The Evolution Of Sandra Bullock: Follow The Best Actress Winner's Career In Photos

Everyone loves to love Sandra Bullock, even if they dislike her movies. Film journalist Mark Kermode once wrote, "She's funny, she's gorgeous, it's impossible not to love her and yet she makes rotten film after rotten film after rotten film." It seems as though 2009 personified this idea, because as Sandra had her most successful film to date in "The Proposal" and won an Oscar for "The Blind Side," she also won her first Razzie for "All About Steve." Still, it proved that, at 46 and fabulous, Sandra Bullock is here to stay.

Sandra — or as she is affectionately addressed by her friends, "Sandy" — was born in Arlington, Virginia on the outskirts of Washington, DC. Her mother was a German opera singer and her father a voice coach, so she spent much of her youth on the road around Germany and other parts of Europe and participated in a number of choirs. However, after Sandra graduated high school she decided to study acting at East Carolina University in North Carolina.

Three credits short of graduating, Sandra moved to New York in 1986 to pursue her acting career. She landed her first role in 1987's "Hangman," but didn't really make a splash on the film scene until 1993 when she starred as Lieutenant Lenina Huxley in "Demolition Man" (this role also earned Sandra her first Razzie nomination).

Her big break came a year later when she starred in "Speed" opposite Keanu Reeves. For the rest of the '90s, Sandra went on to become a big-name star with leading roles in 1995's "While You Were Sleeping," 1996's "A Time To Kill," 1997's "Speed 2: Cruise Control," and 1998's "Practical Magic" and "Hope Floats." She was also widely acknowledged by the media, named by People as being one of the most beautiful people in the world and by Empire as being one of the top 100 movie stars of all time.

In 1998, Sandra started her own production company called Fortis Films, which has produced many of her films as well as the TV show "George Lopez." Her sister, Gesine, had been president of the company before she left for Vermont to open a baking company and wrote a book about how she hated being in the Los Angeles crowd. Their father, John, serves as CEO to the company.

Sandra started 2000 off with a bang with her smash hit "Miss Congeniality," a film that went on to make $106 million nationwide and become her most popular film at the time. Sandra took a bit of a break from film for a couple years, coming back in 2002 with "Murder By Numbers," "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and "Two Weeks Notice." She starred in the Oscar-winning 2004 film "Crash" in what many considered to be the best role of her career.

In 2005, Sandra got married to "Monster Garage" host Jesse James, which would explain her slow start to the second half of the decade. In 2005 she starred into a sequel to "Miss Congeniality" that she got a career high of $17.5 million to star in. In 2006, she starred in the not-as-successful "The Lake House" (teaming up with "Speed" costar Keanu again) and "Infamous," and then 2007's not very popular "Premonition." She all but disappeared from the film scene until 2009's "The Proposal," "All About Steve" and "The Blind Side," and the rest is now history.

Tags Demolition Man, Evolution Of, Jesse James, Miss Congeniality, Murder By Numbers, Oscars 2010, Photo, Sandra Bullock, Speed, The Blind Side, The Proposal, Two Weeks Notice