Bullock, Sandra (1964- )

US actor and producer. She achieved stardom in the hit action thriller Speed (1994), appearing opposite Keanu Reeves, and became one of the most popular actresses of the 1990s. She went on to receive critical acclaim as the wife of a district attorney in Paul Haggis's racially charged Academy Award-winning drama Crash (2005).

Bullock's first major film role was as a police lieutenant in the science fiction thriller Demolition Man (1993). After her success in Speed she starred in a number of films during the 1990s, including the romantic comedies While You Were Sleeping (1995) and Forces of Nature (1999), the thrillers The Net (1995) and A Time to Kill (1996), a Speed sequel in 1997, and the dramas Hope Floats (1998) and Practical Magic (1998). She was also a producer of Hope Floats as well as of the comedies Miss Congeniality (2000) and Two Weeks Notice (2002).

Bullock was born and grew up in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. Her father worked at the Pentagon and was also a vocal coach. Her mother was a German opera singer, and Bullock often accompanied her on tours to Europe, playing minor parts in some performances. After moving to New York and then Los Angeles, she took supporting roles in several indie films and in a television series (1990) based on the successful 1980s comedy Working Girl.