Charlize Theron up in a small town in South Africa called Benoni. She was born a single child in a very wealthy family. This year she was the Oscars best actress winner for the movie Monsters. Click on images above for photos.

She began ballet and considered doing this for a career. She continued dancing and would eventually go professional in Johannesburg.

At the age of 16 she took an offer to begin modelling in Milan, Italy, because she'd won a local modeling contest. She was not content with the way she was viewed as a model, so on the last day of shooting under her current contract in New York City, she decided she wouldn't return to Milan. Instead she began dancing with the Joffrey school in New York, returning to her first love. At 18, she suffered a ballet ending injury. And her carreer ended in this field.

She bought a ticket to Hollywood and grabbed a role in "2 Days In the Valley" and the rest is history!