Sept. 27: Actress and "singer" Gwyneth Paltrow, "Country Strong," is 41 today.

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actress Blythe Danner, and Bruce Paltrow, a film and television director and producer.

Gwyneth made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. Paltrow made her professional stage debut in 1990. Her film followed next year with Shout starring John Travolta. Later that year, she appeared in Hook as Young Wendy She gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en in 1995, Emma in 1996, in which she played the title role, and Sliding Doors in 1998.

That same year she received worldwide recognition through her performance in Shakespeare in Love that, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actress and as a member of the Outstanding Cast.

Since then, Paltrow has portrayed supporting as well as lead roles in films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Shallow Hal (2001) and Proof (2005), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama.

Paltrow had her singing debut in the 2000 film Duets with Huey Lewis, in which she performed a cover version of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin'." The song was well-received and released as a single. The song went to number one in Australia, while Paltrow's rendition of the Kim Carnes classic "Bette Davis Eyes" reached number three.

In the 2006 film Infamous, she sang "What Is This Thing Called Love." On September 27, 2006, Paltrow sang with rapper Jay-Z during his concert at Royal Albert Hall. She sang the chorus for "Song Cry," from the rapper's album Blueprint.

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In 2008, she appeared in the highest grossing movie of her career, the superhero film Iron Man, and then reprised her role as Pepper Potts in its sequel, Iron Man 2.

Gwyneth will appear in the country musical, Country Strong, where she also recorded the song "Country Strong" for the film's soundtrack. The song was released to country radio in August 2010.

She is married to Chris Martin, lead singer of Cold Play.

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