Sarah Jessica Parker

Sarah Jessica Parker was born March 25, 1965, in Nelsonville, Ohio, to
Barbra Forste (née Keck), a teacher who ran a nursery school, and
Stephen Parker, a journalist. Her parents divorced, and her mother
later remarried to Paul Forste and had four more children, bringing the
total to eight. Sarah now had 3 full siblings and 4 half siblings. Her
father was of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, and her mother had
German, and some English, roots.Trained in singing and ballet, Sarah was cast in the Broadway
production of "The Innocents", which prompted her family to relocate to
New Jersey. Already a professional performer (she studied at the
American Ballet School and the Professional Children's School), Sarah
was cast in "The Sound of Music" (along with four of her siblings), and
landed the lead in the Broadway run of "Annie". After a year as the
free-spirited orphan, Sarah attended Dwight Morrow High School, while
continuing to add more credits to her acting resume. She landed a role
in the made-for-TV movie
My Body, My Child (1982),
before being cast as one of the lead roles in the 1982 sitcom
Square Pegs (1982), as
high-schooler Patty Green.Once a graduate, Sarah decided to pursue a full-time acting career
rather than further her education. Since
Square Pegs (1982) did not last
more than a year, Sarah moved on to supporting film roles in movies
such as Footloose (1984),
Firstborn (1984), and the lead role in
the teenage film
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985).
Sarah was having lots of fun, although she had yet to land a
star-turning role. After more television appearances in series and
made-for-TV movies including
A Year in the Life (1986),
The Room Upstairs (1987)
and
Dadah Is Death (1988),
Sarah finally landed the role of
Steve Martin's bubbly lover in the
1991 comedy L.A. Story (1991). More
substantial film roles soon followed, starting with a role opposite
Nicolas Cage in
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
(which foreshadowed her comedic talent),
Hocus Pocus (1993) and
Ed Wood (1994).A big Woody Allen fan, she starred opposite
the renowned filmmaker in the television movie
The Sunshine Boys (1996),
and that same year, she landed a starring role in
Miami Rhapsody (1995). 1996 was a
film intensive year with roles in
The First Wives Club (1996),
If Lucy Fell (1996), and
Mars Attacks! (1996). All the while
making a name for herself in film, Sarah was gaining respect as a
theater actress, with her lead role as a dog (hard to imagine, but
true) in the off-Broadway "Sylvia", and her Broadway roles in "How to
Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (starring her present
husband, Matthew Broderick),
and the Tony-Award nominated "Once Upon a Mattress".But Sarah's star has shot up since her portrayal of Manhattan
sex-columnist Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO series
Sex and the City (1998).
Sarah's Golden Globe Best Actress victory in 2000 only underscores the
fact that she plays the role of Carrie as though it were literally
written for her. Sarah has been happily married to fellow actor
Matthew Broderick for quite a
while now. Before the marriage, she dated
Robert Downey Jr. (who she also lived
with), and the late John Kennedy Jr.
When not serving as lead actress and producer of
Sex and the City (1998),
Sarah is a member of Hollywood's Women's Political Committee, and is
UNICEF's representative for the Performing Arts.