Salma Hayek Jiménez (born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican American film actress, director and producer. She began her career in Mexico starring in the telenovela Teresa and went on to star in the film El Callejón de los Milagros (Miracle Alley) for which she was nominated for an Ariel Award. In 1991 Hayek moved to Hollywood and came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as Desperado (1995), Dogma (1999), and Wild Wild West (1999).

Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 film Frida as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo for which she was nominated in the category of Best Actress for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award. This movie received widespread attention and was a critical and commercial success. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special in 2004 for The Maldonado Miracle and received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007 after guest-starring in the ABC television comedy-drama Ugly Betty. She also guest-starred on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock from 2009 to 2013.

Hayek's recent films include Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013), acting alongside Adam Sandler, and Puss in Boots (2011), in which she voices Kitty Softpaws, alongside her former collaborator Antonio Banderas.

Early life

Hayek was born Salma Hayek Jiménez in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. Her younger brother, Sami (born 1972), is a furniture designer. She is the daughter of Diana Jiménez Medina, an opera singer and talent scout. Her father, Sami Hayek Dominguez who once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos, was either an oil company executive, or the owner of an industrial-equipment firm.

Her paternal grandfather was Lebanese. She also has Spanish ancestry. Her first given name, Salma, is Arabic for "peace" or "calm". Raised in a wealthy, devout Roman Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana USA, at the age of twelve. As a teen, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She attended university in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

Career

At the age of 23, Hayek landed the title role in Teresa (1989), a successful Mexican telenovela that made her a star in Mexico. In 1994, Hayek starred in the film El Callejón de los Milagros (Miracle Alley), which has won more awards than any other movie in the history of Mexican cinema. For her performance, Hayek was nominated for an Ariel Award.

Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1991 to study acting under Stella Adler. Due to dyslexia, she had limited fluency in English. Robert Rodriguez and his producer and then wife Elizabeth Avellan soon gave Hayek a starring role opposite Antonio Banderas in 1995's Desperado. She followed her role in Desperado with a brief role as a vampire queen in From Dusk Till Dawn, in which she performed a table-top snake dance.

Hayek had a starring role opposite Matthew Perry in the 1997 romantic comedy Fools Rush In. In 1999 she co-starred in Will Smith's big-budget Wild Wild West, and played a supporting role in Kevin Smith's Dogma. In 2000 Hayek had an uncredited acting part opposite Benicio del Toro in Traffic. In 2003, she reprised her role from Desperado by appearing in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy.

Personal life

Hayek is a naturalized United States citizen. She studied at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, and is a practitioner of yoga. Hayek, who was raised Catholic, said she is not very devout anymore and does not believe in the institution [Church], but still believes in Jesus Christ and God.

On March 9, 2007, Hayek confirmed her engagement to French billionaire and Kering CEO, François-Henri Pinault, as well as her pregnancy. She gave birth to daughter, Valentina Paloma Pinault, in 2007 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. On July 18, 2008, Hayek and Pinault announced the end of their engagement. They later reconciled and were married on Valentine's Day 2009 in Paris. On April 25, 2009, they were married a second time in Venice.

In July 2011 Hayek's husband was named in a paternity case. According to reports, Pinault is the father of supermodel Linda Evangelista's four-year-old son, Augustin James. He denied all allegations, although he later reached a settlement with Evangelista.

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