Penelope Cruz Biography and Profile

Biography

Nama : Penelope Cruz
Birth Name : Pen�lope Cruz S�nchez
Birth Date : 04/28/1974
Birth Place : Madrid, Spain
Height : 5' 5�"
Sex : F
Nationality : Spanish
Occupation : Actress
Father : Eduardo Cruz
Mother : Encarna S�nchez
Relation : Faiz Ahmad, Nacho Cano (musician), Nicolas Cage (actor), Tom Cruise [actor, 2001 - Jan 2004], Matthew McConaughey (actor, Feb 2005 - May 2006)
Claim Fame : As Luz in "Belle Epoque" (1993)

Pen�lope Cruz S�nchez, nicknamed simply Pe, (born April 28, 1974) is a Spanish actress. Born in Madrid, Spain, Cruz was a dancer as a child and young teen, and actually dropped out of high school to pursue dancing at the National Conservatory of Madrid (majoring in Classical Ballet) and theatre at Cristina Rota's School in New York (4 years).

Her parents named her after a song by Joan Manuel Serrat.

She first achieved fame when she appeared in the video clip La fuerza del destino for the Spanish synth-pop group Mecano. She then started a relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group, which lasted for several years.

She also was a TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha, in collaboration with Jes�s V�zquez.

Cruz's first major films were Jam�n, Jam�n and the more widely known (in the US) Belle �poque, a film which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.

She also appeared with Matt Damon in All The Pretty Horses.

In 1999 she appeared in Pedro Almod�var's Todo sobre mi madre which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.

In early 2001 she began a three-year relationship with Tom Cruise. The relationship started on the set of the film Vanilla Sky in which they appeared together.

Her younger sister M�nica Cruz resembles her a lot. This similarity has been used in Spanish TV ads. In the 2000s, M�nica has left her dancing career and achieved fame on her own in the youth-oriented TV series Un Paso Adelante.