Jennifer Love Hewitt

Infobox actor


caption = Jennifer Love Hewitt, January 2008
birthdate = birth date and age|1979|02|21
birthplace = Waco, Texas, U.S.A. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/21/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main870783.shtml Jennifer Love Hewitt's 'Ghost'] (September 21, 2005). "CBSNews.com". Accessed 2007-12-08.]
occupation = actress, singer-songwriter
yearsactive = 1989 — present
website = http://www.jenniferlovehewittonline.com
awards = Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television
2006 "Ghost Whisperer"
2007 "Ghost Whisperer"

Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials, as well as Robin on the Disney Channel television series "Kids Incorporated". She rose to fame in teenage popular culture via her roles in the Fox series "Party of Five", as Sarah Reeves, and the films "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and its sequel, as Julie James.

As a singer, Hewitt has been signed by Atlantic Records and Jive Records. [ [http://music.msn.com/music/artist/jennifer-love-hewitt/ "Jennifer Love Hewitt on MSN music"] . "music.msn.com". Retrieved on October 2, 2008] She is primarily known for her recordings in the pop genre. To date, her most successful single is the 2002 release "BareNaked". In addition, she has contributed music to the promotion or soundtracks of acting projects. [ [http://www.variety.com/profiles/people/main/28969/Jennifer+Love+Hewitt.html?dataSet=1 "Jennifer Love Hewitt"] . "variety.com". Retrieved on October 2, 2008]

Hewitt's physical appearance has been the subject of much media attention throughout her career. Named the sexiest woman in the world in 1999 [http://www.amazon.com/Maxim-November-1999-Jennifer-Hewitt/dp/B0012AJNDM 'Maxim' magazine] . "amazon.com". November 1999. Retrieved on October 2, 2008] and the sexiest woman on television in 2008, [http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/tvs-sexiest-stars/293083 "TV's Sexiest Stars"] . "tvguide.com". May 3 2008. Retrieved on October 2, 2008] she has been repeatedly honored by publications such as "Maxim", "TV Guide", "FHM", and numerous readers of these periodicals. In 2007, paparazzi photos of Hewitt on a beach led to a much-publicized matter in which she defended her weight, and was supported by other celebrities. These incidents received coverage from "People" magazine. [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20164621,00.html "Celeb's Cheer Jennifer Love Hewitt's Views On Weight"] . "people.com". December 6 2007. Retrieved on October 2, 2008]

In addition to acting, Hewitt has also served as a producer on certain film or television projects. [ [http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jennifer-love-hewitt/credits/156628 "Jennifer Love Hewitt Credits"] . "tvguide.com". Retrieved on October 2, 2008] Currently, she can be seen on the CBS television program "Ghost Whisperer" as Melinda Gordon, a young woman who can communicate with the ghosts of the dead.

Biography

Early life and career

Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, the daughter of Patricia Mae (née Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician. [ [http://filmreference.com/film/59/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt.html Jennifer Love Hewitt Biography (1979-) ] ] Hewitt grew up in Nolanville, Texas; after the divorce of her parents, Hewitt and her only sibling, Todd Hewitt, were brought up by her mother. Her first name was given to her by her brother, after a girl he was fond of as a youngster, while her middle name, "Love", was given to her by her mother after her best friend in college.

As a young girl, Hewitt was attracted to music, which led to her first encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang "The Greatest Love of All" at a livestock show. Just a year after that, at a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of "Help Me Make It Through the Night". By the time she was five, Hewitt already had tap dancing and ballet in her portfolio. At nine, she became a member of the Texas Show Team (which also toured in the Soviet Union). At the age of ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts and winning the title of Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner, she moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing.

Film career

After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials. Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show "Kids Incorporated" (1989–1991), where she was credited as just Love Hewitt. During this time she danced in and sang all the songs for a live action video called "Dance! Workout With Barbie" released by Buena Vista.

In 1993, she played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called "Running Wilde", which featured Brosnan as a reporter for "Auto World" magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures. However, the series wasn't picked up and the pilot never aired. Hewitt later had roles in several short-lived television series, such as Fox's "Shaky Ground" (1992–1993), ABC's "The Byrds of Paradise" (1994), and "McKenna" (1994–1995), and finally became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show "Party of Five" (1995–1999). She assumed the role of Sarah after joining that show during its second season and continued it on the short-lived "Party of Five" spin-off, "Time of Your Life" (1999), which she also co-produced. The show was cancelled after only half a season.

Hewitt made her film debut in the independent film "Munchie" (1992). She became a film star after a lead role in the horror film "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997), which enjoyed great box-office success (125,000,000 U.S. dollars worldwide). The film made Hewitt and her co-stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar some of the most popular young stars in the USA. She also appeared in the sequel "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" (1998), which, though ultimately not as successful as the first film, took in more money on its opening weekend. Other notable film roles have included the high-school comedy "Can't Hardly Wait" (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy "Heartbreakers" (2001).

In 2000, Hewitt appeared in "The Audrey Hepburn Story". That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of thirty-seven. For that reason, Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson, because of her "fresh image", and her being "a symbol of youthfulness and wholesomeness".

In 2001, she appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song, "Hero", as the singer's love interest.

Hewitt wrote "I'm Gonna Love You" for the movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" because, although she was a well-known singer at the time, her character Madellaine was the only character who didn't sing in the movie. The song won an award for Best Song on DVD Awards.

Since September 2005, Hewitt has starred in the television series "Ghost Whisperer". In Australia, "Ghost Whisperer" has been popular since its introduction; in the United States, the show averages 9–11 million viewers for each new episode. Hewitt has also auditioned for many roles. She was asked to play "Juliet" in "Romeo + Juliet", but the director felt she wasn't modern looking. The role went to Claire Danes. She also had to give up the role of "Darlene" in "Brokedown Palace" because of scheduling conflicts. Hewitt also auditioned for the role of "Elektra" in "Daredevil".

Music career

In 1991, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's first album 'Love Songs', when she was just 12. The album was only released in Japan in 1992 where Hewitt became a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better." [ [http://usaweekend.com/98_issues/981122/981122talk.html "Straight Talk"] Jeffrey Zaslow, "USA WEEKEND" November 20-22, 1998]

After she joined the cast of "Party of Five" in 1995, she signed to Atlantic Records, who rushed her first single and second album "Let's Go Bang" out in October. Neither the single nor the album generated much public interest.

Juggling her music career with her acting career, she recorded her follow-up in 1996. The first single, "No Ordinary Love" failed to chart and led to the album doing the same. Atlantic dropped Hewitt, who didn't return to the music scene for 3 years.

In 1999, she recorded the single "How Do I Deal" for the "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" Soundtrack. The song became Hewitt's first charting single by climbing to #59 on the Hot 100 and #36 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also reached #8 in Australia.

In 2002, Hewitt signed to Jive Records and recorded her fourth album with singer/songwriter/producer Meredith Brooks. The first single, "BareNaked", became her biggest radio hit to date when it peaked at #24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, #31 on the Adult Top 40 and #25 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also climbed to #6 in Australia and #33 in the Netherlands. The moderate success of the single propelled her album of the same name to peak at #37 on the Billboard 200 and #31 in Australia. However, it only remained on the chart for 3 weeks. The second single, "Can I Go Now", failed to chart in the US, while managing to peak at #8 in the Netherlands and #12 in Australia.

Since 2003, Hewitt hasn't actively done anything in the music industry, but a compilation called "" was released in Asia.

Hewitt co-wrote and performed two songs for the "If Only" movie soundtrack which in 2004 she starred in. These were 'Love Will Show You Everything' and 'Take My Heart Back'.

Also in 2004 she appeared in the made-for-television musical "A Christmas Carol" in the singing role of Ebenezer Scrooge's fiance Emily.

Personal life

Hewitt is an honorary godparent of the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund. [ [http://audreyhepburn.com/html/childrensfund/directors.html Audrey Hepburn.com: Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund: Board of Directors ] ]

Hewitt began dating Scottish actor Ross McCall in January 2006 after he made an appearance on "Ghost Whisperer". In November 2007, while vacationing in Hawaii, the couple became engaged. [ [http://www.telerate.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN2865348420071129 Jennifer Love Hewitt engaged to be married] ] Some paparazzi photographs secretly taken during this vacation show Hewitt with a slightly higher weight than previously and were subsequently criticized by bloggers. Hewitt responded: "I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized.... What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles." [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/06/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main3583440.shtml Jennifer Love Hewitt Takes On Bloggers] . (December 6, 2007) "CBSNews.com". Accessed 2007-12-08.]

She has also dated singer-guitarist John Mayer, [ [http://starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/06/15/john_mayer_apologizes_to_jennifer_love_h John Mayer Apologizes to Jennifer Love Hewitt] ] talk show host Carson Daly, actor/model Kip Pardue, writer Chris Benson, singer-songwriter Rich Cronin, actor and singer Joey Lawrence, professional kayaker Brad Ludden, and actor Will Friedle.

Magazine listings

Between the years of 1997 and 2008, Hewitt was rated one of the sexiest women in the world by the magazine "FHM", and in 1999 and 2006 by "Maxim" magazine.

FHM

* 91 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(dio13brc0qnkhh45am5b24ue))/collection.aspx?collection=29 (1997)]
* 91 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(wn3sqmns2lmntdv1t0aqfy45))/collection.aspx?collection=30 (1998)]
* 31 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(wwxtt355bebd3sagmviduh3d))/collection.aspx?collection=31 (1999)]
* 13 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(mxvetam1o0d3z455smhoyp45))/collection.aspx?collection=32 (2000)]
* 50 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(ulofol550bn0v555142y5255))/collection.aspx?collection=6 (2001)]
* 13 in "FHM-USA"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(ulofol550bn0v555142y5255))/view.aspx?id=654&collection=6 (2001)]
* 15 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=10486 (2002)]
* 7 in "FHM-USA"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(ulofol550bn0v555142y5255))/view.aspx?id=654&collection=6 (2002)]
* 7 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(nzqqdo55zonltmf5nfo52a45))/collection.aspx?collection=959 (2003)]
* 12 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(1u5tna45haussjjqaa4tfo45))/collection.aspx?collection=2968 (2004)]
* 19 in "FHM"'s 50 Sexiest Women from [http://www.amiannoying.com/(S(vqnh5w450oykzmqsjsdguiqa))/collection.aspx?collection=3712 1995-2004]
* 12 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://uk.entertainment.yahoo.com/office-attachments/girls05.html (2005)]
* 16 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://uk.entertainment.yahoo.com/fhm-100-sexiest/ (2006)]
* 14 in "FHM"'s 100 Sexiest Women In The World [http://www.fhmonline.com/girls_100_sexiest_2007.asp?cnl_id=1&stn_id=136&p=44 (2007)]

Maxim

* 1 in "Maxim"'s Sexiest Women In The World (Reader Voted) (1999)
* 29 in "Maxim"'s Hot 100 List [http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/index.aspx?slideId=1934&imgCollectId=94&src=wiki (2006)]
* 20 in "Maxim"'s Hot 100 list (2008)

TV Guide

* 1 (female) in "TV Guide"'s "Sexiest on TV" (May 5-11, 2008 issue)

Filmography

oundtracks

* From "House Arrest"::* 1996: "It's Good To Know I'm Alive"
* From "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer"::* 1998: "How Do I Deal?"
* From "Disney's Superstars Hits"::* 2002: "I'm Gonna Love You"
* From "If Only"::* 2003: "Love Will Show You Everything", "Take My Heart Back"

Awards

References

External links

* [http://www.jenniferlovehewittonline.com/ Official Jennifer Love Hewitt website]
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Persondata
NAME= Hewitt, Jennifer Love
SHORT DESCRIPTION= actress, singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH= 1979-02-21
PLACE OF BIRTH= Waco, Texas, U.S.A.