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Kate Winslet

Acting

Born October 5, 1975 · Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Also known as Kate Elizabeth Winslet

Biography

Kate Elizabeth Winslet (/ˈwɪnzlət/; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012. Winslet studied drama at the Redroofs Theatre School. Her first screen appearance, at age fifteen, was in the British television series Dark Season (1991). She made her film debut playing a teenage murderess in Heavenly Creatures (1994). She went on to win a BAFTA Award for playing Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility(1995). Global stardom followed with her leading role in James Cameron's epic romance Titanic (1997), which was the highest-grossing film at the time. Winslet then eschewed parts in blockbusters in favour of critically acclaimed period pieces, including Quills (2000) and Iris (2001). The science fiction romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), in which Winslet was cast against type in a contemporary setting, proved to be a turning point in her career. She gained further recognition for her performances in Finding Neverland (2004), Little Children (2006), The Holiday (2006), Revolutionary Road (2008), and The Reader (2008). For playing a former Nazi camp guard in the last, she won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress. Winslet has since portrayed historical figures in Steve Jobs (2015) and Lee (2023), and has received two Primetime Emmy Awards for her performances in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce (2011) and Mare of Easttown (2021). For her narration of a short story in the audiobook Listen to the Storyteller (1999), Winslet won a Grammy Award. She performed the song "What If" for the soundtrack of her film, Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001). A co-founder of the charity Golden Hat Foundation, which aims to create autism awareness, Winslet has also written a book on the topic. Divorced from film directors Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes, Winslet has been married to businessman Edward Abel Smith since 2012. She has a child from each marriage, two of whom are the actors Mia Threapleton and Joe Anders. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kate Winslet, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • CineMerit Award · 2024
  • Crystal Award · 2024
  • BAFTA AwardBest Actress in a Leading Role · 2023
  • Time 100 · 2021
  • BAFTA AwardBest Actress in a Supporting Role · 2016
Show all 24 awards →
  • star on Hollywood Walk of Fame · 2014
  • Primetime Emmy AwardOutstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie · 2011
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 2009
  • European Film AwardBest Actress · 2009
  • Jameson People's Choice AwardBest Actress · 2002
  • Jameson People's Choice AwardBest Actress · 1998
  • BAFTA AwardBest Actress in a Supporting Role · 1996
  • Commander of the Order of the British Empire
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actress · 2016 · nominated
  • European Film AwardBest Actress · 2012 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 2009 · nominated
  • European Film AwardBest Actress · 2009 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 2007 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 2005 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actress · 2002 · nominated
  • Jameson People's Choice AwardBest Actress · 2002 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 1998 · nominated
  • European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award · 1998 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actress · 1996 · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

Finding Harmony: A King's Vision

2026as Narrator (voice over)

Mare of Easttown

2021as Marianne 'Mare' Sheehan

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

2004as Clementine Kruczynski

Black Beauty

2020as Black Beauty (voice)

Titanic

1997as Rose DeWitt Bukater

Nature

1982as Narrator (voice)

Eleven Days in May

2022as Narrator

Extras

2005as Kate Winslet

Avatar: Fire and Ash

2025as Ronal

Avatar: The Way of Water

2022as Ronal

The Reader

2008as Hanna Schmitz

The Life of David Gale

2003as Bitsey Bloom

Sense and Sensibility

1995as Marianne Dashwood

Finding Neverland

2004as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies

Hamlet

1996as Ophelia

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

2022as Self

Collateral Beauty

2016as Claire Wilson

Carnage

2011as Nancy Cowan

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self

Labor Day

2013as Adele

Little Children

2006as Sarah Pierce

The Holiday

2006as Iris

Quills

2000as Madeleine LeClerc

Lee

2023as Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller

The Dressmaker

2015as Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage

Mildred Pierce

2011as Mildred Pierce

Revolutionary Road

2008as April Wheeler

Eating Our Way to Extinction

2021as Narrator (voice)

Ammonite

2020as Mary Anning

Running Wild with Bear Grylls

2014as Self

Divergent

2014as Jeanine

Saturday Night Live

1975as Self - Host

Fire and Water: Making the Avatar Films

as Self - "Ronal"

Who Do You Think You Are?

as Self

Blackbird

2019as Jennifer

Steve Jobs

2015as Joanna Hoffman

The Mountain Between Us

2017as Alex Martin

A World of Calm

as Narrator (voice)

Goodbye June

2025as Julia

Contagion

2011as Erin Mears

Deep Sea

2006as Narrator (voice)

60 Minutes

1968as Self

Manou the Swift

2019as Manou's Mother(voice)

The Kelly Clarkson Show

2019as Self - Guest

Wonder Wheel

2017as Ginny

The Divergent Series: Insurgent

2015as Jeanine Matthews

Iris

2001as Young Iris Murdoch

Buttons, A New Musical Film

2018as Narrator (voice)

A Little Chaos

2014as Sabine De Barra

Flushed Away

2006as Rita (voice)