Born: 28 April 1974
Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
Best Known As: Sultry Spanish Oscar-winner for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

A sultry and sometimes playful Spanish actress, Penelope Cruz became famous internationally when she played the motion-sick heroine in the 2000 film Woman on Top. She was already a star in Spain: she had a major role in the Oscar-winning 1992 film Belle Epoque, then began a long association with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar. Her films with Almodovar include Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999) and Volver (2006). In Hollywood her most prominent roles have been in the westerns The Hi-Lo Country (1998) and All the Pretty Horses (with Matt Damon, 2000), the druglord drama Blow (with Johnny Depp, 2001), and Vanilla Sky (2001), in which she co-starred with her real-life boyfriend at the time, Tom Cruise. She won an Oscar as best supporting actress for her role as a fiery Spanish artist in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, also starring Javier Bardem).

Cruz donated her salary from The Hi-Lo Country to Mother Teresa's charity... Cruz and Cruise dated from 2001 through 2004, when they announced through publicists that they were no longer a couple... Cruz is occasionally confused with the Mexican actress Salma Hayek.(this details has been taken by http://www.answers.com/topic/penelope-cruz)