Theron was enrolled in Putfontein Primary School but was later moved to a boarding school because she was having problems adjusting to the school. She later joined the National School of Arts in Johannesburg. Theron's first language and mothers tongue is Afrikaans but she speaks English as fluently.

At an age of 16, Theron got her first modeling contract in Salerno. This made her and her mother move to Milan. She did modeling for the next year and then moved to New York. In New York, she started taking ballet lesson until one day when she found out that she has some problems in her knee. This ended her dancing career. Saddened by this she moved to Los Angeles to try a hand in acting. She got her first role in the movie Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest in 1995. In this movie, however, she did not have to say a word. She later appeared in the movie 2 Days in The Valley where she played a supporting role. This movie made her visible to the audience and the directors as well. Many other movies followed later on. She went from being a small dancer who couldn't even afford her rent to a very well-known actress. She also appeared on the cover of the Playboy and Vanity Fair.

After doing a series of not so good movies like Reindeer Games, Men of Honor, The Yards, The Legend of Bagger Vance etc. she got a role in a movie called Monster. This was a movie about a prostitute who turned a serial killer. Theron was critically acclaimed for her role in the movie and one critic even hailed her performance as the best ever in history. For this movie, she won a host of different awards such as the Golden Globe award, Screen Actors Guild award and the biggest of them all the Academy Awards for the Best Actress. She was also named the most desirable women of 2003 by AskMen. Her salary rose to $10 million for a single movie after this.

She later appeared in the famous TV series Arrested Development. She again got the nomination for Golden Globe and Academy Award for her performance in North Country. She took a break from the big screen for almost 3 years returning with Young Adult which was a critically acclaimed film. Her recent movies are Mad Max Fury Road and The Huntsman: Winter's War.

Theron has had many relationships throughout her career, the longest one being with Stuart Townsend. She did not have any husband since she never married anyone. She adopted 2 children a baby boy named Jackson 2012 and a girl, August in 2015.

With a height of 1.77 m Theron has a perfect look for and actress and a model. She is still 40 so she has a lot of career left and many awards to add to her bio. Her net worth is estimated to be around $110 million. Her biography can be read on the Wikipedia.