Julia Roberts revealed her surprising link to Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King after the couple helped to foot her parents' hospital bills.
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In a recent interview with Gayle King, the Pretty Woman actress explained how the civil rights icon became friends with her parents and "helped them out of a jam" following Julia's birth in 1967.
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Touching on how her parents – Betty Lou Bredemus and Walter Grady Roberts – befriended Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, the 55-year-old said: "My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers Workshop and one day Coretta 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".
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Julia continued: "My mom was like, 'Sure, come on over,' and so they all just became friends, and they helped us out of a jam."
© Photo: Getty ImagesThe actress shared a fascinating story
Blown away by the surprising revelation, Gayle described the friendship between Julia's parents and the Kings as "extraordinary" because, at the time, "little black children interacting with little white kids in acting school" didn't happen.
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The resurfaced story comes after Julia celebrated her 55th birthday on 28 October. The actress took to Instagram with a rare selfie from inside her family home which she shares with her husband, Danny Moder, and their children, twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, 17, and Henry, 15.
In the image, Julia was enjoying a cup of coffee with a giant bunch of pink and gold balloons behind her.
© Photo: InstagramJulia celebrated her birthday with family
She appeared fresh-faced and content and captioned the post: "Feeling the love and magic on my 55th Birthday. My cup runneth over."
Fans rushed to wish her a happy birthday and commented with kind words and love heart emojis. "Happiest of days Scorpio sistah! Sending you love love love," wrote one, whilst a second penned: "Happy happy birthday," followed by a simple heart emoji.
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