Charlize Theron: My father tried to kill me

Charlize Theron told police her father threatened to shoot her and her mother with a shotgun. When she was just 15, and living in Benoni, South Africa, the actress’ mother Gerda killed her father Charles, an abusive alcoholic. He came home one night and started hammering on the door of the family farm.

According to police reports obtained by American tabloid the National Enquirer, Charlize said, “I told my mom that it was my dad.

“My father said he would shoot us both dead with his shotgun. My mom said she was afraid he would kill us. The next moment, I heard a number of shots.

“Then I heard her screaming…When I went into the passage, my mom was sitting in a corner of the bedroom. My mother wept and said, ‘Charlize, I’ve shot him.’

“Then I saw the body of my father.”

The shooting was ruled justifiable and Gerda, who now lives in Hollywood, close to her daughter, was never prosecuted.