Family
   Brother: John Witherspoon, Jr. older
   Daughter: Ava Elizabeth Phillippe. born on September 9, 1999; father, Ryan Phillippe
   Father: John Witherspoon. was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves; later becomes an ear-nose-throat specialist
   Mother: Betty Witherspoon. a Ph.D in pediatric nursing
   Son: Deacon Phillippe. born on October 23, 2003; father, Ryan Phillippe

Reese Witherspoon Biography
Blonde, poised and versatile, actress Reese Witherspoon went from Southern debutante to a driven Hollywood hot ticket after getting her start in the 1991 feature "The Man in the Moon". Cast thanks to a 10-state talent search, the inexperienced actress had only local commercials to her credit, but she gave a shining performance on her first time out, playing with heartbreaking poignancy a fourteen-year-old girl in love with the boy-next-door dating her sister. It was immediately apparent from her performance that the newcomer could handle three-dimensional, passionate characters with both manners and moxie. That same year Witherspoon made her TV acting debut in the Diane Keaton-directed cable movie "Wildflower" (Lifetime, 1991), playing a girl who discovers an epileptic teenager (Patricia Arquette) held captive by her father. Witherspoon racked up more television credits as a critically ill young woman in "Desperate Choices: To Save My Child" (NBC, 1992) and a young wife with a wandering eye in the miniseries "Return to Lonesome Dove" (CBS, 1993). That same year she evaded murderous poachers as the star of "A Far Off Place", a teen-aimed Disney adventure filmed in the Kalahari Desert.
Though she had always projected an aura of sexuality, Witherspoon delivered a breakthrough turn as a sensitive and sassy hostage in the controversial Gen-X satire "S.F.W." (1995) which signaled her move toward more risky, complex roles. She was stalked by a pre-"Boogie Nights" Mark Wahlberg in James Foley's "Fear", and kissed her nice girl image good-bye in "Freeway" (both 1996) as a gun-toting, illiterate, trash-mouthed juvenile delinquent, snarling and pouting her way through a modern-day "Little Red Riding Hood". (The film debuted on HBO before receiving a limited theatrical release.) Developing a varied and rewarding career seemed to come naturally to the young actress, who shied away from typical teen roles and avoided being stereotyped. After she portrayed the wayward daughter of Susan Sarandon and Gene Hackman in "Twilight", her kewpie-doll prettiness and pert demeanor found its way into Gary Ross' "Pleasantville" (both 1998), as the 90s hoyden introducing a bold new life force to the 1950s black-and-white world, changing it irrevocably. She continued her march to stardom with turns in three 1999 releases: as Alessandro Nivola's lover who plot together to escape from their desolate town in "Best Laid Plans", opposite Matthew Broderick in the darkly satiric "Election" and playing the plucky but virginal Annette in "Cruel Intentions", a spin on "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" set amongst the teen set.