Celebrity Heights: Sandra Bullock

Profile: Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock was born on July 26th, 1966, in Arlington, Virginia. Sandra is a veteran superstar actress. She is the eldest daughter of her father John, a voice coach and Pentagon official, and mother Helga, an opera singer. Sandra and her sister, Gesine, lived a number of their childhood years in Nuremberg, Germany. She and her sister spent endless hours listening to their mother perform. Sandra not only developed a deep appreciation for opera, and also learned to speak fluent German. It was an exciting time in her young life, and perhaps it was seeing her mother up on stage that influenced her to become a performer herself. Sandra's family moved back to the United States when she was around ten years old. Sandra was an ugly duckling, and was teased mercilessly by her schoolmates. Instead of becoming resentful however, she vowed she would never treat anyone the way she had been treated, and her generous and kind qualities manifest themselves in both her personal and professional lives. Sandra went on to become a cheerleader at Washington-Lee High, being voted "Most Likely to Brighten Your Day" by her senior class. After high school graduation, she continued her education, at East Carolina University, where she majored in Drama. During this time, she helped support herself by entering and winning dance contests, a passion that has stayed with her. Sandra dances at every possible opportunity, and it has been said that if she ever gave up acting, she could easily take up dance as a second professional career. After graduation from East Carolina, it was off to New York with her life savings, dog and meager possessions to seek her career. Sandra bartended and waitressed between auditions and acting classes. Her persistence finally paid off when she got the lead in the off-Broadway play "No Time Flat". Sandra received glowing reviews for her work in the off-Broadway play, and this led to the TV movie "The Bionic Showdown", opposite Lindsay Wagner. The only worthwhile things that came from this work, was the professional experience and an Actors Guild union card. Sandra moved to Los Angeles where she got the role of a spunky cop in the Sylvester Stallone sci-fi action film, "Demolition Man". This was a role that drew the attention of director Jan De Bont, who cast her in the hit movie "Speed", practically making her an overnight success. The two mega hits, "The Net" and "While You Were Sleeping" followed, sending Sandra on a skyrocket ride to A-list status and a hefty increase in her paycheck. The success of these films made it possible for her to start her own cinema production company, Fortis Films. Sandra appointed her sister Gesine, a graduate law student as executive vice-president, and her father John, as her business advisor.