Reese Witherspoon was born March 22, 1976, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Witherspoon was a child model and acted in television commercials from the age of seven (for a local Nashville Florist). She had a part in the 1991 Lifetime cable movie Wildflower before making her 1991 film debut in the coming-of-age story.

She attended Stanford where her major was English literature. Reese did some modeling and local commercials, but never seriously expected to be an actress when she was growing up. She always just accepted the fact that she would be some sort of physician.

In 1991, she appeared in the Diane Keaton television movie "Wildflower". Reese played a Depression-Age girl who, with her older brother, helps an epileptic girl who has been mistreated by her family. Next came "Desperate Choices: To Save My Child", where Reese played a teenager whose family is almost torn apart when they learn she has cancer.

Reese Witherspoon was named one of the '25 Most Intriguing People of 2001' and one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in 2002 by People Magazine.