Nicole Mary Kidman was born on June 20, 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She grew up in her parents' native Australia. There she lived an upper-class lifestyle in which she was well-educated and exposed to much culture, including ballet lessons from age three.

Nicole's interest in acting began in childhood and by age 10, Kidman was studying acting in drama school. Later she trained at the St. Martin's Youth Theater in Melbourne and also at both the Australian Theater for Young People and at the Phillip Street Theater in Sydney. When Nicole was 14, she made her film debut in "Bush Children" (1982), after she was spotted playing a middle-aged American in a regional play. Her next film, "The BMX Bandits" (1983) provided Nicole her first real starring role. Thus began a steady sequence of filmwork for Nicole that was punctuated by her award-winning work on Australian television that included two Australian Film Institute' Best Actress Awards for the telemovies "Vietnam" (1988) and "Bangkok Hilton" (1989).
In addition to her filmwork, Nicole was also working in Aussie theater and was awarded the Sydney Theater Critics' "Best Newcomer" award. Nicole made her US debut opposite Sam Neill in the thriller "Dead Calm" (1989). Her work in "Dead Calm" caught the eye of American actor Tom Cruise who starred her opposite himself in Days of Thunder (1990). The year of the film's release Nicole and Tom married. They next appeared together in Ron Howard's western epic "Far and Away" (1992). In 1999 they disappeared into a notoriously long, secretive shoot for Stanley Kubrick's sexual thriller "Eyes Wide Shut".

 

Misspellings & aliases:
Nicolle, Nichole, Nicol, Nicoll, Nickole, Nickol, Nickoll, Kiddman, Kidmann, Kiddmann, Kidmahn, Keedman, Kidmane, Kidmen, Kidmenn.