Actress Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) celebrates a birthday on May 14. Photo credit: Steven Chee, Variety.
Happy birthday to the incomparable and magical Cate Blanchett! The multi-award-winning Australian actress turns 46 today. Cate was born in 1969 in Melbourne, Australia, the middle of three children of June and Robert DeWitt Blanchett.
Cate graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and joined the Sydney Theatre Company, quickly gaining visibility in the Australian theatre community. She received the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Newcomer Award in 1993 for her performance in Kafka Dances, and the Rosemont Best Actress Award that same year for her role in David Mamet’s Oleana opposite Geoffrey Rush. Her first high-profile film role was in the title role of Elizabeth in 1998. Her portrayal of England’s Elizabeth I catapulted her to international recognition, brought her first Oscar and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, and won the British Academy Award (BAFTA) and Golden Globe.
Cate Blanchett in her Oscar-winning performance as Katherine Hepburn in ‘The Aviator’ (2004). Photo credit: Miramax.
These awards were only the beginning of many accolades recognizing Cate’s work. Her awards to date include two Academy Awards (2004 Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Aviator, 2013 Best Actress in a Leading Role for Blue Jasmine), three British Academy Awards, four Australian Academy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
The list of Cate’s film credits is long and varied. A sampling of her film work includes Oscar and Lucinda (1997), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Veronica Guerin (2003), Babel (2006), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), I’m Not There (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Robin Hood (2010), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), and Cinderella (2015).
Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) is one of Tolkien’s most memorable characters in ‘The Lord of the Rings.” Photo credit: New Line Cinema.
Cate is beloved by fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies for her portrayal of Galadriel, ruler of the Elven realm of Lothlórien and bearer of Nenya, one of the three Elven Rings of Power. Even though she appears only briefly in The Lord of the Rings, Galadriel is among Tolkien’s most memorable characters, and was played to remarkable effect by Cate Blanchett. Fans of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films not only got to see Cate reprise her role as Galadriel, they also had the opportunity to see the Lady of Light in action against Sauron in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies when Galadriel joins the wizard Saruman and Elrond Half-Elven to banish the Dark Lord from his northern stronghold of Dol Guldur.
Cate Blanchett reprises her role as Galadriel in ‘The Hobbit’ films. Photo credit: courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
In addition to being an internationally recognized and respected actress, Cate has been married to playwright and screenwriter Andrew Upton for eighteen years. The couple has four children, three biological sons and one adopted daughter, and currently reside in Australia.
From all of us at Middle-earth News: Happy birthday, Cate! We wish you a particularly magical day!
