Rise to Fame
A childhood she's described as 'Dickensian' had one upside: her mother couldn't afford babysitters, so all eight kids got dragged to free theater and ballet. Parker was earning paychecks at 8, made her Broadway debut at 11, and her family relocated from Ohio to New Jersey that same year so she could pursue New York stage work. She's said she tried to turn down Sex and the City because she didn't want to be locked into television. She took it anyway, won two Emmys and four Golden Globes for the role, and ended up more famous for Carrie Bradshaw's wardrobe than for her actual acting.
In the Spotlight
The Carrie Bradshaw years made her famous for clothes, but the business record has been messier. And Just Like That... ran three seasons before she wrapped it, telling interviewers she'd rather leave 'when things feel really right.' The SJP Collection shoe brand she'd spent a decade building closed in fall 2024. Her fragrance LOVELY (2005) is still in production, a two-decade run that most celebrity scents never manage. Two decades after Sex and the City ended, the Carrie association hasn't faded, which either says something about the show's staying power or about how thoroughly one character can define a career.
Side Notes
Before Sex and the City made her a fashion symbol, she was already the working child in a household of eight kids on welfare in Ohio. Her pre-Matthew Broderick dating history included a seven-year relationship with Robert Downey Jr. that ended because of his drug problems. She serves on the board of the New York City Ballet, which makes sense once you know she trained at the School of American Ballet as a kid. Two of her brothers also work in the industry: one as an actor, one as a playwright and drama school dean. Performing arts weren't an escape route in her house. They were the family business.