Sharon Stone (born March 10, 1958, in Pennsylvania) is an American actress who became one of the most iconic sex symbols of the 1990s, known for portraying femmes fatales and mysterious women. After starting as a model, she made her film debut in 1980 and had her breakthrough with Total Recall (1990), before rising to international fame as Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct (1992). Her performance in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She has also appeared in films like Catwoman, The Disaster Artist, and The Laundromat, and won a Primetime Emmy Award for her guest role on The Practice (2004). With a reported IQ of 154, she was academically gifted, but also bravely revealed in 2021 that she was sexually abused as a child; she returned to college in 2016 to complete her degree. In recognition of her career, France named her an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2005 and elevated her to Commander in 2021.