Uma Karuna Thurman was born on April 29, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Robert Thurman, a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, and Nena von Schlebrügge, a high-fashion model.

Uma Thurman received a Buddhist upbringing and spent some of her childhood in Almora, Uttarakhand, India. She grew up mostly in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Woodstock, New York. She discovered her love for acting as a teenager and pursued it professionally after being scouted by agents while modeling in New York City.

Her career took off with her role in the 1988 film "Dangerous Liaisons," but she gained international fame for her performance as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994), for which she received several award nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She reunited with Tarantino for the "Kill Bill" series (2003-2004), playing the lead role of an avenging assassin, which earned her additional acclaim and award nominations.

Uma Thurman has appeared in a variety of films, including "Henry & June" (1990), "Batman & Robin" (1997), "Gattaca" (1997), "Les Misérables" (1998), "The Producers" (2005), and "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (2010).

She also made her Broadway debut in "The Parisian Woman" (2017-2018) and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Film for "Hysterical Blindness" (2002).

Uma Thurman has been married twice, first to actor Gary Oldman (1990-1992) and then to actor Ethan Hawke (1998-2005). She has three children: Maya and Levon with Hawke, and Luna with her former partner, financier Arpad Busson.