Name: Reese Witherspoon
Birth Name: Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon
Birthdate: March 22, 1976
Birthplace: Baton Rouge, La.
1-MINUTE RESUME FOR REESE WITHERSPOON
The privileged daughter of a surgeon father and a Ph.D. nurse mother,
Reese took a break from her burgeoning acting career in 1994 after
graduating from a Nashville all-girls school to major in English
literature at Stanford University. Roles in
Fear and
Freeway established her as a rising starlet unafraid to take edgier parts, and thanks to hits
Legally Blonde and
Sweet Home Alabama,
she became a bankable actress who can bring audiences to theaters. She
was honored with the Best Actress Oscar in 2006 for her role as June
Carter in
Walk the Line.
5 Things:
1. She attended Stanford with Dominique Dawes, Tiger Woods and Fred Savage.
2. Witherspoon was obsessed with Doors singer Jim Morrison as a teenager.
3. She perfected the Bushman language by studying with a Matabele tribe for her role in A Far Off Place.
4. She spent $100 of her first paycheck on Gap clothes and put the rest in the bank.
5. One of her ancestors, John Witherspoon, signed the Declaration of Independence.
Quote:
"We don't read the tabloids or anything, because sometimes they say
hurtful things and why ruin your day over some piece of trash the dog's
gonna pee on tomorrow?"
—
Dark Horizons, Aug. 16, 2005
Family:
Husband: Ryan Phillippe, actor, born Sept. 10, 1974, met at her 21st birthday party, co-starred in
Cruel Intentions, filed for divorce
Daughter: (with Phillippe) Ava Elizabeth, born Sept. 9, 1999
Son: (with Phillippe) Deacon, born Oct. 23, 2003
Awards:
2006: Academy Award: Best Actress, Walk the Line; Golden Globe: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Walk the Line
2002: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Legally Blonde
2000: Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy/Musical), Election
FILMS
Penelope - (2008) - Actor, Producer
Rendition - (2007 ) - Actor
Walk the Line - (2005)

- Actor
Just Like Heaven - (2005) - Actor
Vanity Fair - (2004) - Actor
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde - (2003) - Actor, Executive Producer
The Importance of Being Earnest - (2002) - Actor
Sweet Home Alabama - (2002) - Actor
Wildflower - (2002) - Actor
Cruel Intentions/Cruel Intentions 2 - (2001) - Actor
The Trumpet of the Swan - (2001) - Voice
Legally Blonde - (2001) - Actor
American Psycho - (2000) - Actor
Little Nicky - (2000) - Cameo
Election - (1999) - Actor
Cruel Intentions - (1999) - Actor
Best Laid Plans - (1999) - Actor
Pleasantville - (1998) - Actor
Twilight - (1998) - Actor
Fear - (1996) - Actor
Freeway - (1996) - Actor
Overnight Delivery - (1996) - Actor
S.F.W. - (1994) - Actor
A Far Off Place - (1993) - Actor
The Man in the Moon - (1992) - Actor
Wildflower - (1992) - Actor