Reese Witherspoon is actually a descendant of John Witherspoon who just happened to be one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Do you think that her somewhat of a free spirit attitude is inherited?

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976 at Southern Baptist Hospital (now Memorial Medical Center) in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the second child born to Dr. John Witherspoon and Betty Reese. Her father was a military surgeon specializing in the ear, nose and throat. Her mother was a Registered Nurse who later became a Ph.D in pediatric nursing. Reese spent the first four years of her life in Wiesbaden, Germany where her father served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves. Shortly after, John moved the family back to the States, settling in Nashville, Tennessee.

She broke into modeling and lands an acting gig at age 7, shooting a TV commercial for a florist. She continued doing local commercials and takes first place in a Ten-State Talent Fair at age 11. Then atthe tender age 14, Witherspoon debuts in the coming-of-age drama The Man in the Moon, giving her first onscreen kiss to costar Jason London. She makes her television premiere the same year in the Diane Keaton directed drama Wildflower.

In 1996, Witherspoon's performance in Freeway established her as a up and coming rising star and led to roles in three major 1998 movies: Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville, and Twilight. In the following year Witherspoon appeared in the critically acclaimed Election, which garnered her a Golden Globe nomination and saw her breakout role as Elle Woods in the box office hit, that I thoroughly enjoyed, Legally Blonde. In 2002 she starred in Sweet Home Alabama, which became her biggest commercial film success to date. 2003 saw her return as lead actress and executive producer of Legally Blonde 2. In 2005, Witherspoon received worldwide attention and praise for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, a role that earned her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. And all of this just before her 30th birthday.

She married actor Ryan Phillippe in 1999 and they have two beautiful children Ava and Deacon. But after only a few years together they got divorced in 2007.[The couple first met at Witherspoon's 21st birthday party.]

In 2004, Witherspoon starred in Vanity Fair, adapted from the 19th-century classic novel Vanity Fair and directed by Mira Nair and early-2005,She starred alongside Mark Ruffalo in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven where she played Elizabeth Masterson, a dedicated San Francisco doctor who is involved in a car accident and becomes a spirit, her spirit, returns to her old apartment and she later finds true love there.And in 2006 she stared in the political thriller Rendention and it was her first appearance in two years and in 2007 she started filming for the comedy Four Christmasses.

In 2007, she was selected by People and the entertainment news program Access Hollywood as one of the best dressed female stars of the year.[86][87] That same year, Witherspoon established herself as the highest-paid actress in the American film industry, earning US$15 to US$20 million per film. What an amazing feat to accomplish considering the fact that Witherspoon is still so very young.Of course the competition for this covited award seems to changing every fewmonths. What a great race to be in. Names like Julie Roberts, Nicole Kidman,Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz, just to name a few.