Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez-Pinault (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsalma ˈxaʝek]; born September 2, 1966 in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz) is a Mexican actress, director and producer of Lebanese descent. Hayek is the first Mexican national to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is one of the most prominent Mexican figures in Hollywood. She is also, after Fernanda Montenegro, the second of three Latin American actresses (the other being Catalina Sandino Moreno) to achieve a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez Medina, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek Dominguez, an oil company executive who once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos. Hayek's father is of Lebanese descent, while her mother is of Spanish descent. Her first given name, Salma, is Arabic for "Welcome". Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Roman Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve. While there, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana. Hayek moved to Los Angeles, California in 1991 to study acting under Stella Adler.She had limited fluency in English, which was attributed to her suffering from dyslexia. Robert Rodriguez and his producer and then wife Elizabeth Avellan soon gave Hayek a starring role opposite Antonio Banderas in 1995's Desperado. Hayek had a starring part opposite Matthew Perry in the romantic comedy Fools Rush In. She followed her role in Desperado with a brief role as a vampire queen in From Dusk Till Dawn, in which she performed a table-top snake dance. In 1999, she co-starred in Will Smith's big-budget Wild Wild West, and played a supporting role in Kevin Smith's Dogma. In 2000, Hayek had an uncredited acting part opposite Benicio del Toro in Traffic. In 2003, she reprised her role from Desperado by appearing in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the final film of the Mariachi Trilogy.
Although little Valentina Paloma was not around, buxom mom Salma Hayek still managed to show off her girls on a German TV show this weekend.Salma accentuated her positives in a traditional Dirndl… READ MORE >
The stock market ain't the only thing crashing these days.Salma Hayek lost her balance leaving the Balenciaga fashion show in Paris yesterday.No Federal bailout plan required. READ MORE >
Salma Hayek and her baby girl only got a two-cop escort into LAX yesterday. Faux Jamie Lynn Spears got seven. READ MORE >
Turns out Salma Hayek is her brother's keeper -- and now that a bitter employee filed a lawsuit against his investment venture gone wrong, Salma might have to end up paying through the nose. A guy… READ MORE >
Even though she voices a character in the movie, Salma Hayek took no responsibility for "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (who would?) -- then she unleashed her secret to losing baby weight fast. Real… READ MORE >
The only person possibly more gorgeous than Salma Hayek is her 10-month-old daughter, Valentina.Sal & Val enjoyed a day of spending mama's ex-fiancé's billions in Beverly Hills on… READ MORE >
Salma Hayek is looking great post-pregnancy -- at least we think she is. The group of paparazzi around her yesterday at Fred Segal was so brutal -- and large -- you could barely see her. // READ MORE >
Shiloh, Suri, even Max and Emme, ain't got nothing on Salma Hayek's little billionairess, Valentina Paloma Pinault. Hola bitches!Hayek's adorable 8-month-old princesa -- whose dad is French… READ MORE >
Salma Hayek, who seemed to be pregnant for the last three years, finally gave birth today to a baby girl named Valentina Paloma Pinault."Mother and child are doing well," her publicist said in a… READ MORE >
There's going to be a helluva chiropractic bill for the stork delivering Salma Hayek's baby! The magnetic mommy-to-be was snapped leaving Fred Segal Mauro Café in West Hollywood yesterday,… READ MORE >
