Born: 30 July 1974 (Age: 36)
Where: Lincoln, Nebraska, USAHeight: 5' 7"Awards: Won 2 Oscars, 2 Golden Globes, nominated for 1 BAFTA.
Hilary Swank's early roles did not bode well for a future career as a "serious" actress. Making her screen debut in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, then headlining in the third sequel to The Karate Kid before winding up in that thespian graveyard Beverly Hills 90120, she was surely destined for artistic oblivion. Even after winning an Oscar for her extraordinary performance as the doomed cross-dresser Teena Brandon in Boys Don't Cry she was immediately forgotten by the public, most of whom never saw that notoriously "diificult" movie. So it was a surprise to most when, in 2004, she made a sudden and decisive return in eastwood clint's multi-nominated Million Dollar Baby, an Oscar-winning comeback supported by a very high-profile modelling assignment for Calvin Klein. Clearly that first Oscar had been no fluke - Swank's abilities could no longer be denied.
Of Spanish and Native American extraction, Hilary Ann Swank was born on the 30th of July, 1974 in . . . well, therein lies a question. Reports have been severely confused by the audition process for Boys Don't Cry. In order to win the confidence of director Kimberly Peirce, Swank told her that, like the real Teena Brandon, she was 21 and had been born in Lincoln, Nebraska. In fact, she claimed, she'd be born in the same hospital. Later, Peirce would discover that Swank had lied and confronted her, with Swank cheekily (and quite correctly) replying that that's exactly what Brandon would have done. The part was hers, but the lies caused problems for biographers. Swank was certainly not 21, she was 24. As for her birthplace, her management maintained that she was indeed born in Lincoln. Swank herself would often refer to herself as a mid-Western girl, and state that one of her grandfathers was born and raised in Iowa, just two hours drive from Falls City, Nebraska, the small town where Teena Brandon disastrously went to start a new life.
What's sure is that Hilary's father was employed by the airborne National Guard and, when Hilary was still pre-school, took his family - wife Judy, a secretary and later an executive, and son James - to live in Bellingham, Washington. With a population of 60,000, this was the closest sizeable American town to the Canadian border, nearer to Vancouver than Seattle. It was a beautiful spot, set between the sea and the Cascade Mountains, looking out to the San Juan Islands in the bay.
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