PROFILE
Name: Salma Hayek
Birth Name: Salma Hayek Jiminez
Height: 5'7
Sex: F
Nationality: Mexican
Date: September 2 1966
Birth Place: Coatzacoalcos Veracruz Mexico
Occupation: actress
Education: Catholic school in Texas
National University of Mexico (dropped out)
Stella Adler Conservatory Los Angeles California
Relationship: Edward Norton (actor; a couple since October 1999) Edward Atterton (actor; met during filming of The Hunchback; dated 1997; broke up in 1999) Richard Crenna Jr (actor; met 1991 in an acting class)
Father: Sami Hayek Dominguez (Lebanese; businessman)
Mother: Diana Hayek (Mexican; opera singer and talent scout)
Brother: Sami Hayek (younger)
Claim to fame: as Carolina in Desperado (1995)
FAN MAIL:
C/O William Morris Agency
1325 Avenue of the Americas
New York NY 10019-4701
USA
Susan Culley And Associates
132a S Lasky Drive
Beverly Hills Ca 90212-1704
USA
JR Ward
Rt 1 Box 652
Washington Ok 73093
USA
BIOGRAPHY
This beauty was born and raised in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Her religious parents -- father of Lebanese descent, mother of Spanish descent -- wanted to ensure that their daughter would be well-educated, and sent her a Louisiana boarding school when she was 12. Sent back home for being a prankster in boarding school, Hayek finished high school and was sent to Houston to live with her aunt until the age of 17.
Once a college student in Mexico City majoring in international relations studies, Hayek finally decided to drop out (to her parents' chagrin) to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an actress. She started out doing local theater, including a role as the female lead in Aladdin and His Marvelous Lamp.
Theater work eventually led to commercials, which finally led to a part a popular daytime soap called Nuevo Amanecer. Hayek was considered a goddess in Mexico for her role as Teresa in the serial of the same name. This was, however, not enough for this ambitious beauty who had set her sights on the big leagues: Hollywood.
Hayek moved to Los Angeles in 1991, a complete unknown in a city full of aspiring actors. Foreign to the English language, she spent the next 18 months taking English lessons, while perfecting her acting skills with a drama teacher. Although Hayek spent four months auditioning for a leading role that finally went to another actress, the director, impressed by her determination, cast her in a smaller role in the film so that she could become a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Her big break had finally arrived, and it was mostly thanks to her appearance on a Spanish-language cable talk show. Director Robert Rodriguez caught Hayek's appearance, and knew he had to cast her for the lead role of the sequel to his successful film El Mariachi, 1995's Desperado, opposite Antonia Banderas.
Roles in Fair Game and Fled did not do the actress justice, but with Salma Hayek web sites finding their home in cyberspace and roles pouring in, audiences were sure to take notice of this Mexican beauty., and Salma now enjoys the superstar spotlight.
