Alicia Silverstone was born on October 4, 1976, in San Francisco, California, as the youngest of three children. Her parents, Didi Radford and Monty Silverstone, played a significant role in her early life. Her father, an English-born real estate investor, came from a Jewish family, while her mother, a Scottish-born former flight attendant, converted to Judaism.
Alicia's career began at the tender age of six, when her father took some photos of her, which eventually led to her getting several television commercials. Her early start in the industry paved the way for her to land a guest spot on The Wonder Years (1988) as a literal "dream girl". This role marked the beginning of her transition from television to movies.
In 1993, Alicia landed a role in The Crush, a film that showcased her talent as a disturbed young girl obsessed with an older man. Although the film did not impress the critical establishment, it wowed its target audience: teenagers. Her performance earned her the 1994 MTV Movie Award for "Best Villain" and "Breakthrough Performance". It is interesting to note that during the filming of the movie, Alicia became an emancipated minor in order to get around child labor laws which would have interfered with her working hours. This dedication to her craft was evident from an early age.
The film also caught the attention of Aerosmith, who hired her to appear in a string of their music videos. The first of them, "Cryin'", was voted the #1 video of all time on MTV. Silverstone's appearance in the video cemented her status as a hit with the MTV crowd, but larger commercial success still eluded her.
That all changed when she landed the role of Cher in Amy Heckerling's Clueless (1995). Cher was the antithesis of Alicia's role in The Crush; this time around, she was a rich, naive yet endearing girl from Beverly Hills in search of love in the 1990s. The film was a huge box-office hit and wowed both audiences and critics alike, demonstrating Alicia's strength and bankability. She was hailed as the woman of the hour, and branded the spokeswoman for an emerging young generation.
As a result of her success in Clueless, Alicia signed a deal with Columbia TriStar worth $10 million and got the coveted role of Batgirl in the Batman franchise. Also, as part of the package, she received a three-year first-look deal for her own production company, First Kiss Productions. The first film released by First Kiss was Excess Baggage (1997).
Personality Biography: Alicia Silverstone
