Happy Women’s History Month! Help JWA continue to lift up Jewish women’s stories, this month and every month, by making a gift today!
Close [x]

Show [+]

Gwyneth Paltrow

b. September 27, 1972

by JWA Staff
Our work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing. We are providing this brief biography for Gwyneth Paltrow until we are able to commission a full entry.

Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2011 Venice Film Festival.


Photo courtesy of Andrea Raffin.

Known best for her Oscar-winning performance in the romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love, Gwyneth Paltrow has repeatedly sought out difficult roles playing unconventional women, including playing Sylvia Plath in 2003. The daughter of director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, Paltrow debuted in the 1989 TV film High, which her father directed, before playing young Wendy Darling in 1991’s Hook. She earned critical acclaim for her starring role in 1996’s Emma, and both Golden Globe and Academy Awards for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. She has tried to mix big budget films, like 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley and the Iron Man franchise, with more thoughtful independent films that include 2001’s Royal Tenenbaums, 2003’s Sylvia, and 2005’s Proof. In 2011 she won an Emmy for her recurring role as Holly Holliday on Glee. Often called controversial for her comments on nutrition and parenting, Paltrow is the author of five cookbooks: 2011’s Notes from My Kitchen Table and My Father’s Daughter, 2013’s It’s All Good, 2016’s It's All Easy: Delicious Weekday Recipes for the Super-Busy Home Cook, and 2019’s The Clean Plate: Eat, Reset, Heal. In 2017 she announced she was moving away from acting to focus on her wellness and lifestyle company, Goop. Goop has received critique for promoting pseudoscience, leading to controversy when Netflix released its 2020 documentary series The Goop Lab, hosted and executive produced by Paltrow. As of 2023 she remains distanced—but not entirely absent—from Hollywood. She has most notably reprised her Marvel role as Pepper Potts in Avengers: Endgame in 2019.  

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Gwyneth Paltrow." (Viewed on March 29, 2024) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/paltrow-gwyneth>.