Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a well-known Spanish actress who has managed to make her mark in the international movie circuit. As a trained Spanish ballet and flamenco dancer, she certainly has the inclination towards acting and for years, throughout 90s, she worked consistently in Spain.

Born in Madrid on April 28, 1974, to a hairdresser and an auto mechanic, Cruz is the oldest of three siblings with a younger brother, Eduardo, who is a singer and a younger sister, Monica Cruz, who is a professional flamenco dancer and actress.

After her training in classical ballet for almost nine years and four years of theatre, she got the opportunity to host the Spanish television talk show La Quinta Marcha in 1990-91. She then got her big break in the Spanish film industry in 1992 with “Jamon Jamon“, in which she played a young woman (Silvia) and her role earned much critical acclamation.

Jamon Jamon nominated her for the Goya Award for Best Actress and the Spanish Actors Union Newcomer Award. The same year, she also featured in another Spanish movie, “Belle Époque”, which proved her versatility in acting.

Even before the release of these two, she had filmed “El Laberinto griego” (The Greek Labyrinth) in 1991, but the release was delayed till 1993. In the next four years she appeared in a dozen of Spanish and Italian films.

However, she caught the attention of Oscar-winning Pedro Almodovar who casted her in various native films including the 2006 “Volver” for which Penelope was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actress. And, she also shared the Best Actress Award with five of her co-stars, as well as receiving a Goya Award and nomination for the Golden Globe and BAFTA.

Although she failed to consolidate her position in American film industry, films like Todo es mentira (It’s All Lies) in 1994, The Hi-Lo Country (1998), Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother) in 1999, Fanfan la Tulipe (2003) along with some other, shaped her acting career which further helped her to garner some big budget Hollywood productions.

The other major success comes her way in 2008 with the film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and also Best Actress in a Supporting Role awards at BAFTA, Goya, among various other nomination and awards at different award functions.

In 2009, her performance again came into notice with the release of Spanish film Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces) and American/Italian musical-romantic film “Nine”; the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Apart from her acting, she’s been greatly active in charity activity with her works in Nepal, India and Uganda. She even supported Mother Teresa’s mission in India by funding for the homeless girls in the city of Kolkata (Calcutta).

In July 2010, Penelope Cruz married actor Javier Bardem, her co-star in the “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, in a private ceremony at a friend’s house in the Bahamas. Interestingly, Cruz and Bardem have been friends for nearly 20 years, after working together on the Spanish film Jamon Jamon.