Cate Blanchett was born on May 14, 1969 in Melbourne , Australia. She is the second of three children of June Gamble, a businesswoman and teacher, and Robert DeWitt Blanchett, Jr., a native of Texas who was a petty officer in the United States Navy and worked as a senior advertising executive. Her parents met when her father’s boat broke down in Melbourne.
When Blanchett was ten, her father died of a heart attack. Her older brother, Bob, is a computer systems engineer, and her younger sister, Genevieve, is a set designer.
Cate Blanchett is – one of the greatest actresses in cinema history, a true icon of our times. Her off-screen work, including her philanthropic endeavors (including as a Goodwill Ambassador to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the European Parliament (UNHCR)), her commitment to broadly defined artistic endeavors, and her intuition as a producer, have helped her inspire millions of people around the world for over 30 years.
She attended Ivanhoe East Primary School and completed her secondary education at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School and Methodist Ladies’ College, where she discovered her passion for the performing arts. She subsequently studied Economics and Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne before travelling abroad for a year.
During a trip to Egypt, at just 18 years old, she learned they were looking for extras and participated in a boxing film, Kaboria . Upon returning to Australia, she dropped out of Melbourne University and transferred to the Australian Institute of Dramatic Arts. She graduated in 1992 and joined the Sydney Theatre Company.
She married Australian screenwriter and playwright Andrew Upton on 29 December 1997 in the Blue Mountains National Park in New South Wales, Australia.
Blanchett and Upton are the parents of four sons: Dashiell John (born 3 December 2001), Roman Robert (born 23 April 2004), Ignatius Martin (born 13 April 2008), and their daughter Edith Vivian Patricia, whose adoption was confirmed on 6 March 2015.
Cate Blanchett’s breakthrough career , which brought her international recognition, came with her leading role in Elizabeth (1998, directed by
Shekar Kapur ), in which she created the unforgettable portrayal of Queen
Elizabeth I. This role earned her her first Oscar® nomination.
Cate Blanchett is co-founder and partner of Dirty Films, alongside Andrew Upton (with whom she was co-CEO and Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 – 2012). An internationally acclaimed, two-time Academy Award & four-time BAFTA winning actor, producer, artistic director, and humanitarian, she has presided over the festival juries in Cannes (2018) and Venice (2020), and The Venice Film Festival has twice awarded her with The Volpi Cup for Best Performance. Blanchett recently co-produced and appeared in Warwick Thornton’s THE NEW BOY. She played the titular role in and executive produced Todd Field’s TÁR, and recently wrapped production on DISCLAIMER, directed by Alfonso Cuaron, in which she appears and is executive producer. Blanchett’s additional acting credits include NIGHTMARE ALLEY, DON’T LOOK UP, THOR: RAGNAROK, CAROL (which Dirty Films executive produced), BLUE JASMINE, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, THE AVIATOR, I’M NOT THERE, ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, TRUTH and LITTLE FISH (both Executive Produced by Dirty Films), THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT.
She recently co-produced Christos Nikou’s FINGERNAILS, featuring Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed, executive produced Noora Niasari’s SHAYDA – which won the Audience Award at Sundance, and is in active development on CHAMPIONS, to be directed by Ben Stiller. The company also produced the acclaimed Audible Original podcast series, CLIMATE OF CHANGE.
She is a Global Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and a lifetime member of the Australian Conservation Foundation. In 2012, Blanchett was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. She has received three Honorary Doctorates (University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, and Macquarie University) as well as the Companion of the Order of Australia.
