Salma Valgarma Hayek Jim�nez (born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican actress, director (Television director), and television (television producer) and film producer. Hayeks charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants (Immigration).Dead linkdate=July 2009

Hayek is the first Mexican national to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is one of the most prominent Mexican figures in Hollywood since silent film actress Dolores del R�o. She is also, after Fernanda Montenegro, the second of three Latin American actresses (the other being Catalina Sandino Moreno) to achieve a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

In July 2007, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Hayek fourth in their inaugural Latino Power 50, a list of the most powerful members of the Hollywood Latino community. That same month, a poll found Hayek to be the "sexiest celebrity" out of a field of 3,000 celebrities (male and female); according to the poll, "65 percent of the U.S. population would use the term sexy to describe her". In December 2008, Entertainment Weekly ranked Hayek number 17 in their list of the "25 Smartest People in TV."