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Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21 1979) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is well-known for her television and film roles in the Fox television series Party of Five, as Sarah Reeves, and also starred in I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, as Julie James. Hewitt can currently be seen on the CBS television series Ghost Whisperer, as Melinda Gordon, a young newlywed who communicates with 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. 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, 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). 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, but the series wasn't picked up and the pilot never aired. She later played on television in several short-lived series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992 – 1993), ABC's Byrds of Paradise (1994), and McKenna (1994 – 1995). Finally, Hewitt became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show Party of Five (1995 – 1999), joining the cast during its second season. She continued the same role in the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999). Hewitt was also one of the producers, but the show was cancelled after only half a season.

She made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). Hewitt became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). The film had great box-office success (125,000,000 U.S. dollars worldwide), and Hewitt became one of the most popular young stars in the USA (together with her co-stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar). She also appeared in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which was not as successful as the first film but brought in more money than the first on its opening weekend. Other notable film roles 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 lost the role of "Juliet" in Romeo + Juliet to Claire Danes at the last moment. 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.

Hewitt confirmed that she would not pose nude or do nude scenes in movies.

Music career

In 1991, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's first album, 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."

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. The 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 only managing to peak at #12 in Australia.

Since 2003, Hewitt hasn't actively done anything in the music industry, but a compilation called Cool with You: The Platinum Collection was released in Asia.

Personal life

Hewitt is an honorary godparent of the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

Hewitt began dating Scottish actor Ross McCall in January 2006 after he made an appearance on Ghost Whisperer. In November 2007, while on vacation in Hawaii, they became engaged. Some paparazzi shots during this vacation were 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."

She has also dated singer-guitarist John Mayer, talk show host Carson Daly, actor/model Kip Pardue, singer-songwriter Rich Cronin, internet executive James Lyon and actor Will Friedle.

Polls and honors

Hewitt is widely considered one of the most beautiful women of the past ten years. The following results in several contests illustrate this:

• 91 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1997)
• 91 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1998)
• 31 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (1999)
• 1 in Maxim's Sexiest Women In The World (1999)
• 13 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2000)
• 50 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2001)
• 15 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2002)
• 7 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2003)
• 12 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2004)
• 19 in FHM's 50 Sexiest Women from 1995-2004
• 12 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2005)
• 16 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2006)
• 29 in Maxim's Hot 100 List (2006)
• 14 in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World (2007)

Awards

• Blockbuster Entertainment Award — Favorite Female Newcomer (I Know What You Did Last Summer) (1998)
• Blockbuster Entertainment Award — Favorite Actress (I Know What You Did Last Summer) (1998)
• Teen Choice Award — Choice TV Actress (Party of Five) (1999)
• Teen Choice Award — Movie Actress Of The Year (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) (1999)
• Teen Choice Award — Female Hottie Of The Year (1999)
• People's Choice Award — Favorite Female Television Performer in a New Series (Time of Your Life) (2000)
• DVD Awards — Best Song from an Animated Movie (I'm Gonna Love You from Hunchback of Notre Dam 2 Soundtrack) (2003)
• Kid's Choice Award — Favorite Female Buttkicker (The Tuxedo) (2003)
• Family TV Awards — Favorite Female Actress (Ghost Whisperer) (2006)
• US Hot Hollywood Awards — Hottest Body Style (2007)
• Saturn Awards — Best TV Actress (Ghost Whisperer) (2007)
• Lake Arrowhead Film Festival — Humanitarian Award (2007)

Filmography

• Munchie (1992)
• Little Miss Millions (1993)
• Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
• House Arrest (1996)
• Trojan War (1997)
• I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
• Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
• Telling You (1998)
• I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
• The Suburbans (1999)
• Heartbreakers (2001)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002) (direct-to-video) (voice)
• The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina (2002) (direct-to-video) (voice)
• The Tuxedo (2002)
• The Truth About Love (2004)
• If Only (2004)
• Garfield (2004)
• Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
• Shortcut to Happiness (2007)
• Delgo (2007) (voice)

Upcoming:

• She Had Brains, a Body, and the Ability to Make Men Love Her (2008)

Television work

• Dance! Workout with Barbie
• Kids Incorporated (cast member from 1989-1991)
• Running Wilde (1992) (unsold pilot)
• Shaky Ground (1992-1993)
• The Byrds of Paradise (1994) (canceled after 13 episodes)
• McKenna (1994-1995)
• Party of Five (cast member from 1995-1999)
• Boy Meets World (Feb 27, 1998) episode "And Then There Was Shawn"
• Time of Your Life (1999-2000)
• Disney's Hercules (1999) Medusa
• The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
• Family Guy (Jan. 31, 2002) episode "Stuck Together, Torn Apart"
• A Christmas Carol (2004)
• In the Game (2004) (1st unsold pilot)
• In the Game (2005) (2nd unsold pilot)
• Ghost Whisperer (2005 - present)
• Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber (2005)
• Family Guy (2007) As herself

Upcoming:

• Angry Little Girls (set to air in 2008) (voice)
• 24 (set to air in 2008) (Julie Campbell)

Commercials

In 2005, Hewitt appeared in a Hanes advertising campaign titled "Look who we've got our Hanes on now". The campaign also featured other celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Cuba Gooding Jr., Marisa Tomei, Damon Wayans, Kevin Bacon, Hugh Hefner, Matthew Perry, and on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arambula, and Pablo Montero. In 2006, the campaign added Christina Applegate to their lineup.

Hewitt has appeared in a "Don't Mess With Texas" commercial. This commercial also features fellow Texans: Matthew McConaughey, Los Lonely Boys, LeeAnn Womack, Lance Armstrong, Owen Wilson, and Erykah Badu. Dallas Cowboys running back Julius Jones, Chuck Norris (star of Walker Texas Ranger), and Janine Turner are also seen in the DMWT commercial.

She also appears in a commercial for Rodan & Fields acne medication Proactiv.

Production credits

• Time of Your Life (1999)
• The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
• Bunny (2000)
• Ghost Whisperer (2005)

Discography

Albums

• NR indicates the album was not released in that country.

Singles

• The single failed to enter the Hot 100 but peaked at #24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Chart.
• Hey Everybody was just released as a promo single in Brazil, in order to promote the same name Brazilian "besf of" album by Jennifer.

Soundtracks

• 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"

References

1. Jennifer Love Hewitt's 'Ghost' (September 21, 2005). CBSNews.com. Accessed 2007-12-08.
2. http://filmreference.com/film/59/Jennifer-Love-Hewitt.html
3. http://www.toxicmagazine.com/?p=512 Jennifer Love Hewitt will not do nude scenes.
4. "Straight Talk" Jeffrey Zaslow, USA WEEKEND November 20-22, 1998
5. http://audreyhepburn.com/html/childrensfund/directors.html
6. Jennifer Love Hewitt engaged to be married
7. Jennifer Love Hewitt Takes On Bloggers. (December 6, 2007) CBSNews.com. Accessed 2007-12-08.
8. John Mayer Apologizes to Jennifer Love Hewitt
9. "Australian BareNaked chart positions". Australian-charts. Retrieved June 29 2007.

External links

• Official Jennifer Love Hewitt website
• Jennifer Love Hewitt Bio at CBS - Ghost Whisperer
• Jennifer Love Hewitt at IMDb
• Jennifer Love Hewitt interview
• Template:Tvtome person
• Jennifer vacationing with her fiancé

Template:Persondata

• 1979 births
• American actor-singers
• American child actors
• American female singers
• American film actors
• American television actors
• Living people
• People from the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas area
• People from Waco, Texas
• Texas actors
• Texas musicians