Background
Roberts was born in Decatur, Georgia.
Roberts was born in Decatur, Georgia.
Her parents, Betty Lou Bredemus (1934-2015) and Walter Grady Roberts (1933-1977), one-time actors and playwrights, met while touring a production of "George Washington Slept Here" for the armed forces. In 1963 they co-founded the Atlanta Actors and Writers Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia. Roberts" mother, became a church secretary and real estate agent, and her father, a vacuum cleaner salesman.
They filed for divorce in 1971 and it was finalized early in 1972.
Father Walter died of cancer in March 1977. Julia and her mother, Betty, moved to Smyrna, Georgia, after the divorce.
In 1972, mother Betty married Michael Motes, who was abusive and often unemployed. In 1983, Betty divorced Motes, citing cruelty and stating that marrying him was the biggest mistake of her life.
Michael Motes and Betty had a daughter in 1976, Nancy Motes, who died February 9, 2014, at age 37, of an apparent suicide via drug overdose.
Roberts is of English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. She has had roles in such films as I Love Trouble (1994), Something to Talk About (1995), Runaway Bride (1999), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and Raising Helen (2004). She produced the film Nothing to Lose (1997) in which she played a small role.
Other actors were Adrien Brody and Tony Gillan.
In the 2011 movie Mirror Mirror, based on the story of Snow White, she played Julia Roberts" reflection in a magic mirror.