Winslet, Kate (1975– )

English screen actor. She has played a variety of roles, excelling in strong, off-beat characters. She made her film debut in Peter Jackson's New Zealand period piece Heavenly Creatures (1994), based on the real-life stories of two schoolgirls whose passion drives them to commit murder. This was followed by her performance in the adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995) and a starring role in the blockbuster Titanic (1997).

Her other films include Jude (1996), Hamlet (1997), Hideous Kinky (1998), Holy Smoke (1999), Quills (2000), Enigma (2001), The Life of David Gale (2003), and J.M. Barrie's Neverland (2004). She was nominated for Academy Awards for both Sense and Sensibility and Titanic, the youngest actress ever to achieve two nominations. These were followed by further nominations for Iris (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), and Little Children (2006).

She was born in Reading, England, to stage-actor parents. Her grandparents ran the Reading Repertory Theatre. She started acting in television commercials before adolescence and attended a performing-arts high school. Following graduation, she appeared on stage in adaptations of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and Peter Pan. She married director Sam Mendes in 2003.