The daughter of actress Blythe Danner, Paltrow studied anthropology at the University of California before leaving school to pursue an acting career.  Her early work included 1991's "Hook"; 1992's made-for-TV "Cruel Doubt", in which her real-life mother played her on-screen mother; 1993's "Flesh and Bone" and "Malice"; and 1994's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle".  After "Seven", she was in 1996's "Emma" (where she demonstrated an adept English accent) and "Hard Eight" (which had the same writer/director and much of the same cast as 1997's "Boogie Nights").  1998 saw Paltrow in five different films, some forgettable, some not; "Sliding Doors" was a success, and "Shakespeare in Love" won Paltrow the Academy Award for Best Actress.  Subsequent films include "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999); "Bounce" (2000, with Ben Affleck); "The Royal Tenenbaums", "The Anniversary Party", and the Farrelly brothers' "Shallow Hal" (2001); and the Sylvia Plath biopic "Sylvia" (2003), in which Blythe Danner again played Paltrow's on-screen mom.