With eyes as blue as Paul Newman’s legendary ones, actress Cameron Michelle Diaz (1972-) was born on this day in San Diego, California.

Called Skeletor as a child for being so skinny, the Cuban/English/German beauty became an Elite model at sixteen and sold Levi’s® and Calvin Klein fashions.

With no previous acting experience, she landed her first big break in The Mask (1994) opposite Jim Carrey. She later confessed to reading for the part 12 times and “getting an ulcer over it. I think I was in the right place at the right time, but now it’s part of the grand scheme.”

“Model turned actress” is a silly phrase, observed the dimpled star, known for her honest laugh and earthy humor.

Film critic Roger Ebert called her “a genuine sex bomb with a gorgeous face, a wonderful smile, and a gift of comic timing.” Director Stacy Title said Diaz embodied “the old movie-star glamour of Rita Hayworth and the incredible timing and physical comedy of Lucille Ball.”

Oliver Stone, who directed her in Any Given Sunday (1999), admitted, “Every director falls in love with her in some way… I did.”

The radiant girl of everyone’s dreams in There’s Something About Mary (1998), she stole My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) from Julia Roberts and was unrecognizable in Being John Malkovich (1999). “I just live my life for me… All good.”

After stepping away from Hollywood for eleven years to focus on family, she co-founded the organic wine label Avaline and returned to screens in Netflix’s Back in Action (2025).

“Nobody’s opinion, success, or offer could change my decision to take care of myself and build the life I wanted,” she explained. “It really comes down to: What are you passionate about? For me, it was building my family.”