The Beautiful Penelope Cruz

Penelope Cruz was born Penelope Cruz Sanchez on April 28th, 1974, in Madrid, Spain. She was born to a hair dresser and retailer. Her father's name is Eduardo and her mother's name is Encama. While growing up her family, including her two younger siblings Monica and Eduardo, lived in a suburb of Alcobendas. It is said that Penelope was a natural performer. She was mimicking television commercials at four-years-old. She studied dance at Spain's National Conservatory for nine years. Dance was her passion.

At the tender age of fifteen, she became a part-time fashion model. She studied drama in Madrid and appeared in music videos. She had a relationship with Mecano's singer Nacho Cano until 1996. When she was sixteen, she presented Kids' TV programs. During that time, she had overworked herself and had to take a break suffering from over-exhaustion. Her first movie was The Greek Labyrinth. After that she did a movie called Framed. That was just when she was eighteen-years-old.

Cruz's first predominately English spoken film was Twice Upon A Yesterday. Her first Hollywood production was The Hi-Lo Country, directed by Stephen Frears. As a woman with a heart of gold, Penelope donated her entire paycheck from Hi-Lo to Mother Theresa's children's sanctuary. She also spent two months working in Uganda in 1997. She was also in other movies such as Blow, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and 2001's Vanilla Sky. With so many movies from Europe and America, she truly is a polished and professional actress.

During Vanilla Sky she met Tom Cruise. They began a relationship soon after Tom's divorce from Nicole Kidman. That too came to an end in 2004. She continues to balance her endeavors in Spain, the United States, and other parts of Europe remarkably. Her former boyfriend Nacho Cano set up the Spanish Sabera Foundation. She shot a documentary to help.

This foundation is hoping to raise money for poverty-stricken children. As far as their successes with Spanish Sabera go they include building a home, school, and a clinic for homeless girls and TB sufferers. She soon had another breakdown again, but has picked herself up again. She has quit smoking, became vegetarian and she has begun meditating. Her love is acting and I see her being around for a very long time.