DEMI MOORE

Biography

Demetria Gene Guynes was born on the November 11, 1962, in Roswell, New Mexico. Not only was her family poverty stricken, but her entire family life wasn't much to cheer about. The future soap opera actress' childhood was a drama in itself.

By the time she was 18, Demi Moore's family had experienced divorce, poverty, alcoholism, and suicide. Her father left the family before she was born and her mother married Danny Guynes, a newspaper ad salesman. His unstable job forced the family to move around from time to time, and whatever money he did make was lost to gambling.

demi moore works as model
To add to her less than positive upbringing, her cross-eyed condition, which was finally corrected thanks to two operations, did not help her much. After her surgery, Demi Moore used her looks to earn some money modeling in Europe (after dropping out of high school), and put her now trademark raspy voice to work as a collection agent.

Demi Moore's 18th year was marked with a funeral and a wedding. Her father committed suicide, and Demi Moore married rock musician Freddy Moore, who was 12 years her senior. Her short-lived marriage did more than make Demi "Mrs. Moore"; it's what led her to pursue an acting career. Demi and Freddy lived next door to actress Nastassja Kinski, who inspired Demi Moore to become an actress.

demi moore on general hospital
Demi Moore earned her start as an actress on the soap opera General Hospital (which also later triggered the career of Vanessa Marcil). After appearing in a few unsuccessful films and as Michael Caine's daughter in Blame It on Rio, Demi Moore left General Hospital in 1984.

That same year, she became a member of the Brat Pack with a role in St. Elmo's Fire. For a while, she played a dual role as a cocaine addict, both on- and off-screen; she finally kicked the habit after receiving an ultimatum from the film's director. The '80s were marked with an engagement to Emilio Estevez, a marriage to Bruce Willis and some more film roles, but none as memorable as her role in Ghost.

demi moore in ghost
Demi Moore's star rose to the top of the box office after the commercial and critical success of 1990's romantic tearjerker Ghost. Her role in the courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992), costarring heavy hitters Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, secured her standing in Hollywood and made audiences forgive her for her 1991 roles in Mortal Thoughts, Nothing But Trouble and The Butcher's Wife.

In 1993, Demi Moore starred in Indecent Proposal, which garnered her an MTV Movie Award for Best Onscreen Kiss (shared with Woody Harrelson). The next year, she costarred with Michael Douglas in Disclosure, in which her physical assets were disclosed to audiences worldwide.

What followed were a string of box-office disappointments, with The Scarlet Letter (1995), Now and Then (1995) and The Juror (1996). The buzz and hype surrounding her controversial film Striptease (1996) were the only reasons to flock to the theaters -- well, aside from the obvious fact that Demi Moore was playing a stripper. This was the film that placed Demi Moore among the highest paid female actresses, with a salary of $12.5 million.

demi does striptease and g.i. jane
After her role in Striptease, Demi Moore disappeared from the spotlight, only to resurface with the lead role in G.I. Jane (1997) and a highly publicized separation from her husband of 11 years, Bruce Willis (in 1998). The couple had three daughters -- Rumer Glenn, Scout LaRue and Tallulah Belle.

Demi Moore's time in the spotlight is also due to her behavior in the media. She appeared nude in the '80s for the magazine Oui and twice on the cover of Vanity Fair; once while seven months pregnant and a second time covered in body paint.

Demi Moore also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman before the release of Striptease wearing nothing but a bikini and the "Top Ten" list cards covering her, successfully disproving rumors that she was too fat to appear in the movie. And just as the Demi-hype calmed down in the media, she again proved to audiences that she was fit enough to star as a Navy SEAL in G.I. Jane by doing one-arm push-ups on the Late Show.

demi moore in charlie's angels
Demi Moore returned to the spotlight after a three-year hiatus, this time in 2000's Passion of Mind. After reprising her role as Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame II in 2002 (by lending her voice) and hooking up in real life with much-younger Ashton Kutcher, she made her much-anticipated screen comeback as the villain in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle in 2003.

demi moore in bobby and mr. brooks

Well into her 40s, Demi Moore is in her prime, looking sexier than ever. In 2006, she added Half Light and Bobby to her resume. And in 2007 she starred alongside Kevin Costner in Mr. Brooks.