Julianne Moore's Real Name: Julie Anne Smith

Quick answer: Julianne Moore's original name is Julie Anne Smith. She was born on December 3, 1960, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She won the Academy Award for best actress for Still Alice (2014) (Britannica).

Real name and early life

Britannica lists her as also known as, and byname of, Julie Anne Smith, born December 3, 1960, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Library of Congress heading is "Moore, Julianne," with the official variant "Smith, Julie Anne, 1960-." One citation note lists a 1961 birth year, which conflicts with the December 3, 1960, date given by Britannica. She earned a bachelor's degree in acting from Boston University in 1983 and moved to New York City, Britannica says. She took the professional name Julianne Moore — Moore was her father's middle name — because variations of her own name were already registered with the Actors' Equity Association.

Career highlights

After appearing in several plays and television programs, she began a three-year run on the soap opera As the World Turns in 1985, playing a psychologist; the role brought an Emmy Award in 1988. Film roles that established her included Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Far from Heaven (2002), and The Hours (2002). She won the best-actress Oscar, and a Golden Globe Award, for Still Alice (2014), in which she played a professor with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Britannica also lists a 2012 Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie and a 2013 Golden Globe. Other widely seen films include The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and, in the mid-2010s, the two later popular Hunger Games: Mockingjay films, in which she appeared alongside Jennifer Lawrence. A Library of Congress note also records her as the author of books about a character called Freckleface Strawberry, later the basis of an off-Broadway musical. The same note describes her as a four-time Academy Award nominee as well as a New York Times bestselling children's author.

Name notes for searchers

Julie Anne Smith is the documented original name; Julianne Moore is a professional name she adopted for Actors' Equity. Searchers looking for Julie Anne Smith or Julianne Moore in this context are usually aiming at the same person. She should not be confused with the singer and actress Mandy Moore, a different person.