It might sound unbelievable, but Julia Roberts once revealed that she owes her very first days on Earth to a little help from Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. A few years ago, Julia herself shared the remarkable story about the day she was born, and how that connects her life to two of history’s most respected civil rights leaders.
When Julia Roberts revealed that Martin Luther King Jr. paid her hospital bill
In an interview with Gayle King for the History Channel’s ‘HISTORYTalks’ series in Washington, D. C. , back in September 2022, Julia let slip this gem about her birth. Gayle asked her, “Who paid for your hospital bill the day you were born?” Julia didn’t hesitate: “The King family paid for my hospital bills. ”
In response, Gayle joked about sharing the same last name: “Not my family, Martin Luther King Jr,” and Julia laughed. However, then she explained the whole name bit. Julia revealed that her parents, Walter and Betty Lou Roberts, ran a theater school in Atlanta, the Actors and Writers Workshop. Coretta Scott King wanted her kids to join, but back then, no one else in town would let Black children enroll. The Roberts didn’t care about any of that. “Come on in,” they said. “And so, they just all became friends, and they helped us out of a jam,” Roberts quipped.
When Julia’s mom went into labor in 1967, the Roberts family couldn’t afford the hospital bill. The Kings stepped in and covered it. No big speech, no fuss, just one family helping another because that’s what friends do.
The human connection that mattered
For a quick recap, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in Atlanta and was one of the most important leaders in America’s fight for civil rights. He believed in nonviolent protest and changing the world by standing together. Less than six months after Julia was born, he was assassinated in April 1968.
And as for Julia Roberts, she went on to become Julia Roberts: the one with the megawatt smile and a trophy shelf full of awards. Roberts grew up in a home surrounded by theater and creativity. She broke out in the late ‘80s with ‘Steel Magnolias’, then ‘Pretty Woman’, ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, and more turned her into a superstar. ‘Erin Brockovich’ won her an Oscar, and she’s still one of the most beloved faces in Hollywood.
