by Gaynor Paynter

G21 Africa Columnist

To read this article in Deutsch, Francaise, Italiano, Portuguese, Espanol, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Russian, copy and paste the complete URL ("http://www.g21.net/let19.htm") and enter it in the box after you click through.

Gaynor Paynter & her sons

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Greetings and salutations to all my American friends! It has been some time since I last corresponded with you and I trust that my letter finds you well and happy in these pre-election American days. My prayer for you is one of peace and prosperity at this time. I'm writing to you from a South Africa which is also going to election (ours will take place in April -- thank you, Mr President, for giving us the 4 day Easter weekend, one day back at work and then a holiday on which to go and vote!) on a balmy South African night. We have weathered the worst of our summer and are preparing for Autumn to take hold.

Now I don't know if what is true in South Africa holds true in America too, but here, in this sports mad country, if there is an event of national interest taking place, the event itself is almost as important if not more so than the elections! I am referring of course to your Oscar Awards which will have taken place by the time that you read this. This year, we South Africans have a vested interest in the Oscars because of the nomination of our Charlize Theron for the award of Best Actress. Let me say at the outset that this nomination is a culmination of Charlize's meteoric career to date, her crowning glory, whether she takes the Oscar or not.

Born in August of 1975, Charlize Theron received an education as a ballet dancer (she has taken part in both Swan Lake and The Nutcracker suite). After the completion of her studies, she travelled to Europe and the United States of America where she got a job at the Joffrey Ballet in New York (she was also able to work for the company as a photo model.) A knee injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise when it put paid to her dancing career. By then nineteen, Charlize was persuaded by her mother to go back to America to try a career in the movies ... and the rest is history. She was approached by an agent who gave her his card on Hollywood Boulevard two weeks after her arrival. Within eight months she got her first job, and there is a legendary tale about Charlize's tantrum inside a bank attracting the attention of an agent - by the consternation that she was creating he could see that Charlize knew how to act without even putting her through the strain of an audition..

Charlize Theron is living proof that it is possible for a South African woman from a backwater farm in Putfontein, close to Benoni (east of Johannesburg) to have the potential to make herself over and be a success in the outside world. She has become an icon to South African women in a world where there are not too many South African females one would really want to make into an idol.

The rather brutal truth of the matter is that Charlize Theron has not always had an easy time of it. When she was 15 her apparently abusive father was shot dead by her mother (her mother was not prosecuted because she was protecting her child). One would imagine from this information that Charlize, an only child, had to learn to stand on her own two feet from an early age, and it is probably due to this that she is the tenacious ,driven adult that she is today.

Charlize is definitely not afraid of standing up for what she believes in. Some years ago she took a sensitive, controversial South African issue straight on when she appeared in adverts for an anti-rape campaign. A furore emerged when complaints about the advertisements were received from South African men objecting to statements made by Charlize that if you allow rape you are not a man. The adverts were withdrawn because they were thought to be derogatory to men, but by then we knew exactly where Charlize stood on the issue of rape and that she was prepared to open her mouth and state her opposition to it. In that short space of time she raised more awareness about rape and did the anti-rape campaign far more good than the silent government has in nearly ten years. She gave South African women the bravery to talk more about it.

Charlize's Oscar nomination comes in recognition of her excellent performance in the movie "Monster" in which she manages to sensitively and sympathetically portray a ragged, rough character in a riveting performance. In a fascinating twist, the beautiful Charlize had to pile on the weight for the performance and also sports a made-up complexion befitting a washerwoman of the 1800s. Surely this must be the first time that such a beautiful woman (Charlize has the grace of a 1930s film star) has been made to look so ugly and the movie has turned out to be so good.

Other movies she has starred in include "Waiting for Reno" and "The Italian Job," in both of which she gives exceptional performances (to me the Mini Cooper, which plays a vital part in "The Italian Job, "will always go hand in hand with Charlize Theron after watching her drive it down passageways and up stairs in this most beautifully shot movie.

Further information about Charlize Theron includes the following:

• She is completely fluent in Afrikaans
• She appeared in the May 1999 issue of Playboy Magazine
• She became a fashion model at age 14.
• She was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People [2000]
• She turned down the female lead in "Pearl Harbor" (2001) in order to star alongside Keanu Reeves in "Sweet November " (2001).
• She auditioned for the female lead in "Showgirls" (1995).
• She dated Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of the band Third Eye Blind. [October 2000 - July 2001]
• She was ranked 4th of the 100 Sexiest Women by FHM Taiwan (2001).
• She was placed #1 on Beautiful People Internet Poll, narrowly beating Cameron Diaz in #2 and Kate Beckinsale in #3. The photo featured on the site was the famous 'Diving Board' photo.
• Theron is currently engaged to Stuart Townsend. (Sept. 2002)
• Both her parents are Afrikaans, born and raised in South Africa. However her father is of French descent and her mother of German descent.
• She was voted the 12th Sexist Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.
• Measurements: 36B-24-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Charlize is up against stiff competition in the Oscars and by the time you read this you will know who has taken the award but in South Africa Charlize Theron is a winner whether she walks out with the Oscar or not.

My friends, I bid you good bye and good luck, until we speak again.

A SPECIAL ADDENDUM FILED LATER BY THIS AUTHOR:

You grew up in Benoni and grew out of South Africa
Never forgetting your roots
With an American accent and flawless face,
Masses of talent and never-ending determination
As the tools of your trade
Your mom packed you off to Hollywood
Where from the word go you weren't going to be pushed around,
You let that bank manager see the real you and the movie buff saw it too
And here at home you used the same voice against rape
When so many others were afraid to
And the powers that be didn't care
Versatility is your middle name
You'll be Marilyn Monroe one moment,
And Aileen Wournos the next
All the time knowing that Charlize is best
Like Mark Shuttleworth you've gone where no South African went before you
You walked amongst stars not realising you're the brightest of them all,
And brought home the glory
Never once bringing your good name down
Golden girl you did us proud!

Whichever role you're playing you'll always be
Our Charlize Theron.

ONS IS TROTS OP JOU.