Reese Witherspoon Biography: One Smart Southern Lady

Reese Witherspoon is an actress in a sea of celebrities. She has quickly risen from America's sweetheart to a leading lady to contend with. She is a person who I have admired since I watched her honest and moving portrayal of a young girl in love in The Man in the Moon. I have followed her since, and have always found her to be a woman of strong opinions and stronger morals who retains a sense of dignity in a tough business.

Reese was born Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon on March 22, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She spent the first four years of her life in Germany while her father, John, fulfilled his Vietnam draft obligation. The family then moved to Nashville, TN, where Reese spent her childhood as a self-confessed "huge book dork," as well as a cheerleader. She doesn't like it, however, when the cheerleader part gets mentioned. She thinks it will overshadow her intelligence.

Reese has always valued intelligence, and its no suprise when you look at where she came from. Her father, John, is a surgeon and her mother, Betty, is a Ph.D. in pediatric nursing and a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University. So while intelligence was in her genes, entertaining was in her future.

Fate often presents itself as a fluke, and this is how it happened for Laura Jean. When she was seven, friends of her parents wanted to use her in an ad for their local flower shop. This brief spot in the limelight was enough to hook Laura Jean. Ambitious and strong-willed, she started taking acting classes and won a 10 State Talent Award by age 11.

At age 14, she auditioned for as an extra for The Man in the Moon, and was hired as the star of the film within a month. Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon then adopted her mother's maiden name and became the Reese Witherspoon of today.

Reese's performance in The Man in the Moon didn't go unnoticed. She went on to star in 17 films over 10 years, always careful to vary her roles. She played a young girl with Leukemia in the TV movie Desperate Choices: To Save My Child, a hippie chick in Jack the Bear, a sexually promiscuous teen in Pleasantville, and a virginal goody-goody in Cruel Intentions, just to name a few.