25 March 1965, Nelsonville, Ohio, USA
Nickname
SJP
Height
5' 3" (1.60 m)
Mini Biography
Sarah Jessica Parker was born March 25, 1965, in Nelsonville, Ohio to parents Stephen Parker and Barbra Forste (who remarried Paul Forste after divorcing Sarah's father). After her mother wed Forste, she had four more children, bringing the total to eight. Sarah Jessica now had 3 full siblings and 4 half siblings. Trained in singing and ballet, Sarah was cast in the Broadway production of "The Innocents", which prompted her family to relocate to New Jersey. Already a professional performer (she studied at the American Ballet School and the Professional Children's School), Sarah was cast in "The Sound of Music" (along with four of her siblings), and landed the lead in the Broadway run of "Annie". After a year as the free-spirited orphan, Sarah attended Dwight Morrow High School, while continuing to add more credits to her acting resume. She landed a role in the made-for-TV movie My Body, My Child (1982) (TV), before being cast as one of the lead roles in the 1982 sitcom "Square Pegs" (1982), as high-schooler Patty Green.
Once a graduate, Sarah decided to pursue a full-time acting career rather than further her education. Since "Square Pegs" (1982) did not last more than a year, Sarah moved on to supporting film roles in movies such as Footloose (1984), Firstborn (1984), and the lead role in the teenage film Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985). Sarah was having lots of fun, although she had yet to land a star-turning role. After more television appearances in series and made-for-TV movies including "A Year in the Life" (1986), The Room Upstairs (1987) (TV) and Dadah Is Death (1988) (TV), Sarah finally landed the role of Steve Martin's bubbly lover in the 1991 comedy L.A. Story (1991). More substantial film roles soon followed, starting with a role opposite Nicolas Cage in Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) (which foreshadowed her comedic talent), Hocus Pocus (1993) and Ed Wood (1994).
A big Woody Allen fan, she starred opposite the renowned filmmaker in the television movie The Sunshine Boys (1996) (TV), and that same year, she landed a starring role in Miami Rhapsody (1995). 1996 was a film intensive year with roles in The First Wives Club (1996), If Lucy Fell (1996), and Mars Attacks! (1996). All the while making a name for herself in film, Sarah was gaining respect as a theater actress, with her lead role as a dog (hard to imagine, but true) in the off-Broadway "Sylvia", and her Broadway roles in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (starring her present husband, Matthew Broderick), and the Tony-Award nominated "Once Upon a Mattress".
But Sarah's star has shot up since her portrayal of Manhattan sex-columnist Carrie Bradshaw in the HBO series "Sex and the City" (1998). Sarah's Golden Globe Best Actress victory in 2000 only underscores the fact that she plays the role of Carrie as though it were literally written for her. Sarah has been happily married to fellow actor Matthew Broderick for quite a while now. Before the marriage, she dated Robert Downey Jr. (who she also lived with), and the late John Kennedy Jr. When not serving as lead actress and producer of "Sex and the City" (1998), Sarah is a member of Hollywood's Women's Political Committee, and is UNICEF's representative for the Performing Arts.
Spouse
Matthew Broderick (19 May 1997 - present) 3 children
Trade Mark
A mole on her chin
Frequently plays rich modern women from New York
Designer high heels
Sparkling blue eyes
Trivia
Hosted The 2000 MTV Movie Awards (2000) (TV), and changed into 15 different outfits throughout the show.
Appeared as a special guest star in several episodes of "Shalom Sesame" (1987), the Israeli version of "Sesame Street" (1969).
Made her first TV special at the age of 8.
Lived with Robert Downey Jr. from 1984 to 1991.
Played "Annie" during the original Broadway run of Annie. Was third in the list of girls to play her.
Dated singer/songwriter Joshua Kadison. After the break-up Kadison wrote the song "Jessie" in the early 90s about dealing with the break-up.
Named one of E!'s "top 20 entertainers of 2001."
Named the 52nd annual Woman of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals on February 7, 2002.
Has been close friends with actor Willie Garson for over 15 years.
Has a brother, Aaron D. Forste, who is a production assistant on "Sex and the City" (1998).
Prefers British TV comedies, especially "Fawlty Towers" (1975) and "Absolutely Fabulous" (1992)
Is one of eight children: brothers Timothy Britten Parker and Pippin Parker, sister Rachel Parker, half-brothers Aaron D. Forste and Andrew Forste, and half-sisters Megan Forste and Allegra Forste.
After ending her television run of "Sex and the City" (1998), she negotiated a multi-million dollar contract to do advertisements for The Gap clothing; a brand she never wore once in her entire "Sex and the City" (1998) show!
Attended the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in Cincinnati with Rocky Carroll.
Played a role in the original stage production of "The Heidi Chronicles," only to be replaced when the show moved to Broadway...by Cynthia Nixon, her "Sex and the City" (1998) co-star. Kim Cattrall played a role in the 1995 film version of the play. That makes Kristin Davis the only regular cast member of "Sex and the City" (1998) not to appear in some adaptation of the play.
Finally won an Emmy in 2004 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, after five consecutive losses.
Is the only one out of the four main female actresses of "Sex and the City" (1998) not to have done any nudity in the show, because she has a strict no-nudity clause in her contract.
She grew up having to share clothes with siblings and having only one or two pair of shoes for the entire year. She developed a "shoe fetish" that was also shared by her character on "Sex and the City" (1998). Parker admitted that she has a closet at her home just for her footwear!
Was introduced to husband Matthew Broderick through her brother, Timothy Britten Parker.
Many gambling and betting establishments actually stopped accepting some bets on Sarah Jessica Parker for the 2004 Primetime Emmys because she was so widely predicted to walk away with an Emmy award, and she did.
Very close friends with actor Ron Rifkin.
Ranked #39 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars"
Hosted the MTV Movie Awards in 2000 and did a spoof with her costars in "Sex and the City" (1998) called Sex and the Matrix.
Has a new fragrance, called Lovely
After her multi-million dollar contract with the Gap was terminated, she rebounded by joining the ranks of J-Lo, Paris Hilton and Joan Collins by marketing herself and coming out with her own perfume, for which she is being paid in the seven figure range.
Manolo Blahnik named a shoe in her honor, the SJP.
Andie MacDowell beat her for the role of "Carrie" in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).
A member of the Hollywood Women's Political Committee.
Celebrated her 40th birthday at the Plaza. Among the guests were Kyra Sedgwick, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Noth, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and Nathan Lane.
"Sex and the City" (1998) made her a fashion icon to women all over the world due to her extravagant New Yorkian style.
She and husband Matthew Broderick had movies opening on the same day in the US: 16th December 2005. His movie was The Producers (2005), hers was The Family Stone (2005).
Has received eight consecutive Golden Globe nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press; the first seven were for Actress in a TV Comedy for her work on "Sex and the City" (1998) and her eighth was for Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy for The Family Stone (2005).
Was originally slated to star opposite Luke Wilson in Vacancy (2007), but dropped out a few weeks before filming. Kate Beckinsale stepped in to replace her.
Was named "Unsexiest Woman Alive" by Maxim magazine in 2007.
Was turned down for the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman (1990). The part went to Julia Roberts.
Was offered the role of Danielle Bowden in Cape Fear (1991) but turned down the part. The role went to a younger player, Juliette Lewis.
In Hocus Pocus (1993), she played a witch who was executed during the Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600s. While researching her family history for the show "Who Do You Think You Are?" (2010), Parker was shocked to discover that her 10th great-grandmother Esther Elwell was arrested in Salem in the late 1600s for committing "sundry acts of witchcraft" and choking a neighbour to death. Esther's case never went to court, she escaped with her life and the accusation ended the Salem Witch Trials.
She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Daughter-in-law of James Broderick and Patricia Broderick.
Returned to work two months after the birth of her twins Marion and Tabitha in order to begin filming Sex and the City 2 (2010).
Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son James in order to begin filming the sixth season of "Sex and the City" (1998).
Was six months pregnant with her son James when she completed filming on the fifth season of "Sex and the City" (1998).
Gave birth to her first child at age 37, a son James Wilkie Broderick on October 28, 2002. Child's father is her husband, Matthew Broderick.
Became the mother for the 2nd and 3rd time at age 44, when her twin daughters, Marion Loretta Elwell Broderick and Tabitha Hodge Broderick, was born on June 22, 2009 via surrogate. Children's father is her husband, Matthew Broderick.
Counts "Sex and the City: Valley of the Twenty-Something Guys (#1.4)" (1998) as her personal favorite episode of the hit TV series, a fact she revealed to host James Lipton as a guest on "Inside the Actors Studio" (19 May 2008).
Personal Quotes
Thank you. I've never won anything in my life. - on winning her 2000 Golden Globe Award for "Sex and the City" (1998).
I tell my friends married life is boring, but that's just a fun thing to say to make single people feel better.
Sarah Jessica is fine, Sarah, SJP, SJ, hey you, anything. [on how to address her]
The hardest part of leaving the show ["Sex and the City" (1998)] was this endless gypsy-like life that I'm back into, where it's like being the new kid in school all the time, which for some people is very easy but for me is not. I don't really like change, and I would like everything to be the same constantly, except that I love being terrified.
Celebrity and the media are reliant on each other - always have been - but we have lost the elegance in that relationship, somehow.
Fashion is a part of my work. I feel a responsibility to be presentable, to dress up if the occasion calls for it. But, really, fashion does not play that big a role in my life these days.
One of the things that's great about New York is that it is not a one-industry town. It has education, academia, the service industry, arts, publishing, theater, politics, fashion, finance, as well as movie-making. There are so many people who are cogs in the great wheel of the city that a less bright light is shone on our lives. It still exists - there are always paparazzi at our house - but being a public person feels less like a business than it does in LA. And you have to approach it differently. I can't hide behind gates, or in a car, but if I can get a few yards from my front door, I can still get lost in a crowd. I am always moments, just moments, from obscurity on a crowded street in New York.
"I get the feeling people are disappointed with me because I don't have the answers for them. I have to remind them that I don't have a Ph.D. in sex or counseling.
Regarding her new Steve & Barry line of affordable conservative womenswear: "There's not going to be any inappropriate midriff showing, regardless of your age. I really don't care for it. I feel like, as a culture, we have seen enough damage done by it. It's provocative in a way that I just don't feel comfortable with."
As a woman, I have an inherent need to be all things to all people, to make certain everybody's taken care of. I know I can't sustain that level all the time, so I'm finding the proper balance and it's made me infinitely happier.
Pat knows the historical context of clothes, the periods of costumes and what century is what. But there are no rules with Pat when it comes to fashion. It's liberating. [on working with fashion designer and costumer Pat Field on "Sex and the City" (1998).] (Harper's Bazaar - 2004 - "Sarah Jessica's Next Step" by Wendy Wasserstein)
[on the fact that she adored every costume of Carrie Bradshaw's on "Sex and the City" (1998).] The hits and misses. It was great fun to make mistakes and also be victorious. If I have a daughter, perhaps I'll give the clothes to her and tell her the extraordinary circumstances under which I received them. (Harper's Bazaar - 2004 - "Sarah Jessica's Next Step" by Wendy Wasserstein)
I still want to be an actor for hire, but I can also see myself as a hard-driving producer. A person can have both, and I don't think you have to be male to do that. I understand why a lot of actresses are producing now; I understand how seductive it is and how hard it is not to have control. It's like if you were keeping kosher and then one day you had... bacon! You'd just be like: This is nuts! I can't never have suckling pig! I have to have it! Or if you flew coach all the time and then one day you got on, like, Cathay Pacific First Class, where there's a whole apartment on the plane that's yours? You couldn't possibly go back to coach! You're ruined! [on becoming a producer of "Sex and the City" (1998), in which she stars.] (Vogue - August 2003 - "The Busiest Girl In Town" by Steven Meisel)
I kind of enjoy the idea that you can be a lady and be slightly titillating and you don't have to take all your clothes off. (Vogue - August 2003 - "The Busiest Girl In Town" by Steven Meisel)
I have a team of style experts for being Carrie, but I am not Carrie. I'm not even much of a shopper. I don't feel I need a lot of clothes. But I work in an industry where appearance is everything and sometimes I have to work hard at looking good.
When I go to a premiere I like to borrow lovely clothes and shoes from designers. It's like the library: if you return them in good condition, you get to borrow more. I'm very lucky.
I dress like most mothers - quickly!
You don't want to see me topless.
Salary
"Sex and the City" (1998) $325,000 per episode
Failure to Launch (2006) $1,000,000
Sex and the City (2008) $15,000,000
Where Are They Now
(August 2003) Re-negotiated her contract to sell Nutrisse Hair Products in both print and television commercials, for an undisclosed amount believed to be in the seven figure range.
(2007) Launch of her clothing line "Bitten".
(July 2007) Launch of her fragrance "Covet".
(2006) Launch of her fragrance "Lovely".
(2010) Launch of her fragrance "SJP NYC".
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