Witherspoon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to John Witherspoon, a surgeon from Georgia who grew up in Nashville, and Betty Reese, a nurse and college professor from Harriman, Tennessee. She is a direct descendant of Scottish-born John Witherspoon, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and sixth president of Princeton University, who was also a Presbyterian minister. Because her father worked for the US military in Wiesbaden, Germany, she lived there for four years as a small child. After returning to the United States, Witherspoon, an army brat spent much of her childhood and adolescence in Nashville, Tennessee, where, she says in Interview magazine, "I grew up in an environment where women accomplished a lot. And if they weren't able to it was because they were limited by society. I grew up with a grandma--my father's mother--who was incredibly intelligent but was limited by the bounds of society and propriety ... She was a voracious reader, and she encouraged me to read a lot as a child ..." a woman whose "depression" and "disconnect between her capabilities and her lack of fulfillment and achievement" continue to motivate Witherspoon in life. After graduating from the prestigious private all-girls' Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, she attended Stanford University as a literature major. After completing a year of her studies, she left Stanford to pursue her acting career. Personal life Witherspoon met actor Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party in March 1997, where, as she says, "I don't know what came over me - maybe the seven Midori sours - but I told him, 'I think you're my birthday present.' He thought it was so flattering, and now that I think about it...how embarrassing!" The pair 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: daughter Ava Elizabeth, born September 9, 1999, and son Deacon Reese, born October 23, 2003. Witherspoon is known as a very hands-on mother, and she and Phillippe claim to have never employed a full-time nanny. A self-identified Southerner who has credited her family with fomenting her imagination and love for storytelling and privacy, she told the aforesaid magazines that her parental philosophy has roots in her upbringing. "We weren't the kind of children that were shadowed. We didn't have nannies. We didn't have housekeepers. This whole L.A. culture is so foreign to me, because when I was growing up you wouldn't watch your children every moment. I'm always confused when people bring their children over and then want to sit with them while they play. I think part of the joy of being a child is privacy. Your fantasies and dreams are so important to you at that moment." On November 10, 2005 Witherspoon responded to critical news reports of her marriage counseling. "In what capacity is working on yourself or your marriage a bad thing? What marriage isn't a journey? ... Nobody's perfect ... We all have our own set of problems," she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The next month, she said separately, "We are all on the edge, emotionally or psychologically." On June 21, 2006 Witherspoon sued the tabloid Star for running a "fictional" story on a third pregnancy that claims she is hiding the news from producers of her upcoming films. On October 30, 2006, Witherspoon and Phillippe announced that they have decided to formally separate after seven years of marriage. On November 8, 2006, Witherspoon filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In her petition she sought joint legal custody of their two children and sole physical custody, with visitation for Phillippe.

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Filmography 2007 Rendition 2006 Penelope Annie 2005 Walk the Line June Carter Cash BAFTA Award For Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Screen Actors Guild Award Golden Globe Winner Broadcast Film Critics Association Award National Society of Film Critics Awards Teen Choice Awards for Choice Actress Drama/Action Adventure 2005 Just Like Heaven Elizabeth Masterson 2004 Vanity Fair Becky Sharp 2003 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde Elle Woods 2002 Sweet Home Alabama Melanie Smooter/Carmichael 2002 The Importance of Being Earnest Cecily Teen Choice Awards Nominee (Choice Actress Comedy) 2001 Legally Blonde Elle Woods Golden Globe Nominee (Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy) MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance Winner 2000 American Psycho Evelyn Williams 2000 Little Nicky Holly 1999 Election Tracy Flick Golden Globe Nominee (Actress) National Society of Film Critics Awards Winner (Best Actress) Independent Spirit Award Nominee (Best Actress) 1999 Cruel Intentions Annette Hargrove 1999 Best Laid Plans Lissa 1998 Pleasantville Jennifer Young Hollywood Award Winner (Breakthrough Performance - Female) 1998 Overnight Delivery Ivy Miller 1998 Twilight Mel Ames 1996 Freeway Vanessa Lutz Best Actress, Cognac Festival du Film Policier 1996 Fear Nicole Walker 1995 S.F.W. Wendy Pfister 1993 Jack the Bear Karen Morris Young Artist Award Winner (Best Youth Actress Co-star) 1993 A Far Off Place Nonnie Parker 1991 The Man in the Moon Danielle 'Dani' Trant Young Artist Award Nominee (Best Young Actress) Academy Award for Best Actress 2005 for Walk the Line