Catherine Élise “Cate” Blanchett (born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actress and theatre director. She has won multiple acting awards, most notably two SAGs, two Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTAs, and an Academy Award, as well as the Volpi Cup at 64th Venice International Film Festival. Blanchett earned five Academy Award nominations between 1998 and 2010.

Blanchett came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 film Elizabeth, directed by Shekhar Kapur. She is also well-known for her portrayals of the elf queen Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, a role which brought her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She and her husband Andrew Upton are currently artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company.

IMDB Bio:
Cate Blanchett graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim. On graduating from NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls”, then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Tim Daly’s “Kafka Dances”, winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance. From there, Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamet’s searing polemic “Oleanna”, also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year. She then co-starred in the ABC Television’s prime time drama “Heartland” (1994), again winning critical acclaim. In 1995, she was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company’s production of “Hamlet”. Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company’s “Sweet Phoebe”, Miranda in “The Tempest” and Rose in “The Blind Giant is Dancing”, both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company. In other television roles, Blanchett starred as Bianca in ABC’s “Bordertown” (1995), as Janie Morris in “G.P.” (1989) and in ABC’s popular series Police Rescue (1994). She made her feature film debut in Paradise Road (1997), and, in 1998, she played the title character in Elizabeth (1998), winning numerous awards for her performance, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow. 2001 was a particularly busy year, with starring roles in Bandits (2001), The Shipping News (2001), Charlotte Gray (2001) and playing Elf Queen Galadriel in the “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy.