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Reese Witherspoon

ACTOR · BORN 1976

Reese Witherspoon

Born
22 March 1976, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Known for
The Notebook (2004), Four Christmases (2008), Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003), Fear (1996)

100 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

Reese Witherspoon (born 22 March 1976) is a producer best known for The Notebook, Four Christmases and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.

Reese Witherspoon over the years

Reese Witherspoon in 2005 (age 29)
2005 · age 29Tony Shek, CC BY 2.0
Reese Witherspoon in 2016 (age 40)
2016 · age 40GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0

100 Interesting Facts About Reese Witherspoon

Interesting Facts (59)

  1. #001

    After providing her own singing voice for Walk the Line (2005), several companies approached her to record music.

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  2. #002

    She considers Wild (2014) her best film and her best performance.

    Reese Witherspoon — in the office
    Reese Witherspoon: in the officeImage: Wikimedia Commons · Official White House Photo by Pete Souza, Public domain

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  3. #003

    On September 7, 2011, she was hospitalized after being hit by a car while jogging in Santa Monica, California. She was treated for minor injuries before being sent home. She had a quarter-inch scar on her forehead that she hid with her bangs.

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  4. #004

    She was a gymnast for seven years.

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  5. #005

    Guests at her wedding included Renée Zellweger, Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr., Alyssa Milano, Isla Fisher, Selma Blair and Salma Hayek.

    Reese Witherspoon — a scene
    Reese Witherspoon: a sceneImage: Wikimedia Commons · Tony Shek ], CC BY 2.0

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  6. #006

    She considers Meryl Streep's performance in Sophie's Choice (1982) the best female performance of all time. Witherspoon also states that she has been influenced by Streep.

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  7. #007

    She is best friends with Selma Blair, Chelsea Handler and Renée Zellweger.

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  8. #008

    Neither she nor her ex-husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, uses their real name — Reese's name is Laura, and Ryan's is Matthew.

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  9. #009

    She worked as an office production assistant on The Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) for extra credit for a high school class. Director Carl Franklin paid tribute to her in Out of Time (2003) by referencing Legally Blonde (2001).

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  10. #010

    She collects antique linens and loves old embroidery.

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  11. #011

    As a child, Reese Witherspoon modeled children's tracksuits and similar items for a local market newspaper. She has said she was creative for herself. She was paid $50 a day.

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  12. #012

    Reese Witherspoon runs a production company called "Type A Films" together with Debra Siegal.

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  13. #013

    Reese Witherspoon was the first person to host Saturday Night Live (1975) after the September 11 attacks.

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  14. #014

    As a small child, Reese Witherspoon lived in Wiesbaden, Germany.

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  15. #015

    Reese Witherspoon's performance as Tracy Flick in Election (1999) ranked 45th on Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

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  16. #016

    Reese Witherspoon had a relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, whom she met on the set of Rendition (2007) (January 2007-November 2009).

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  17. #017

    At the age of seven, Reese Witherspoon began acting classes for children at a state college. By the time she was nine, she was taking acting classes for adults.

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  18. #018

    Ryan proposed to Reese Witherspoon in December 1998 while the couple were on holiday at The Planter's Inn in Charleston, South Carolina.

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  19. #019

    Reese Witherspoon returned to work to begin filming her guest appearance on Friends (1994) four months after giving birth to her daughter Ava.

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  20. #020

    Reese Witherspoon performs the audiobook version of Go Set a Watchman, the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. In Four Christmases (2008) she appears alongside Sissy Spacek, who narrated the audiobook of To Kill a Mockingbird, and Robert Duvall, who played Boo Radley in the film.

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  21. #021

    Reese Witherspoon's wedding ring was a Neil Lane Asscher-cut diamond dating from the early 1990s, and only a few like it existed in the world.

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  22. #022

    Witherspoon sang her own vocals in Walk the Line.

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  23. #023

    In high school she was a cheerleader and was presented as a debutante.

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  24. #024

    Steve Dontanville of the William Morris Agency is still her manager. They came together after The Man in the Moon (1991).

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  25. #025

    The dress she wore to the 2006 Golden Globe Awards had also been worn by Kirsten Dunst at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards.

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  26. #026

    She owns a clothing company called Draper James, a retail brand inspired by the South that focuses on fashion and home decor.

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  27. #027

    In 2007, Forbes magazine estimated her earnings that year at 7 million dollars.

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  28. #028

    In 2007, The Hollywood Reporter named her the highest-paid actress in Hollywood.

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  29. #029

    Witherspoon, a big fan of Dolly Parton, honored her on the Kennedy Center Honors TV special broadcast on December 26, 2006.

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  30. #030

    She attended Harpeth Hall School, a private girls' school in Nashville, Tennessee.

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  31. #031

    She has two Barbie dolls made in her likeness: the first was released to promote Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, & Blonde (2003). The second is a Barbie in the role of Mrs. Whatsit, released to promote A Wrinkle in Time (2018).

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  32. #032

    Reese Witherspoon is mentioned as "the prom queen" in Bowling for Soup's song "High School Never Ends".

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  33. #033

    On October 30, 2006, Reese Witherspoon announced her separation and that she would file for divorce from her husband Ryan Phillippe after seven years of marriage.

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  34. #034

    As a young girl of 11, Reese Witherspoon won the "Ten State Talent Award".

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  35. #035

    Reese Witherspoon is friends with Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew McConaughey, Selma Blair and Kate Hudson.

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  36. #036

    Her Gap ad appeared on a six-story-high building on Sunset Boulevard.

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  37. #037

    At the age of 7, Reese Witherspoon appeared in a television commercial for a local Nashville florist.

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  38. #038

    Reese Witherspoon's first perfume was "In Bloom" (2009), released by Avon.

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  39. #039

    Reese Witherspoon starred in four films that share their titles with songs: Jack the Bear (1993), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Just Like Heaven (2005) and Walk the Line (2005).

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  40. #040

    Reese Witherspoon has an older brother, John D. Witherspoon.

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  41. #041

    Reese Witherspoon was named "Favorite Female Film Star" by People magazine (2004).

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  42. #042

    As of August 2014, Reese Witherspoon owns a property in Nashville, Tennessee.

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  43. #043

    On August 1, 2007, Reese Witherspoon became Avon's first Global Ambassador and will serve as Honorary Chairman of the Avon Foundation.

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  44. #044

    On November 8, 2006, Reese Witherspoon filed for divorce from her husband Ryan Phillippe.

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  45. #045

    She was named one of Rolling Stone's "People of the Year," alongside Eminem and Kelly Osbourne.

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  46. #046

    She ranked first on E!'s 2003 list of Hollywood's Hottest Blondes.

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  47. #047

    Witherspoon has been a co-founder of Draper James, a Southern clothing store, since 2015.

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  48. #048

    She was named one of E!'s 2002 "Entertainers of the Year."

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  49. #049

    She has worked with three actors who have played comic book characters: Tobey Maguire, who played Spider-Man; Tom Hardy, who played Bane; and Christian Bale, who played Batman.

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  50. #050

    She was chosen by People magazine as one of the World's 50 Most Beautiful People (2002).

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  51. #051

    She ranked 40th in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special issue.

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  52. #052

    She spoke at an event held by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. [May 20, 2017].

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  53. #053

    She has four dogs: a Chocolate Labrador named Hank, a bulldog named Lou, a French bulldog named Minnie Pearl and a Black Labrador named Major. She also had a German Shepherd named Nash, a bull terrier named Lou Ann, a French bulldog named Coco Chanel, an English bulldog named Frank Sinatra and a French bulldog named Pepper, who died of cancer on October 19, 2020.

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  54. #054

    She ranked 22nd on Entertainment Weekly's Most Powerful List.

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  55. #055

    She was chosen as one of People magazine's "25 Most Intriguing People of 2001."

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  56. #056

    She was named one of E!'s "Top 20 Entertainers of 2001."

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  57. #057

    She ranked 34th in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" issue.

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  58. #058

    She was born at 2:00 p.m. (CST).

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  59. #059

    She was born one day before Keri Russell and Michelle Monaghan.

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Characters & Cast (11)

  1. #060

    Shortly after she began acting, she auditioned for a role in Cape Fear (1991). She was supposed to meet Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese for the audition, but at the time she did not know who they really were. On the plane she was talking to the man next to her about her audition, and he began heaping praise on De Niro and Scorsese. This annoyed her so much that she completely ruined the audition, and the role ultimately went to Juliette Lewis.

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  2. #061

    In 2012 she founded the film production company "Pacific Standard" with her Australian partner Bruna Papandrea. The first books optioned were Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" and Cheryl Strayed's "Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found".

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  3. #062

    She auditioned for the role of Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins (2005), but Katie Holmes was cast instead.

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  4. #063

    Reese Witherspoon turned down leading roles in two horror films: Scream (1996) and Urban Legend (1998).

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  5. #064

    Witherspoon was considered for the role of Juliet in Romeo + Juliet (1996), which starred Claire Danes.

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  6. #065

    Reese Witherspoon dyed her hair brown for the role of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line (2005).

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  7. #066

    Reese Witherspoon moved her production company Type A Films to Universal Pictures and signed a two-year first-look production deal with Universal. The studio has already picked the romantic comedy Sports Widow (2010) for her to star in and produce.

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  8. #067

    Reese Witherspoon campaigned for the role of Christine Collins in Changeling (2008) but lost the part to Angelina Jolie.

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  9. #068

    She was considered for the role of Amy Stanton in the 2010 film İçimdeki Katil, but Kate Hudson was cast instead.

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  10. #069

    At 18, she auditioned for the lead role in Clueless. She never admitted this until she appeared as a guest on the comedy podcast Smartless in 2020.

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  11. #070

    Was considered for the role of Allie Hamilton in The Notebook (2004), but Rachel McAdams was cast instead.

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Career & Awards (9)

  1. #071

    She is one of 13 actresses to win the Oscar, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. In chronological order, the others are Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich (2000), Renée Zellweger for Cold Mountain (2003), Helen Mirren for The Queen (2006), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008), Mo'Nique for Precious (2009), Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010), Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011), Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012), Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2013), Patricia Arquette for Boyhood (2014) and Julianne Moore for Still Alice (2014).

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  2. #072

    Is the second actress to win the best actress Oscar for portraying a female singer in a biography; the first was Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).

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  3. #073

    Reese Witherspoon was honored with the MTV Generation Award at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards, becoming the second woman in the history of the awards to receive it, after Sandra Bullock, who had won it a year earlier.

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  4. #074

    During the montage at the 84th Academy Awards, it was revealed that Reese Witherspoon's favorite film is Overboard (1987).

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  5. #075

    The year Witherspoon won the Oscar for Walk the Line (2005), her then-husband Ryan Phillippe appeared in Crash (2004), which won Best Picture.

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  6. #076

    On December 1, 2010, she was honored with the 2,425th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, presented by James L. Brooks and James Mangold, with her children Ava and Deacon Phillippe and her boyfriend Jim Toth present. The star is located at 6262 Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the West Hollywood Hotel.

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  7. #077

    Reese Witherspoon is one of 14 actresses to win both the Best Actress Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for the same performance, which for her was Walk the Line (2005). The others, in chronological order, are: Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday (1950), Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins (1964), Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968), Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class (1973), Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977), Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Cher for Moonstruck (1987), Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Helen Hunt for As Good as It Gets (1997), Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose (2007) and Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012).

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  8. #078

    Reese Witherspoon became the 128th actor to win an Oscar, winning the Best Actress Oscar for Walk the Line (2005) at the 78th Annual Academy Awards on March 5, 2006.

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  9. #079

    She has worked with two directors who won the Academy Award for Best Director: Robert Benton and James L. Brooks.

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Life & Family (21)

  1. #080

    Her mother Betty holds a doctorate. She studied pediatric nursing, and her father John is a surgeon.

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  2. #081

    Reese is her mother's maiden name.

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  3. #082

    When she finished filming Devil's Knot (2013), she was eight months pregnant with her son Tennessee.

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  4. #083

    She has three children: daughter Ava Phillippe (b. September 9, 1999) and son Deacon Phillippe (b. October 23, 2003) with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, and son Tennessee Toth (b. September 27, 2012) with her husband Jim Toth.

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  5. #084

    Her son is named after former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Deacon Phillippe, a distant relative of her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe.

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  6. #085

    She is only nine years older than Laura Dern, who played her mother in Wild (2014).

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  7. #086

    Reese Witherspoon has English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and distant Dutch ancestry. She is said to be a relative of the Scotland-born Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon, who attended Haddington Grammar School, received a master's degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1739 and was one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence.

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  8. #087

    Reese Witherspoon returned to work to begin filming Walk the Line (2005) eight months after giving birth to her son Deacon.

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  9. #088

    In a deleted scene from Vanity Fair (2004), Reese Witherspoon played Robert Pattinson's mother, but her scene was cut from the final version. In Water for Elephants (2011) the two play lovers.

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  10. #089

    Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava Phillippe is named after the grandmother of her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe.

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  11. #090

    Reese Witherspoon won the Best Actress Oscar in 2006 for her role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line (2005). The funny part is that Witherspoon had previously played another member of the Carter family; in a fourth-grade play she portrayed Maybelle Carter (June Carter's mother).

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  12. #091

    On March 26, 2011, Reese Witherspoon married Jim Toth in a tent at their ranch in Ojai, California, in front of 120 guests, wearing a custom-designed Monique Lhuillier dress. Eighty white doves were released right after the couple said "I do."

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  13. #092

    Witherspoon studied English Literature at Stanford University; she has been on leave from her studies since 1996.

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  14. #093

    Her favorite films include Splendor in the Grass (1961), Overboard (1987), The Impossible (2012), Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

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  15. #094

    Her mother and father separated in 1996, when she was 20 years old. They are still close.

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  16. #095

    Her bridesmaids included her best friend Heather Rosenfield, her daughter Ava Phillippe and two young nieces.

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  17. #096

    As part of the Toy Mountain Campaign, Reese Witherspoon donated many items to Rocky Stone to be given to less fortunate children.

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  18. #097

    On December 28, 2010, Reese Witherspoon announced her engagement to her boyfriend Jim Toth, whom she had been dating since February 2010.

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  19. #098

    Reese Witherspoon visited her former dorm room at Stanford University and met its current resident. [May 20, 2017].

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  20. #099

    She returned to work to begin filming The Good Lie (2014) seven months after giving birth to her son Tennessee.

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  21. #100

    Reese Witherspoon is a distant cousin of Daniel Morton.

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Related pages

  • Wimbledon — Reese Witherspoon comes up in the facts on that page
  • Keira Knightley — Reese Witherspoon comes up in the facts on that page
  • Jessica Tandy — Reese Witherspoon comes up in the facts on that page

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

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