The unlikely bond between Julia Roberts and Martin Luther King Jr | Julia Roberts | The Guardian
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The civil rights activist and his wife paid the hospital bill for the birth of the actor because her parents couldn't afford it
Roberts first disclosed the connection to Gayle King in September during an event in Washington DC. Composite: AP, Getty Roberts first disclosed the connection to Gayle King in September during an event in Washington DC. Composite: AP, Getty
An astounding but little-known fact about Julia Roberts has resurfaced after her recent 55th birthday prompted a consultant to call attention to a link between the actor's birth and revered civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.
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Roberts, whose birthday was 28 October, first shared the story about the day she was born with journalist Gayle King this September in Washington DC during a HISTORYTalks live event for the History Channel. That day, she said during the talk, the activist known to many simply as MLK - as well as his fellow civil rights champion and wife Coretta Scott King - paid off the hospital bill for her birth because Roberts's parents were poor and couldn't afford it.
Today is Julia Roberts birthday! 55 years ago MLK and Coretta Scott King paid for her parents hospital bill after she was born. Can't stop thinking about this since I read it. Here she is talking about it with @GayleKinghttps://t.co/5HvpNSUIYbpic.twitter.com/147x6d807W
— Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) October 28, 2022
A tweet from consultant Zara Rahim about that story went viral over the weekend, and many people learned about it for the first time.
In Roberts's words to Gayle King, who is not related to the late civil rights activists who share her last name, Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott helped her parents because "they couldn't pay for the hospital".
"They helped us out of a jam," Roberts said.
Roberts explained how her parents, Walter and Betty Roberts, ran a theater school in Atlanta where the Kings' children attended and got to know the couple that way.
Roberts said: "One day Coretta Scott King called my mother and asked if her kids could be part of the school because they were having a hard time finding a place that would accept her kids."
This 1966 file photo is the last official portrait taken of the entire King family, made in the study of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Photograph: MBR/AP
The star of Pretty Woman and Erin Brockovich said her mother welcomed the Kings' children to enroll.
Gayle King said it was remarkable to see Black and white children interacting together when Roberts was born in 1967, at the height of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King's advocacy for civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated by a white supremacist within six months of Roberts's birth.
According to CNN, Walter and Betty Roberts ran the only integrated children's theater group in Atlanta at the time.
The youngest of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King's four children, daughter Bernice, on Monday expressed gratitude to Roberts on Twitter for having shared the heartwarming story.
Grateful that #JuliaRoberts shared this story with @GayleKing and that so many people have been awed by it.
I know the story well, but it is moving for me to be reminded of my parents' generosity and influence.#CorettaScottKing#MLKpic.twitter.com/Hn9yOVxYIL
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) October 31, 2022
"Grateful that #JuliaRoberts shared this story with @GayleKing and that so many people have been awed by it," Bernice King wrote on Twitter. "I know the story well, but it is moving for me to be reminded of my parents' generosity and influence. #CorettaScottKing #MLK."
Coretta Scott King died in 2006.
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An amazing piece of history because Julia's parents accepted the Kings children into their school when it was not something that was done in that area.
cool story.
It really is a cool story. I became a fan of Julia Roberts when I saw the movie, Erin Brockovich and when I read MLK's book, ''Why We Can't Wait'' back in the 60s I knew that was the real deal. This passage from the book was stuck with me for decades.
I never knew this. Thank you for sharing it with us. MLK was truly a great man, who spoke out for freedom for all.
Yes he was and his actions always backed up his words.
That's a really nice story.