Reese Witherspoon
Real Name: Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Date of Birth: 22 March 1976
Place of birth: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Profession: Model, Actress
Early Years:
Reese Witherspoon is a child of the world. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Southern Baptist Hospital (currently known as Memorial Medical Center). She is a direct descendant of Scottish-born John Witherspoon who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the sixth president of Princeton University, and he was a Presbyterian minister.
Reese was somewhat of an Army brat, having spent the first four years of her life in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her father, Dr. John Witherspoon, was a U.S. Army Reserves lieutenant colonel (LTC) medical officer, who is a specialist in ears, nose and throat surgery; he is from Georgia, but grew up in Nashville. Witherspoon’s mother, Betty Reese, is a registered nurse, who later earned her PhD in pediatric nursing and became a college professor; she is from Harriman, Tennessee.
After a four year tour of duty in Germany, LTC Witherspoon moved his family back to the United States and settled in Nashville, Tennessee, where Reese would spend remainder of her childhood and most of her teen years. While there, with her parents busy with their careers, Reese was mostly cared for by her grandmother. Speaking to Interview magazine, Reese said of her early years in Nashville, “I grew up in an environment where women accomplished a lot. And if they weren’t able to, it was because they were limited by society. I grew up with a grandma--my father’s mother--who was incredibly intelligent but was limited by the bounds of society and propriety ... She was a voracious reader, and she encouraged me to read a lot as a child ...” a woman whose “depression” and “disconnect between her capabilities and her lack of fulfillment and achievement.”
The strong, female role models that Nashville and her family provided continues to motivate Reese throughout her personal and professional life. Upon graduating from the prestigious all-girls, private Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Witherspoon entered Standford University as an English literature major.
Professional Career:
Reese Witherspoon was a child model beginning at the age of seven, introducing her to the world of entertainment. As a result of her modeling, she began to appear in several local advertisements and commercials. When she was 11, Reese Witherspoon took first place in a Ten-State Talent Fair.
In 1990, Reese landed a movie role that would capture the attention of the entertainment industry and the hearts of viewers as a 14 year old tomboy in The Man in the Moon. This led to landing larger roles in bigger films in short order: Jack and the Bear and A Far Off Place, both in 1993.
Witherspoon put her acting career on hold after she graduated high school in 1994, moving to California to attend Stanford University. But the teen actress couldn’t resist the call to Hollywood, and Reese accepted starring roles in two major motion pictures just a year into her collegiate career. Neither Fear, co-starring Mark Wahlberg, nor Freeway, co-starring Kiefer Sutherland were big box office hits, but they did prove that this female celebrity had what it took to take on even bigger, more mature roles.
It didn’t take long for Hollywood to offer the bigger roles either; in quick succession came major movie roles in Pleasantville in 1998, and in 1999 came Election and Cruel Intentions (co-starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair, and her husband, Ryan Phillppe).
Just two years later in 2001, Reese would star again with Selma Blair. This time Witherspoon, in the box office hit Legally Blonde, was the lead actress; the huge draw and revenue established her as one of the top female celebrities in Hollywood. The following year, Reese Witherspoon scored a rare followed up hit with another lead role in Sweet Home Alabama which brought in over 100 million at the box office.
Award Winning Actress:
From the beginning of her acting career, Reese Witherspoon has gained the attention of audiences and critics even from her very first role in The Man in the Moon, earning her a nomination for Young Artist Award in 1991, but in 1993 she won it for Jack the Bear. The recognition, nominations and awards have continued with nearly every role, but the epitome of acknowledgment to date was her Oscar winning role in Walk the Line, where she won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal as June Carter Cash.
Personal Life, Actress Trivia and Fun Facts:
Reese Witherspoon met her former Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party. The couple married shortly afterwards in 1998 and have two children; they filed for divorce in 2006.
Reese Witherspoon was a cheerleader in high school and a debutante.
She was a gymnast for seven years.
Reese was the first person to host “Saturday Night Live” (1975) after the September 11th terror attacks.
“The battles that we face in this business aren’t financial, but they are moral. And I certainly think that the longer you can keep your values, and your morality intact, and keep your head on your shoulders about what is important at the end of the day, you can get the most out of this business and really emerge with something wonderful.” – Reese Witherspoon, speaking about the movie business.
