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Olivia Wilde Biography

Wilde by name, wild by nature is a good way to describe the actress who shocked the world with her steamy lesbian kiss in "The O.C."

She was born Olivia Jane Cockburn but she changed her name to Wilde after playing Gwendolen in "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde in High School. Her whole family were involved in journalism but she wanted to do something different and went into acting.

She was a rebellious teenager and young adult. She shaved her head when she was in seventh grade, had multi piercings when she was 11-years-old and had her first tattoo when she was 13. At the age of 16 she won a pancake eating competition in Australia, eating 33 pancakes in 20 minutes.

When she was 18 she eloped with her husband Tao Ruspoli, who is an Italian Prince. The couple married in the gardens of his family's castle in Vignanello. They also own Rome's Palazzo Ruspoli.

She met the flamenco guitarist and documentary film maker on a blind date set up by a friend of her parents. She said "He wanted to introduce me to this Italian guy who made films and lived on a school bus. I said whoa! I don't want to meet a dude who lives on a bus." But she did agree to go and it turned out the guy was an Italian prince and the bus is a mobile studio for a cinema collective he founded.

Her big break came in the second series of the television show "The O.C." She had only had small parts before but her portrayal of the bisexual bad-girl owner of the bait shop Alex Kelly stole the show from the other cast members. She set tongues wagging when she helped Mischa Barton's character unleash her bisexual side and their steamy kisses prompted a large response.

Olivia Wilde was told to keep quiet about her marriage or tell the world she was single otherwise her career would flop. But Wilde is a determined lady and refused to do so and it has not affected her career. "The O.C." has opened a number of doors to feature films and more television. In 2006 she joined the cast of "The Black Donnellys" and she was also in "House." She is featured in Disney's "Tron: Legacy" due to open on December 17th 2010.

Wilde is not the only star in the Ruspoli household. They have a dog Paco which won a competition in 2006 to be the spokesdog for "Old Navy Rum."

They divide their time between homes in Los Angeles and Venice where they work on her husband's films. Wilde has dual nationality, Irish and American, now she is Italian by marriage.

Olivia Wilde is a member of "Artists for Peace and Justice" which provides education and health services in Haiti and the ACLU for Southern California.

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