Renee Zellweger Biography:

The extraordinary flexibility and sex appeal of Renee Zellweger garnered the actress Oscar and Golden Globe Awards for her comedy, musical and dramatic work, and made her one of the premier paid screen actors in Hollywood. Zellweger was an unknown quantity when director Cameron Crowe cast her next to box office superstar Tom Cruise in “Jerry Maguire,” (1996) where she made movie history with the tag line, “You had me at hello.” 

Zellweger went on to characterize the female literature generation with her leading role in “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (2001) before powerful and inspiring roles in “Chicago” (2002) and “Cold Mountain” (2004) showed that she was as competent in dramas as the romantic lead that started off her career. 

Off-screen, Texas born Renee Zellweger was well known for her bouts of “pretender syndrome” and outwardly endless skepticism over her movie star standing, as well as being one of the most indisputably kind, easy going stars in Hollywood.

Renee Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969, and raised in the Houston, TX town of Katy. It was not the classic rural Texas childhood, however, with a Norwegian born nurse for a mother and Swiss born engineer for a father. Growing up, Zellweger idolized her older brother Drew and took after him as an enthusiastic soccer and baseball player. Her father seeded self confidence in the young tomboy, teaching her automotive repair and enlisting her to help in the construction of a new family residence when she was just nine years old. 

In high school, Zellweger became a cheerleader, appeared in quite a few school plays, and was designated “Best Looking” before graduating in 1987 and leaving for the University of Texas in Austin.

While working on an English major, Zellweger took a drama class to finish an arts prerequisite and actually fell in love with the stage. She was somewhat inexperienced, but she was a natural. While still in school, she got her first small role in a television commercial. Once Zellweger graduated, the honor student decided to entirely apply herself to acting, no matter the economic results.

At the time, Austin was having a explosion in film production and Zellweger had lots of opportunities to get her feet wet. Her first roles were bit parts in various television series, including the ABC miniseries "Murder in the Heartland" (ABC, 1993), Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused" (1993); and Ben Stiller’s directorial debut, “Reality Bites” (1994). 

Her first noteworthy role was with fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey in the B-movie sequel "The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1994), which swiftly vanished from view until 1997 (under the title "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation") when it was released to exploit both the stars' growing profiles. Her closing film in Texas was her largest, playing the trailer trash gun toting Starlene in "Love and a .45" (1994), a low budget and clever deviation of "Bonnie and Clyde" and a spoof on the flood of crime spree couple films showing at the time.

Zellweger had built up significant thrust in only a few years, and a move to Hollywood seemed like a sure bet. She had received various critical acclaim, including an Independent Spirit Award nomination for “Love and a .45”.  But in 1996, director Cameron Crowe in effect launched Zellweger’s career when he cast Zellweger over Winona Ryder, Bridget Fonda, Mira Sorvino and Marisa Tomei to play single mother and assistant and love interest to Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire." The charming romantic comedy was one of the year’s best, and Zellweger inadvertently made movie script history with her weepy, emotionally controlled speaking of “You had me at ‘Hello” to the in love Tom Cruise.

Finally scoring a smash hit film in which she truly shined, Zellweger found she had her pick of Hollywood movie roles. Instead of playing deviations of her good girl screen personality the actress stayed true to her profession by playing significant, multi themed characters. Zellweger delivered a strong, captivating performance in her leading role as an gloomily married Jewish wife in Boaz Yakin's "A Price Above Rubies" (1998), which attracted debate from some religious groups which denounced to the casting of a non Jewish actress. 

She held her own alongside her real life movie idol Meryl Streep (as her mother) and William Hurt (as her adored father) by playing a tough willed writer required to cope with family tragedy in the gloomy "One True Thing" (1998). 

Although Zellweger was reduced to a bit part in "The Bachelor" (1999) and was overshadowed by Jim Carrey's frenzied jokes in "Me, Myself & Irene" (2000), Zellweger truly came into her own as a star in the lead part of "Nurse Betty" (2000). First previewed at Cannes, where it received the nod for best screenplay, "Nurse Betty" cast the actress as a good natured Kansas waitress who enters a fuddled state after seeing a crime and taking off to California to be with the man of her dreams.. Zellweger skillfully portrayed the character's gullibility. 

In another notorious casting decision, she won the desirable role of Bridget Jones, a character who was seen as a spokesperson of a British culture, in the film variation of "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001). Although there was an early uproar from the British for getting the role of a adored English champion, her flawless accent and strong reading of the role quieted the hostility and brought home a SAG award for Best Actress and an Oscar nomination. “Bridget Jones” would grow to be the film by which all others would be measured by her fans.

Faced with bettering the career high of “Bridget Jones,” Zellweger first decided on a supporting role as a foster mother in the film variation of "White Oleander," in which her role was singled out as encouraging among an generally uninspiring film. Renee was subsequently seen singing and dancing in the film adaptation of the smash Broadway musical "Chicago" (2002). Cast as Roxie Hart, a woman who murders her lover and then dreams of a career as a burlesque headliner, the actress again showed her critics wrong, presenting a amazing, crisp performance and unveiling a raspy but pleasing singing voice. Once again she received a wealth of award nominations, including Oscar and BAFTA nominations and a Golden Globe win.

Her next role was as a up to date Doris Day opposite Ewan McGregor in the dreamy comedy "Down With Love" (2003), which regardless of many accolades did not invite much of an audience. She followed up this box office flop with a solemn role next to Jude Law and Nicole Kidman in "Cold Mountain" for director Anthony Minghella. while most critics and movie goers rolled their eyes at her disturbingly unsophisticated and rough character Ruby, a performance the media compared to Day's over scripted role in "Calamity Jane”, who teaches Ada (Nicole Kidman) to stand on her own, Zellweger skated through the next awards season with her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, as well as a Screen Actors Guild award. 

While filming, Renee also met a new love interest, rocker Jack White of the White Stripes, who she would date for a number of years. Her most serious romance prior to Jack, had been a prolonged connection with “Me, Myself and Irene” co-star, comedian Jim Carrey.

Next Zellweger lent her voice the voice to Angie, the fish who softly longs for impish Oscar in DreamWorks' animated underwater piece "Shark Tale" (2004). 

Zellweger came back to well-known territory by replaying her role as Bridget Jones for the less triumphant sequel "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason." She then astounded fans and the critics by marrying country star Kenny Chesney in the U.S. Virgin Islands after a hurricane five month romance in 2005, following her nasty split with Jack White. After only five months of marriage Zellweger wanted to terminate the union, with the bizarre reference of "fraud”, a charge that sent many people gossiping as to what exactly that meant.

Renee leaped right into her next role, director Ron Howard's depression era fight drama "Cinderella Man" (2005). The film, while not a fiscal success, gained generally good reviews, but Zellweger's artificial act as Mae Braddock, the dedicated wife of doubtful prize fighting title holder Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) was perhaps the most criticized ingredient. 

The slip-up did not concern the top screen actress from getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005, after which she brushed off her British accent to play the lead part in "Miss Potter" (2006), a film exploring the life of adored children’s writer Beatrix Potter. Again, she was flattered with a Golden Globe nomination for best actress.

In 2007, dropped out of existence; only heard as the voice of florist Vanessa Bloome in the animated movie “Bee Movie,” starring Jerry Seinfeld as the unhappy worker bee who breaks free from the hive and falls in love with a human. In 2008, Zellweger’s show roster was set to consist of a starring role in her first crime story, “Case 39” (2008), as well as supporting role with George Clooney  in the sports film, “Leatherheads” (2008).

• Also Credited As:
  Renee Kathleen Zellweger
• Born:
  on 04/25/1969 in Houston, Texas
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Bartender's assistant, Cocktail waitress

Family

• Brother: Drew Zellweger. born on February 15, 1967
• Father: Emil Zellweger. Swiss-born; married Zellweger's mother in 1963
• Mother: Kjellfrid Zellweger. Norwegian-born; married Zellweger's father in 1963

Significant Others

• Companion: George Clooney. rumored to have briefly dated in 2001
• Companion: Jack White. began dating June 2003; split briefly at the end of 2003; back together December 2003; split September 2004
• Companion: Jim Carrey. met during filming of "Me, Myself and Irene" (2000); began dating only after filming was completed; went public with relationship in December 1999; split in fall 2000 after approximately 18 months together
• Companion: Josh Pate. began dating November 1996, after meeting on the film "Deceiver"; no longer together
• Husband: Kenny Chesney. country musician; met in January 2005, at a tsunami relief benefit; married May 9, 2005 on the resort island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands; filed for an annulment September 2005
• Companion: George Clooney. reportedly dated in fall 2001
• Companion: Jim Carrey. met during filming of "Me, Myself and Irene" (2000); began dating only after filming was completed; went public with relationship in December 1999; relationship reportedly ended in late fall 2000 after approximately 18 months
• Companion: Josh Pate. began dating in November 1996 after the filming of "Deceiver"; no longer together
• Companion: Sims Ellison. born on March 10, 1967; committed suicide on June 6, 1995; met at the University of Texas

Education

• Katy High School, Katy, Texas, 1987
• University of Texas, Austin, Texas, English, BA

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