Reese Witherspoon Biography

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born to John Draper Witherspoon and Mary Elizabeth on March 22, 1976, at the Southern Baptist Hospital located in New Orleans in the Southern US state of Louisiana. Her father was a lieutenant colonel in the US army, while her mother worked at the Vanderbilt University as a nursing professor.

In 1983, when she was only 7 years old, Witherspoon appeared in an advertisement for a local flower store and four years later she took part in a talent fair as well. These appearances gave her the confidence to become a full time actor and hence even though she was a good student she quit Stanford University after a year in order to make a career in acting. She had enrolled as an English literature major at the university.

Witherspoon appeared in some television series and movies like ‘Return to Lonesome Drive’ and the Disney productions like ‘A Far off Place’, in the early 1990s. However, her career really took off in 1996, when she starred in the film ‘Fear’ alongside Mark Wahlberg and later on that year she paired up with Brooke Shields in the comedy-thriller ‘Freeway’. Both films turned out to be successful.

Witherspoon took a hiatus from films for a while but returned in 1998, and was cast in three films in the year. The three films were ‘Pleasantville’, ‘Twilight’ and the romantic comedy ‘Overnight Delivery’. Among the three, ‘Pleasantville’ proved to be her most popular role. She followed it up with the films ‘Cruel Intentions’ and the critically acclaimed ‘Election’ in the following year.

In 2001, Reese Witherspoon starred in ‘Legally Blonde’ and that film proved to be the big breakthrough in her career as the film garnered worldwide recognition as well as critical appreciation. Following the success of ‘Legally Blonde’, she starred in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and the commercially successful but cinematically criticised sequel ‘Legally Blonde 2: Red White And Blonde’.

In the 2005 film ‘Walk the Line’, Reese Witherspoon played the role Johnny Cash’s 2nd wife June Carter Cash and turned in arguably the best performance of her career. Critics like Roger Ebert were gushing in their praise and Witherspoon went on to win the biggest awards for that film including the Academy Award for Best Actress, BAFTA, Screen Guilds Awards and the Golden Globe.

Witherspoon was featured in the ‘TIME 100’ list in the year 2006, and People Magazine named her among the ‘100 Most Beautiful’ in a special issue in the same year.

Reese Witherspoon got married to fellow actor Ryan Phillips in the year 1999; however they divorced in 2007. The couple has two children - a daughter named Ava and a son named Deacon.

In 2011, Reese Witherspoon got married to Jim Toth, who is a Hollywood talent agent. The couple has a son named Tennessee James Toth. The couple announced their divorce in March 2023.