Roberts' love affair with the public

She may have an Oscar, a Bafta and three Golden Globes but nothing on Julia Roberts' mantelpiece can be as impressive as her now nine People's Choice awards.

For more than a decade Roberts has proved herself America's favourite sweetheart, winning the award for the past four consecutive years.

She has seen off competition from the likes of Sandra Bullock, Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez and upcoming stars like Kirsten Dunst can only imagine what such popular appeal is like.

"I am proof positive that anything is possible in your life. I am just a girl from Smyrna, Georgia who wanted to be in movies," Roberts once said and it is a sentiment that clearly touches American audiences.

But she has not been lighting up cinemas in the last 12 months, taking a series of supporting roles and cameo performances.

Roles in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Full Frontal have been low key but Roberts' appeal has never been tied to her box office success.

In 1991 she won the award for the first time, even though her only film of the year was the poorly-received Hook, in which she appeared as a six-inch Tinkerbell.

A year later and she repeated the success, despite not appearing in a single film during the preceding 12 months.

She has an appeal which transcends the harsh eye of the box office, achieving a level of popularity unequalled since the days of Hollywood stars of the 1940s and 1950s.

Garry Marshall, who directed Roberts in Pretty Woman and The Runaway Bride, described the actress as a blend of Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball and Bambi.

Perhaps it is that mix of the vulnerable, the stylish and the homespun which makes her such a fans' favourite.

The reason for her success in remaining close to the affections of the American public may lie in the very spirit of the awards themselves.

The Peoples' Choice awards do not recognise performances in individual films or productions but are instead awarded after a poll of the American public.