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"Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick- ass red lipstick."

Gwyneth Paltrow

THE name Gwyneth Paltrow used to precede such phrases as "Brad Pitt's fiancée" or "the daughter of Blythe Danner." These days, however, that name clambers up onto the movie screen all by itself, and with increasing regularity.

The lithe, WASPy Paltrow is indeed the daughter of Blythe Danner, the Tony-winning stage and screen actress, and television producer Bruce Paltrow (St. Elsewhere). Gwyneth was born in Los Angeles, where she lived until the family relocated to New York, 11 years later. Summers were spent in Massachusetts' Berkshires, where Danner acted in summer- stock theatre. Paltrow's thespian genes expressed themselves early, beginning with a walk-on appearance at age 5 and followed by increasingly larger roles during subsequent summers. In 1991, a well-received co-starring performance opposite Danner sparked Paltrow to dump her art history studies at University of California at Santa Barbara to pursue an acting career. Mom and Dad grudgingly gave their consent.

Paltrow's big break came later that summer, when she and her father went to see Silence of the Lambs with pals Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. While standing in line, Spielberg pondered Paltrow's presence, then he offered her the part of young Wendy in his big-budget Peter Pan-derivative, Hook (1991). She accepted on the spot. Soon thereafter, Paltrow landed a lead role in a mini-series, Cruel Doubt (1992), only to return from a European vacation to learn that Danner had accepted the co-starring part. Paltrow — who longed for a legitimate career — worried that Hollywood wouldn't credit her for finally earning a role without pulling familial strings.

Paltrow's flow of work suddenly became a flood. In 1993, she played a doomed student in the thriller Malice, which featured Alec Baldwin and Nicole Kidman, and she played James Caan's smart-mouthed girlfriend in Flesh and Bone. She went on to play in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), as a star-struck hanger-on; Jefferson in Paris (1995), as Nick Nolte's presidential daughter; and Moonlight and Valentino (1995), as Elizabeth Perkins' sister. In each, Paltrow made her small scenes count, and Hollywood took notice.

The movie that secured Paltrow's fame was Seven (1995) — and not just because of her performance as a sensitive woman in a heartless film. She and co-star Brad Pitt fell head over heels in love during production, and Paltrow became a worldwide celebrity by association. The media barrage came just as Paltrow was ascending to above-the-title status in her own right, and their eventual break-up did little to break her stride.

In 1996, Paltrow starred opposite David Schwimmer in the paltry black comedy The Pallbearer and headed the cast of the well- received film adaptation of a Jane Austen classic, Emma. She kicked off 1997 with an appearance as a waitress- prostitute in Hard Eight, co-starring with Samuel L. Jackson. The year 1998 yielded a diverse array of outings for the up-and-comer: she gave a luminous performance as Ethan Hawke's ice-queen obsession in Great Expectations; did little to advance her career as Jessica Lange's thorn- in- the- side daughter-in-law in the campy psycho- thriller Hush; charmed in the surprisingly refreshing English dramedy Sliding Doors; scrambled for her life as the elegantly adulterous wife of a murder- minded Michael Douglas in the Dial M for Murder knock-off A Perfect Murder; and acted as muse to history's most famous bard in Shakespeare in Love. For her solid performance in the latter film, Paltrow snagged a Best Actress Oscar. A slower-paced year, 1999 offered a jewel of a role in director Anthony Minghella's beautifully executed noir The Talented Mr. Ripley, in which she co-starred with fellow easy-on-the-eyes actors Matt Damon and Jude Law.

Coming down the pike is the karaoke-bar comedy Duets, which her father will helm. One telling result of her nonstop work, critical adulation, and high-profile social life? Over the last few years, an ever-growing number of articles have identified Blythe Danner as "Gwyneth Paltrow's mother."