Elithabeth Hurley Biography

Elizabeth Jane Hurley was born on June 10, 1965 in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. The daughter of an army officer father and anelementary schoolteacher mother, Hurley grew up in the suburb of Basingstoke, England. Her dream as a youth was tobecome a dancer, so she went to a boarding school for ballet instruction when she was twelve years old. She soonreturned home, however. Around the age of sixteen, Hurley became caught up in the English punk-rock scene and evenwore pink hair and a nose ring.Hurley parlayed her training at the London Studio Centre into theatre work and made her screen debut at the age of 21in Bruce Beresford's movie Aria in 1987. Several roles in television and the film Remando al viento (1987) with young actor(and future beau) Hugh Grant soon followed. Continuing her streak of success, Hurley drew accolades for her portrayal ofthe title role of Christabel Bielenberg in the BBC mini-serial Christabel in 1988. Then, in 1992, Hurley made her Hollywoodfilm debut as a terrorist (she can terrorize me any day) in the Wesley Snipes action drama Passenger 57. Despite thisappearance, Hurley was disappointed in the lack of meaty roles she received after two years of auditioning in Hollywood,so she returned to England.Unbeknownst to Hurley, her fame was soon to skyrocket for two reasons. Reason number one was the London premiereof Four Weddings and a Funeral (Grant's 1994 movie), where Hurley wowed the crowd by wearing a black Versace dressthat was held together by nothing more than safety pins. (You can find several pictures of that dress on this site at thePictures section, FYI.) Hurley says, ''That dress was a favor from Versace because I couldn't afford to buy one. Hispeople told me they didn't have any evening wear, but there was one item left in their press office. So I tried it on andthat was it.''