Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress, best known for her roles in Election, Legally Blonde and Walk the Line.
Witherspoon was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to John Witherspoon (a surgeon) and Betty Reese (a nurse and college professor) Reese is a direct descendant of Scottish-born John Witherspoon, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and founder of Princeton University, who was also a Presbyterian minister. Because her father worked for the US military in Wiesbaden, Germany, Reese lived there for four years as a small child. After returning to the United States, Witherspoon spent much of her childhood and adolescence in Nashville. She has an older brother named John, who works as a real estate broker. After graduating high school from Nashville's prestigious Harpeth Hall School, she attended Stanford University as a literature major. After completing a year of her studies, Reese left Stanford to pursue her acting career. Witherspoon began her career in local commercials, and at age 14 attended an open casting call for The Man in the Moon, intending to audition as a bit player. She was instead cast in the lead role as young Dani, immediately capturing the attention of critics. Since, she has built up an impressive filmography, playing both comedic and dramatic roles, including performances as Vanessa in Freeway and Tracy Flick in Election. She was the voice of the animated character Greta Wolfecastle in an episode of The Simpsons. She became best known for her role in 2001's Legally Blonde, and its sequel Legally Blonde 2 for which she received a $15 million paycheck, making her one of Hollywood's top-paid actresses. She has garnered critical praise and awards for her turn as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, NYFCC, the FFCC, the SFFCC Award for Best Actress, and the " Favorite Leading Lady" at the 32nd Annual People's Choice Awards for this role. Witherspoon's appearance at the 2006 Golden Globes Awards in a white Chanel dress caused a stir in the entertainment industry when it was discovered that actress Kirsten Dunst had worn the same dress to the award show three years earlier.
Additionally, Reese runs a production company with partner Laura Siegel, Type A Productions. The company is named after Reese's childhood nickname " Little Miss Type A" . Witherspoon met actor Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party in March 1997. The pair became inseparable, and got engaged in December 1998. Soon after, the couple starred together in the box office hit Cruel Intentions. They were married on a plantation in Charleston, South Carolina on June 5, 1999. They have two children together: daughter Ava Elizabeth, born September 9, 1999, and son Deacon, born October 23, 2003. Ava is named after Phillippe's grandmother, and Deacon after a distant relative of Phillippe's. Witherspoon and Phillippe have a pact that one of them will always be a full-time parent to the children, and they thus alternate filming schedules.
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