Julia Roberts: Martin Luther King Jr., wife, paid hospital bill for actor’s birth
(CNN) — A previously little-known fact about actor Julia Roberts is now more widely known, thanks to social media.
It all started recently when a Twitter user shared a compilation video of Roberts, writing “Martin Luther King Jr. paying for her birth is still a little known fact that sends me.”
A few days later, in honor of Roberts’ 55th birthday on Friday, consultant Zara Rahim tweeted a clip of Roberts sharing the story about her birth with journalist Gayle King, who is not related to the Kings.
Roberts explained that Martin Luther and his wife, Coretta Scott King, took care of the hospital expenses since her parents couldn’t pay the bill.
“My parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers’ Workshop,” Roberts said. “And 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.”
Roberts’ mother said sure, and thus began the friendship between the civil rights leaders and Walter and Betty Lou Roberts.
That led to the Kings paying for the birth of the woman who would go on to become an international star.
“They helped us out of a jam,” Julia Roberts said.