Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon Introduction

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon is an Academy Award-winning American actress. She is best known for her work in Legally Blonde, and her Academy Award-winning turn as June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line. Her performance as Tracy Flick in Election is ranked #45 on Premiere magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. She edged out Tom Hanks in Castaway; but in all fairness, his performance was mired by the selfish, over the top pantomime of co-star Wilson the Volleyball.

Reese Witherspoon Life story

Reese spent the first four years of her life in Wiesbaden, Germany where her father served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserve. Shortly after, John moved the family back to the States, settling in Nashville, Tennessee, where a kid could grow up with normal American angst, and none of that German schadenfreude hooey.

At age seven, Reese began modeling. In 1990, she landed her first major acting gig in The Man in the Moon. Her role as a 14-year old tomboy earned her rave reviews. But instead of letting it all go to her head, packing up and heading out to La La Land, Reese decided to attend Stanford University where she would major in English. Little did she know that English majors are every bit as unemployed as actors.

However, her collegiate plans were shortly dashed when she accepted roles to star in two major motion pictures: Fear, alongside Mark Wahlberg and his fingers (watch it) and Freeway with Kiefer Sutherland and his gravitas. 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.

Her breakthrough role came as Elle Woods in the 2001 comedy Legally Blonde. The movie was huge box-office smash and established Reese as one of the top female draws in Hollywood. The next year, she scored a follow-up hit with Sweet Home Alabama, which went on to gross over $100 million dollars at the box office. Both films are a small price to pay for the promise of hanky panky with the girlfriend.

She won an Oscar in 2006 for her role in Walk the Line. Her husband has not won an Oscar, and is also not talented or beautiful. They are now divorced. Go figure. Up until recently, she was romantically linked to Jake Gyllenhaal.

And because Reese is an "A" List Hollywood talent, she was legally obligated to lend her voice to an animated film. She fulfilled that obligation in the recent DreamWorks Animation movie Monsters vs. Aliens (2009).