Revision as of 04:33, 1 April 2009 edit189.175.177.171 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 04:48, 1 April 2009 edit undoWildhartlivie (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers55,910 editsm Reverted edits by 189.175.177.171 (talk) to last version by LaVidaLocaNext edit → | ||
Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
===Biopic=== | ===Biopic=== | ||
Her story is the topic of a feature film, '']'', starring ] in the title role. The film was nominated for five ]: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Roberts won the ] for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich herself had a cameo role as a waitress named Julia R.. The name Julia R. was selected, to ] the fact that Julia Roberts was playing Erin |
Her story is the topic of a feature film, '']'', starring ] in the title role. The film was nominated for five ]: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Roberts won the ] for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich herself had a cameo role as a waitress named Julia R.. The name Julia R. was selected, to ] the fact that Julia Roberts was playing Erin. | ||
==References== | ==References== |
Revision as of 04:48, 1 April 2009
This article is about the individual. For the film of the same name, see Erin Brockovich (film).Erin Brockovich | |
---|---|
Born | (1960-06-22) June 22, 1960 (age 64) Lawrence, Kansas, United States |
Occupation(s) | President, Brockovich Research & Consulting |
Spouse(s) |
Shawn Brown (m. 1982–1987) Steven Brockovich (m. 1989–1990) Eric L. Ellis (m. 1999) |
Erin Brockovich-Ellis (born June 22, 1960) is an American legal clerk and environmental activist who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993. Since the release of the movie that shares her story and name, she has hosted Challenge America with Erin Brockovich on ABC and Final Justice on Lifetime. She is the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting, a consulting firm. She is currently working as a consultant for the New York law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which has a focus on personal injury claims for asbestos exposure.
Background
She was born Erin L. E. Pattee in Lawrence, Kansas to Frank Pattee, an industrial engineer and Betty Jo O'Neal-Pattee, a journalist. She attended Lawrence High School then Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She worked as a management trainee for Kmart in 1981 but quit after a few months and entered some potentially lucrative beauty pageants. After winning Miss Pacific Coast in 1981, she soon gave up pageant life because she found it shallow. She has lived in California since 1982.
Brockovich was involved in a car accident in Reno and was seriously injured. Her case was settled out of court for $50,000.
Brockovich received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa Degree and was Commencement Speaker at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on May 5, 2007.
Pacific Gas litigation
The case alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium(VI), in the southern California town of Hinkley. At the center of the case was a facility called the Hinkley Compressor Station, part of a natural gas pipeline connecting to the San Francisco Bay Area constructed in 1952. Between 1952 and 1966, PG&E used hexavalent chromium to fight corrosion in the cooling tower. The wastewater dissolved the hexavalent chromium from the cooling towers and was discharged to unlined ponds at the site. Some of the wastewater percolated into the groundwater, affecting an area near the plant approximately two miles long and nearly a mile wide. The case was settled in 1996 for $333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in U.S. history.
Working under Thousand Oaks, California-based lawyer Edward L. Masry, Brockovich went on to participate in other anti-pollution lawsuits. One accuses Whitman Corporation of chromium contamination in Willits, California. Another lawsuit, which lists 1,200 plaintiffs, alleges contamination near PG&E's Kettleman Hills Compressor Station in Kings County, California, along the same pipeline as the Hinkley site. The Kettleman suit settled for $335 million in 2006. After experiencing problems with mold contamination in her own home in the Conejo Valley, Brockovich became a prominent activist and educator in this area as well. Today, Brockovich is a noted speaker in demand for U.S. and international speaking engagements.
Biopic
Her story is the topic of a feature film, Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts in the title role. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Roberts won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich herself had a cameo role as a waitress named Julia R.. The name Julia R. was selected, to parody the fact that Julia Roberts was playing Erin.
References
- http://www.brockovich.com/bio.htm, (accessed January 17, 2008).
- http://www.abajournal.com/news/erin_brockovich_signs_on_with_nyc_law_firm
- http://www.brockovich.com/bio.htm
- PG&E Hinkley Chromium Cleanup California Environmental Protection Agency, 9/10/08
External links
- Official Site of Erin Brockovich
- The Brockovich Report - BrockovichBlog.com
- Official MySpace of Erin Brockovich
- Erin Brockovich biography on the Biography Channel
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Evening with Erin Brockovich in Sydney, hosted by the Climate Change Coalition 2007
- Detail about Hinkley case at lawbuzz.com
- Did Hinkley Residents Really Win? at salon.com