Friday, August 22, 2008

Hollywood Blonde ......Reese Witherspoon




She was born Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon in New Orleans on the 22nd of March, 1976. Reese was the second child born to Dr. John and Betty Witherspoon. Her first four years of her life were spent in Wiesbaden, Germany. After this, the family - John, Betty, first child John Jr. and little Laura Jean - would return to the United States to settle in Nashville. Reese was introduced to the entertainment industry at a very early age. At age seven, she began modeling which led to appearances on several local TV commercials. At age 11, she won the first place in a Ten-State Talent Fair. She landed her first major acting role in Robert Mulligan’s “The Man in the Moon”. Her role as a 14-year old tomboy earned her great reviews. Roles in bigger films such as “Jack the Bear” and “A Far Off Place” followed shortly after.


After graduating from high school in 1994, Reese decided to put her acting career on hold and major in English literature at Stanford University. However, her collegiate plans were shortly dashed when she accepted roles to star in two major motion pictures: “Fear” alongside Mark Wahlberg and “Freeway” with Kiefer Sutherland. Although the movies were not a box-office success, they helped to establish her as a rising starlet in Hollywood and open the door for bigger and better film roles (“Pleasantville”, “Election” and “Cruel Intentions”).


Her biggest role to date came as Elle Woods in the 2001 comedy “Legally Blonde”. The film was a huge box-office success and established Reese as one of the top female draws in Hollywood. In 2002, she had a follow-up hit with “Sweet Home Alabama” which went on to gross over $100 million dollars at the box office.

Witherspoon married actor Ryan Phillippe in 1999. They met at her 21st birthday party and subsequently worked together in “Cruel Intentions”. They have two children: a daughter, Ava Elizabeth (born 9 September 1999) and a son, Deacon (born 23 October 2003). The couple separated at the end of 2006 and divorced in October 2007. Reese owns a production company named “Type A Films”, is actively involved in children’s and women’s advocacy organizations and serves on the board of the Children’s Defense Fund.