When Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King were living in Atlanta, their children were having a hard time. That’s when the King family contacted a local theater school and asked if their children could enroll.
At the time, in the 1960s, it was unusual for white children and black children to go to acting school together, but the white family that owned the acting school didn’t care. They invited the King children to join them.
Walter and Betty Lou Roberts were the owners of the theater school, and when Betty Lou was pregnant and went to the hospital to have a baby, they didn’t have enough money to pay the hospital bill. The King family appreciated the kindness and acceptance the Roberts family showed them, so they decided to help the Roberts family out and pay the hospital bill for them.
The baby that was born at the hospital grew up to become a famous actress, an A-list movie star. That baby was Julia Roberts.
Not many people know this fun fact about Roberts, that the King family paid for the hospital bill when she was born, but it is true. She even talked about it in an interview with Gayle King (who is not in any way related to Martin Luther King Jr.).
Twitter user Zara Rahim shared a video in which Roberts describe how it came to be that the King family paid for the hospital bill when she was born.
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 @GayleKing https://t.co/5HvpNSUIYb pic.twitter.com/147x6d807W
— Zara Rahim (@ZaraRahim) October 28, 2022
Many people commented on this tweet with their surprise at this little known fact about Roberts.
Wonderful, uplifting note how inclusive Julia Roberts parents were. Julia was imbued with this loving, uplifting, and inclusive environment. This provides insight into the genuine, private, persona that always delights us on the big screen. Thank you Gayle and CBS.
— Ruth Lindeck Forman (@ruth_forman19) October 30, 2022
What a role model and a wonderful example of respect that you give others without asking for anything in return. Julia Roberts you have a wonderful upbringing and a great role model, it also says a lot about you. I believe you shared this as an example that what kindness can do!
— Robin Forman (@FormanRobin) October 30, 2022