Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976 in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. Reese was the second child born to Dr. John and
Betty Witherspoon. Her father was a military surgeon
specializing in the ear, nose and throat. Her mother was a
Registered Nurse who would later become a Ph.D in pediatric
nursing. Reese Witherspoon spent the first four years of her life in
Wiesbaden, Germany where her father served as a lieutenant
colonel in the US Army reserves. Shortly after, John moved
the family back to the States, settling in Nashville,
Tennessee.
Reese Witherspoon was introduced to the entertainment industry at a very
early age. At age 7, Reese began modeling. This led to
appearances on several local television commercials. At age
11, she placed first in a Ten-State Talent Fair.
In 1990, Reese Witherspoon landed her first major acting role in Robert
Mulligan's The Man in the Moon (1991). Her role as a 14-year
old tomboy earned her rave reviews. Roles in bigger films
such as Jack the Bear (1993) and A Far Off Place (1993)
followed shortly after.
Following high school graduation in 1994 from Harpeth Hall,
a Nashville all girls school, Reese Witherspoon decided to put her
acting career on hold and attend Stanford University where
she would major in English literature. However, her
collegiate plans were shortly dashed when she accepted roles
to star in two major motion pictures: Fear (1996) alongside
Mark Wahlberg and Freeway (1996) with Kiefer Sutherland.
Although neither film was a huge box-office success, they
did help to establish Reese as a rising starlet in Hollywood
and open the door for bigger and better film roles. Those
bigger roles came in movies such as Pleasantville (1998),
Election (1999) and Cruel Intentions (1999).
Reese Witherspoon 's biggest role to date came as Elle Woods in the 2001
comedy Legally Blonde (2001). The movie was huge box-office
smash and established Reese as one of the top female draws
in Hollywood. In 2002, Reese had a follow-up hit with Sweet
Home Alabama (2002) which went on to gross over $100 million
dollars at the box office.
Off the screen, Reese Witherspoon has been married to Ryan Phillippe since
1999. They met at her 21st birthday party and subsequently
worked together in Cruel Intentions (1999). They have two
children: a daughter, Ava Elizabeth (born 9 September 1999)
and a son, Deacon (born 23 October 2003).
