Renée Zellweger

Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress, producer and voice artist. She won two Academy Awards for her role in the movie Cold Mountain and as Judy Garland in Judy. She has acted in many movies, including Jerry Maguire, Bridget Jones's Diary, Chicago and Cinderella Man.

Early life
Zellweger was born in Katy, Texas. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is from a small town in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and is a mechanical and electrical engineer who worked in the oil refining business. Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (née Andreassen), a native of Norway, is of Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and possible Sami, ancestry. Kjellfrid grew up in Kirkenes and Ekkerøy, and is a nurse and midwife who moved to the United States to work as a governess for a Norwegian family in Texas. Zellweger has described herself as being raised in a family of "lazy Catholics and Episcopalians". Zellweger took acting classes because she wanted to make certain she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a literature degree.

Acting career
Zellweger appeared in many television shows, for example A Taste for Killing and Shake, Rattle and Rock. Her first part in a movie was in Dazed and Confused followed by Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites.

Movies

 * Cinderella Man (2005)
 * Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
 * Shark Tale (2004)
 * Cold Mountain (2003)
 * Down with Love (2003)
 * Chicago (2002)
 * White Oleander (2002)
 * Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
 * Nurse Betty (2000)
 * Me, Myself and Irene (2000)
 * The Bachelor (1999)
 * One True Thing (1998)
 * Jerry Maguire (1996)
 * Empire Records (1995)
 * Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1994)

Awards

 * Academy Awards
 * Best Supporting Actress: Cold Mountain (2004)


 * Golden Globe Awards
 * Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Cold Mountain (2004)
 * Best Performance by an Actress-Comedy/Musical: Chicago (2003)
 * Best Performance by an Actress-Comedy/Musical: Nurse Betty (2001)