Reese Witherspoon

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer.

She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976, at Southern Baptist Hospital, in New Orleans, Louisiana, while her father, John Draper Witherspoon, was a student at Tulane University medical school.

Her father was born in Georgia and served as a lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve.

Witherspoon began her career as a teenager, making her screen debut in The Man in the Moon (1991).

Witherspoon attended an open casting call in 1991 for The Man in the Moon, intending to audition for a bit part; but instead was cast for the lead role of Dani Trant, a 14-year-old country girl who falls in love for the first time with her 17-year-old neighbor.

According to The Guardian, her performance made an early impression.

Film critic Roger Ebert commented, "Her first kiss is one of the most perfect little scenes I've ever seen in a movie."

For her role, Witherspoon was nominated for a Young Artist Award, in the category of Best Young Actress.

Later that year, she made her television debut role in Wildflower with Patricia Arquette.

In 1992, Witherspoon appeared in the television film Desperate Choices: To Save My Child, portraying a critically ill young girl.

In 1993, Witherspoon played a young wife, Nonnie Parker, in the CBS miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove, appeared in the Disney film A Far Off Place, and had a minor role in Jack the Bear, which garnered her the Young Artist Award for Best Youth Actress Co-star.

Her parents are still legally married, although they separated in 1996.

Witherspoon was raised an Episcopalian, and has said she is proud of the "definitive Southern upbringing" she received.

She has said it gave her "a sense of family and tradition" and taught her about "being conscientious about people's feelings, being polite, being responsible and never taking for granted what you have in your life".

At age seven, she was selected as a model for a florist's television advertisements, which motivated her to take acting lessons.

At age 11, she took first place in the Ten-State Talent Fair.

She received high grades in school, loved reading, and considered herself "a big dork who read loads of books".

On mentioning her love for books, she said, "I get crazy in a bookstore. It makes my heart beat hard because I want to buy everything."

She has been described as a "multi-achiever" and was nicknamed "Little Type A" by her parents.

She attended middle school at Harding Academy and graduated from the all-girls' Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, during which time she was a cheerleader.

She later attended Stanford University as an English literature major, but left prior to completing her studies to pursue an acting career.

Her breakthrough came in 1999 with a supporting role in Cruel Intentions, and for her portrayal of Tracy Flick in the black comedy Election.

She gained wider recognition for playing Elle Woods in the comedy Legally Blonde (2001) and its 2003 sequel, and for starring in the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama (2002).

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for portraying June Carter Cash in the musical biopic Walk the Line (2005).

Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019 and 2021.

In 2021, Forbes named her the world's highest earning actress, and in 2023, she was named one of the richest women in America with an estimated net worth of $440 million.

She serves on the board of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) and was named Global Ambassador of Avon Products in 2007, serving as honorary chair of the charitable Avon Foundation dedicated to women's causes.

Following a career downturn, during which her sole box-office success was the romantic drama Water for Elephants (2011), Witherspoon made a comeback by producing and starring as Cheryl Strayed in the drama Wild (2014), which earned her a second nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards.

She has since worked primarily in television, producing and starring in several female-led literary adaptations under her company Hello Sunshine.

He was in private practice as an otolaryngologist until 2012.

Her mother, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" (née Reese) Witherspoon, is from Harriman, Tennessee.

She was a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University and had a PhD in pediatric nursing.

Reese Witherspoon has claimed descent from Scottish-born John Witherspoon, who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.

However, this claim has not been verified by the Society of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence genealogists.

She has also produced the film adaptations Gone Girl (2014) and Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), and the miniseries adaptation Daisy Jones & the Six (2023).

Witherspoon also owns Reese's Book Club and a clothing company, Draper James.

She is involved in children's and women's advocacy organizations.

These include the HBO drama series Big Little Lies (2017–2019), the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show (2019–present), and the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere (2020).

For the first of these, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series.