Overview (3)
| Born | in Westminster, London, England, UK |
| Birth Name | Melanie Thandiwe Newton |
| Height | 5' 3" (1.6 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Thandiwe Newton was born in London. She is the daughter of Zimbabwean mother Nyasha, a health-care worker from the Shona tribe, and British father Nick Newton, who worked as a lab technician. She lived in Zambia until political unrest caused her family to move back to the UK, where she lived in Cornwall (in southwest Britain) until she was 11 and enrolled in London's Art Educational School to study modern dance until a back injury forced her to quit dancing. This led to her auditioning for films. Her first role was in John Duigan's Flirting (1991). She then moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue acting. When her British accent limited the amount of work she was getting, she returned to Britain, studied at Cambridge University, and earned a degree in anthropology. Between semesters she continued acting and became noticed in in- demand for future film roles.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: John Sacksteder <jsack@ka.net>
Family (4)
| Spouse | Ol Parker (11 July 1998 - present) (3 children) |
| Children |
Ripley Parker Booker Jombe Parker Nico Parker |
| Parents |
Nyasha Newton
Nick Newton Nick Newton Nyasha Newton |
| Relatives | Jamie Newton (sibling) |
Trivia (30)
She has a Zimbabwean mother and a British father.
She;s married to writer Ot Parker who she met on the set of In Your Dreams,.
The name 'Thandie' is a variation of her actual middle name Thandiwe (pronounced tan-DEE-way), which means 'beloved.'.
Shes half Zimbabian.
Voted by the readers of Black Men Magazine as one of "The 10 Sexiest Women of the Year." [2000]
After filming Flirting in 1991 she went to Los Angeles briefly then returned to England to study Anthropology at Cambridge, Inbetween terms she filmed Interview with a Vampire.
A delayed shoot for Mission: Impossible II (2000) caused her to turn down one of the lead roles in Charlie's Angels (2000). Lucy Liu was cast instead.
One of her fondest memories is watching her mother get dressed in her traditional African garb because it taught her black pride.
Raised in Penzance, Cornwall, England.
Ranked #48 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World" (2002)
Graduated with a 2:1 (otherwise known as "an undergraduate degree with 2nd Class Honours, Upper Division")in Anthropology from Cambridge University.
Her younger daughter Nico Parker was named for German-born singer Nico, member of the legendary rock group The Velvet Underground.
Delivered both of her daughters naturally via a birthing pool.
In July 2011, in a speech at the TEDGlobal 2011 Conference, Newton disclosed that earlier in her career, she struggled with the eating disorder bulimia.
Mother, with her estranged husband Ol Parker, of two daughters, Ripley Parker (b. September 17, 2000) and Nico Parker (b. December 9, 2004), and one son, Booker Jombe Parker (b. March 3, 2014).
Returned to work 8 months after giving birth to her daughter Nico to begin filming The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).
Was 6 months pregnant with her son Booker when she completed filming the 2nd season of Rogue (2013).
Her mother is a Princess of the Shona Tribe.
Returned to work 5 months after giving birth to her son Booker to begin filming Westworld (2016).
David Schwimmer called her "the queen of practical jokes".
Is occasionally mistaken for Zoe Saldana.
Her daughter Nico Parker is also an actress. While Newton was filming Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Parker made her debut in Dumbo (2019) filmed on a nearby movie set.
She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2019 Queen's New Years Honours List for her serves to Film and Charity. She is an actress in London, England.
Born on the same date as Rebecca Romijn.
Mentioned in "Cock Mobster" by Paul Barman.
Newton's name has been misspelled as "Thandie" ever since her first role in Flirting (1991) in which her character's name is Thandiwe Adjewa. The correct spelling, Thandiwe, pronounced "tan-Dee-way", means "beloved" in Shona. Shona is one of the most widely spoken languages of Zimbabwe.
(April 14, 2022) Separated from her husband of 23 years Ol Parker.
Personal Quotes (7)
It was hysterical. We wanted to make it naughty and fun. When the camera stopped rolling, it was hard to stop laughing. - about her love scene with Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II (2000).
I use the film industry as a pleasure for work and that kind of thing and it's not a pursuit to make me feel happy in my life.
Having children is life-changing, to state the obvious. It's a gigantic shift in your life and I welcomed it. Not to put too fine a point on it, there's something about the shame that goes with sexual exploitation, deviance, whatever. As a woman, having a baby psychologically erases it all from your body. And that, for me, was incredibly important.
I don't put the pressure on myself to be a very successful movie star. I want to enjoy being an actor and I want to be challenged by the roles I take. What is lovely is that I'll get sent a small movie, and you know that by virtue of me being involved they get their money and that's fantastic.
God, yeah, I'm good at playing the emotionally strangled person. The woman who is in the worst place in her life. That's me!
Ten years ago, I probably would have bemoaned the fact that I started out [in the film business] so young - but now I'm grateful - truly grateful. [September 2008]
When I am out and about I feel watched. It's become second nature. The only time I get to be private is in my work. That is when I liberate the ego. The blessed-out sensation of liberating the ego.
Salary (1)
| Westworld (2016) | $250,000 /episode (Season 3) |
