelope Cruz

Penelope Cruz Sanches was born on 28th April 1974 at Madrid, Spain to the couple of Eduardo Cruz who (an auto mechanic) and Encarna Cruz (a hairdresser and manager). She is the eldest daughter of all, having a brother named Eduardo and sister Monica. From her childhood days Penelope had great interests in arts, most importantly in ballet and jazz.

She completed her education from National Conservatory, Madrid, Spain (majored in Classical Ballet) and Cristina Rota's School in Nueva York (4 years of theater). She totally devoted her 9 years in learning classical ballet. Leaving this she spent another three years learning Spanish ballet from Angela Garrido. But the year of 1991 was a golden time of her life when she made her debut in 'El Laberinto Griego' and later went on to work for the next seven years in Spanish cinema.

At the age of 17 she got a huge break when she was cast in 'Jamon, Jamon' and 'Belle Epoque'. Penelope went on to play one of four daughters of a rich man. Penelope was nominated and later achieved the 1999 Best Actress Goya award for her work in 'La Niña de Tus Ojos'.

Penelope then went on to appear in 'The Hi-Lo Country' which was a Hollywood film. But she got the main attention of the Hollywood followers with her role in Pedro Almodovar's film 'All About Mother'. She was hugely appreciated and later roles poured in for Penelope. She then appeared in 'Women on Top' and 'All the Pretty Horses' which enhanced her popularity more than ever before. She had a huge fan following after that. This 5'6' sex beauty has already trapped the producers and directors with her wonderful figure and deep dark eyes.

This adorable sexy actress has been declared by People magazine as one of their '50 most beautiful folks of 2000'. Such is her beauty that once producer Alan Poul commented 'She can actually stop traffic. When you see her in motion, you can't help but stare'.

She is not only a beautiful figure but also has a beautiful mind and heart. Penelope donated her first official Hollywood paycheck to the Mother Theresa's children's sanctuary in Kolkata, India. She once said to Vanity Fair 'Not everybody can do what they want to do and still eat. I'm very lucky and it's getting better and better'. Penelope also supports the 'Sabera Foundation' an organization developed for helping homeless girls and people suffering from tuberculosis in Kolkata, India. She has got help from Nacho Cano and other Spanish entertainers. To help them they went on to set up a home, a school and a clinic. They also prepared two documentaries for Spanish TV on this aspect and the other one in English for the US market.

As far her private life goes Penelope has been romantically linked with Matt Damon and Nicolas Cage, her former co-stars. She has been also linked with the handsome 'Vanilla Sky' co-star, Tom Cruise. Recently she broke up with Tom.

She has made a unique place for her because due to the fact that there are only few people possessing beautiful figures as well as beautiful mind and heart.