The amazing Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966, in the oil boomtown of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Hayek has freely admitted that she and her brother, Sami, were spoiled rotten by her well-to-do Lebanese-Mexican businessman father and her Mexican-born opera-singing mother. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theatre, Salma decided she wanted to become an actress. Her education included a stint at a New Orleans convent school, where she pulled pranks on the nuns by setting their clocks back three hours. She was soon expelled. Only after attending Mexico City's Universidad Iberoamericana did she feel ready to pursue acting seriously.
A Mexico City's Universidad Iberoamericana graduate, Hayek did feel ready to start an acting career early on, landed the title role in "Teresa" (1989), a hugely successful soap opera which earned her the star status in her homeland. Won several acting awards, still she felt the need to explore her talent and passion that later on left the hugely successful soap and her homeland and headed for L.A.
Hayek, 33, begins dating actor Edward Norton, 30, after their chiropractor sets them up. "He's charming and a great companion for Hayek, because he doesn't try to compete with her," Hayek's pal, television producer Lucy Orozco, tells PEOPLE. The two split in 2003.
