Thandie Newton: Biography
Thandie is the daughter of a Zimbabwean mother (‘a princess of the Shona tribe) and an English father.
She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to England, UK. She then lived in Cornwall on England’s south coast until age 11. At that time she enrolled in London’s Art Educational School where she studied modern dance. However, a back injury forced her out of dance. This led to her auditioning for and receiving her first role in John Duigan’s “Flirting”.
She then moved to L.A. to pursue acting and her then boy friend. However receiving no work because of her British accent, she returned to England where she went to Cambridge to study & received a degree in anthropology. However, between semesters she continued her acting and became noticed in demand for future film roles.
Thandie is a campaigner for environmentally sound motoring, after a bad experience involving her SUV . She has a settled personal life, being married to English writer and director Ol Parker since 1998. The couple have two daughters.
Recently Thandie has appeared in the hit american drama ER, and in the successful movies Crash, The Chronicles of Riddick, and The Pursuit of Happyness.