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Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas to Herbert Daniel Hewitt and
Patricia Mae Shipp (who are of mostly English descent). Her
father is a technician and her mother worked as a speech
pathologist. Hewitt grew up in Killeen, Texas. Her first name
was given to her by her brother, after a girl of whom he was
fond as a youngster, while her middle name, "Love", was given to
her by her mother after her best friend in college. After the
divorce of her parents, Hewitt was brought up by her mother.
Along with her mother, she lived with her only sibling, Todd
Hewitt.
As a young girl, Jennifer Love 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" by Whitney Houston 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.
After moving to Los Angeles, Jennifer Love 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). In 1992, 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 spinoff, Time of Your Life (1999). Hewitt was also one of
the producers, but the show was cancelled after only half a
season.
Jennifer Love Hewitt 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 appeal (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 played
in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).
Other notable film roles included the high-school comedy Can't
Hardly Wait (1998). She starred with Sigourney Weaver in the
romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001), which also featured Gene
Hackman, Jason Lee, and Ray Liotta.
In 2000, Jennifer Love 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 2002, she
was paired with Jackie Chan in the action comedy The Tuxedo.
Since September 2005, Jennifer has starred in the television
series Ghost Whisperer. In Australia, Ghost Whisperer has been
popular since its introduction; in the United States, it is the
highest rated show on Friday nights.
To date, Jennifer Love Hewitt has released four albums with some
success, most notably outside the United States in regions such
as Europe and Japan. In Japan, as a result of her success in
music there, she is widely considered a pop star. Japan is also
where Hewitt's first album was released. Her explanation for her
success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The
poppier the music, the better."
In March 2005, Jennifer Love Hewitt was featured in Maxim
magazine and their Girls of Maxim gallery. In May 2006, the
magazine named her #29 in their Hot 100 list.
Awards
Film List
Television List
Production credits
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