Academy Award-winner Julia Roberts is one of the most famous actresses in the world. However, there is a little-known fact surrounding her birth. Did you know that it was none other than civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, who paid for her birth?

Fans recently began recirculating this unbelievable fact on social media in honor of the "Pretty Woman" and "Erin Brockovich" actress' 55th birthday, which happened last October 28.

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Julia Roberts Talks About Connection With Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King

The conversation surrounding the events of Julia Roberts' birth reignited when the actress sat down with journalist Gayle King, who had no relation to the civil rights leader, during A&E Networks and History Channel's "HISTORYTalks" event in Washington, D.C. last month.

According to Roberts, the iconic civil rights leader and author's wife took care of her parents' hospital bills because they could not afford them.

The "Runaway Bride" star said her "parents had a theater school in Atlanta called the Actors and Writers' Workshop." 

Julia Roberts added that Coretta Scott King called her 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."

As her mother, Betty Lou Bredemus, and father, Walter Grady Roberts, accepted the Kings' request, a friendship emerged between them.

According to CNN, this friendship led to the Kings paying for the hospital bill of Roberts' mom at a time when they could not pay for it.

"And so they just all became friends and they helped us out of a jam," Roberts told Gayle. The actress then described her parents' friendship with the civil rights icons as "extraordinary."

She added that their simple act of kindness helped create the groundwork that helped shape her to become the person she is today.

Julia Roberts' Parents Faced Bigotry For Allowing Black Children Into Their Acting School

When they allowed the Kings' children to attend the acting school, Julia Roberts' parents received a lot of backlash. Racism and bigotry were directed toward them for allowing black children into the school. 

One of those children was the late Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. According to NBC News, Yolanda was cast as the love interest of a white actor in one of the school's productions.

She and the white actor even shared a kissing scene. The white actor who shared that kiss with young Yolanda was Phillip DePoy, who wrote about his experience in a 2013 essay.

DePoy wrote in the essay that a car exploded near the theater after the kissing scene. He noted that "a tangential member of the Ku Klux Klan" had seen the kissing scene and had "come around the day before the explosion in order to make trouble."

On the day they were confronted, the school offered a free show for the Carver Homes housing project, an exclusively African-American community. DePoy said the man had been harassing them since day one. After the kiss, a Buick began to burn around 10 yards away.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Julia Roberts Says Martin Luther King Jr.'s Family Paid the Bill for Her Birth - From CBS Los Angeles