Reese Witherspoon was born in New Orleans, and raised in an expensive part of Nashville. Her father was a surgeon, her mother a college professor, and Witherspoon attended a private, all-girls school, where she was a straight-A student. She became a model at the age of 7, when a family friend who owned a flower shop asked if young Reese could pose for an advertisement. She eventually appeared in several TV commercials, took acting lessons, and at 14 she auditioned for a small role in a movie to be filmed in the Nashville area, The Man in the Moon. Instead she landed the nominal lead, as the young tomboy who gets her first kiss from Jason London.
She had leading roles in two more low-budget films that earned raves, playing a thoroughly modern Little Red Riding Hood in Freeway and a girl very determined to be class president in Election with Matthew Broderick. She came to major stardom as a law student wearing pink in Legally Blonde, then played the citified country girl in Sweet Home Alabama. She won the Oscar as Best Actress for her portrait of June Carter Cash, opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.
In 2002, her brother, John Witherspoon Jr, was arrested after breaking into a neighbor's house and attempting to sexually molest a woman while she slept. He said he was drunk, and was sentenced to two years probation.
[1] Southern Baptist Hospital (now Memorial Medical Center). Father: John Witherspoon (doctor)
Mother: Betty Reese (Professor of Nursing, Vanderbilt University)
Brother: John Draper Witherspoon Jr. (real estate agent, b. 1973)
Boyfriend: Graham Locke (schoolmate, together in 1986)
Boyfriend: Jeremy Sisto (actor, dated 1991-92)
Husband: Ryan Phillippe (actor, m. 5-Jun-1999, sep. 2006, div. 5-Oct-2007, one son, one daughter)
Son: Deacon Phillippe (b. 23-Oct-2003)
Daughter: Ava Elizabeth Phillippe (b. 9-Sep-1999)
Boyfriend: Jake Gyllenhaal (actor, together 2007-09)
Husband: Jim Toth (agent, b. circa 1970, together since 2009, m. 26-Mar-2011, one son)
Son: Tennessee James (b. 27-Sep-2012)
High School: Harpeth Hall, Nashville, TN (1994)
University: Stanford University (dropped out)
Oscar for Best Actress 2006 for Walk the Line
Golden Globe 2006 for Walk the Line
Hollywood Walk of Fame 2010 (6262 Hollywood Blvd.)
Endorsement of Avon "Global Ambassador" (2007-)
Disorderly Conduct Atlanta, GA (arrested, 19-Apr-2013)
Friends of Hillary
Risk Factors: Vegetarian, Yoga
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
A Wrinkle in Time (26-Feb-2018)
Home Again (8-Sep-2017)
Sing (11-Sep-2016) [VOICE]
Hot Pursuit (7-May-2015)
Inherent Vice (4-Oct-2014)
The Good Lie (7-Sep-2014)
Wild (29-Aug-2014)
Devil's Knot (8-Sep-2013)
Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams (2-Apr-2013) · Herself
Mud (26-May-2012)
This Means War (14-Feb-2012) · Lauren
Water for Elephants (15-Apr-2011) · Marlena
How Do You Know (17-Dec-2010) · Lisa
Monsters vs Aliens (19-Mar-2009) [VOICE]
Four Christmases (26-Nov-2008) · Kate
Rendition (7-Sep-2007)
Penelope (8-Sep-2006)
Just Like Heaven (16-Sep-2005)
Walk the Line (4-Sep-2005)
Vanity Fair (1-Sep-2004) · Becky Sharp
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2-Jul-2003) · Elle Woods
Sweet Home Alabama (20-Sep-2002)
The Importance of Being Earnest (17-May-2002) · Cecily
Legally Blonde (13-Jul-2001)
The Trumpet of the Swan (1-Mar-2001) [VOICE]
Little Nicky (2-Nov-2000)
American Psycho (21-Jan-2000) · Evelyn Williams
Best Laid Plans (14-May-1999) · Lissa
Election (23-Apr-1999) · Tracy Flick
Cruel Intentions (5-Mar-1999) · Annette Hargrove
Pleasantville (17-Sep-1998)
Overnight Delivery (7-Apr-1998)
Twilight (6-Mar-1998) · Mel Ames
Fear (12-Apr-1996) · Nicole Walker
Freeway (Jan-1996)
S.F.W. (15-Sep-1994)
Return to Lonesome Dove (14-Nov-1993)
Jack the Bear (2-Apr-1993)
A Far Off Place (12-Mar-1993)
Wildflower (3-Dec-1991) · Ellie Perkins
The Man in the Moon (15-Nov-1991) · Dani Trant
Appears on the cover of:
People, 14-Jul-2003, DETAILS: Reese! My Real Life
AKA Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon