Gwyneth Katherine Paltrow (born September 27, 1972) is an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, to the film and television director Bruce and Blythe Danner; Paltrow's father was Jewish and her mother was raised a Quaker. Raised in Santa Monica, she attended Spence School, a private girls' school in New York City, and briefly studied art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before dropping out and committing herself to acting. Paltrow has a younger brother, Jake Paltrow, and is a cousin of actress Katherine Moennig. She is an adopted daughter of Talavera de la Reina (Spain), where she lived as an exchange student and learned Spanish, which she speaks fluently.[1][2][3]

Paltrow is a descendant of a famous 17th-century rabbi, David HaLevi Segal of Cracow,[4] through the Russian rabbinical family Paltrowitch, which produced thirty-three rabbis over several generations.[5] The actress has said she is very proud of being Jewish, and has attributed her father's warmth to his Jewish heritage:

"My father had that incredible Jewish warmth, really bolstering us (Paltrow and her brother) all the time. And when you're nine years old and you're hearing that you are the best person, it gets in there, and you think, 'OK, I'm not going to be afraid to try things, because I'm always loved no matter what.' That kills me, when I think about it. It totally breaks my heart, how lucky I am. Read more