Along with her screen career, Roberts’s lively love
life endeared her to the tabloids. Boyfriends included
Liam Neeson, Kiefer Sutherland, Daniel Day-Lewis,
singer Lyle Lovett (a short-lived marriage ensued),
Benjamin Bratt, and cameraman Daniel Moder
(whom she married in 2002). Additionally, Roberts
made television appearances onFriendsandMurphy
Brownand made goodwill tours for the United Na-
tions Children’s Fund (UNICEF). By the end of the
1990’s, Roberts, one of the highest-grossing actors of
the decade and one of America’s favorite movie stars,
had completed more than twenty-five films.
Roberts reached her greatest success in 2000 with
her Academy Award-winning performance in the ti-
tle role of director Steven Soderbergh’sErin Brock-
ovich, based on the true story of a single mother who
against all odds wins a hard battle against a Califor-
nia power giant that has contaminated the water
supply. Without legal training, she worms into a job
with a law firm and proceeds to unearth evidence
that the corporate violator has denied liability while
many people’s health has been ruined. Similar to
the real-life person, Roberts’s character portrayed a
pertinacious individual who dresses inappropriately
(short skirts, low-cut tops) but connects effectively
with the victims, enabling her firm
to win a huge settlement. Critics and
audiences praised Roberts’s perfor-
mance, which earned her $20 mil-
lion, an Oscar for Best Actress, and
other awards.
Impact Performances fromPretty
WomantoErin Brockovichmade Julia
Roberts the decade’s most popular
actress. Her best roles represented a
warm yet independent woman not
intimidated by male or corporate
power.
Further Reading
Sanello, Frank.Julia Roberts. Edin-
burgh: Mainstream, 2000.
Spada, James.Julia: Her Life. New
York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004.
Christian H. Moe
See also Academy Awards; Allen,
Woody; Film in the United States;
Friends; Grisham, John;Murphy
Brown; Television.
Rock, Chris
Identification African American comedian and
actor
Born February 7, 1966; Andrews, South Carolina
Rock’s humor represented an evolution in African Ameri-
can and urban-oriented, stand-up comedy.
Chris Rock’s clenched-teeth delivery and energetic
onstage pacing as he explained aspects of cultural
and political phenomena to urban audiences made
him one of the most popular stand-up comedians of
the 1990’s. In a style that could be described as one
part rap artist, one part urban intellectual, Rock put
into perspective the issues that confronted African
Americans as well as Americans in general, taking on
sensitive subjects such as race relations and black
poverty.
Rock’s particular brand of comedy seemed to res-
onate with African Americans who had been born
during or after the Civil Rights movement of the
1960’s, and who therefore were familiar with the
comedian’s topical humor about integrated schools,
rap music, the Rodney King beating, and the dating
scene in the 1990’s. Additionally, Rock’s stand-upThe Nineties in America Rock, Chris 723
Chris Rock accepts his award for entertainment host for HBO’sThe Chris Rock
Showat the 1997 CableACE Awards.(AP/Wide World Photos)