Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, there is no arguing that this Hollywood star is one class act. Reese Witherspoon got her first taste of acting at age seven when she was selected as a model for a florist’s TV ad and began taking acting lessons. After graduating from the all-girls’ Harpeth Hall School in Tennessee, she attended Stanford University before leaving to pursue a career in acting.

Her big-screen debut will never be forgotten as the 14-year-old Dani on The Man in the Moon. She attended an open casting call with some friends and landed the lead role that launched her career.

She continued to act in cable and TV movies, as well as TV series, then began to shine in movie roles while garnering several awards, establishing a production company, and advocating the causes she passionately supports.

Now 33 years old, raising two children, and in a seemingly promising relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, this Sweet Home Alabama and Walk the Line actress (and Oscar winner!) is destined to be one of the best-known actresses in Tinseltown.

[Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images]

Reese Witherspoon definitely doesn’t lack style! What’s your favorite Reese look?

Young Christopher Maurice Brown is used to being in the spotlight for his singing and Michael Jackson-like dance moves, but the recent incident involving R&B singer girlfriend Rihanna has stopped many from singing his praises.

Born in 1989 in Tappahannock, Virginia, Chris’ talents were apparent at an early age. Dancing and singing for the church choir by age two, by age 13 he was discovered by a local production team searching for new talent when they visited Chris’ father’s gas station. He signed with Jive Records, thanks to an ex-Def Jam Recordings executive who became his manager. By 2005, Chris left school to work on his debut album, which hit #2 on the Billboard 2000.

Several hits and three albums under his belt, his collaboration with major stars combined with his mega-talent has kept him at the top of the R&B game for the last three years. Let’s hope that he gets the help he needs to keep him in the headlines for his true talent: singing and dancing.

Have you forbidden your children to listen to Chris Brown’s music in light of this recent incident?

[Photo by Gemma Mary from Gympie, Australia]

With a hosting career only held longer by Johnny Carson, David Letterman has been synonymous with late night TV. He graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana from the Department of Radio and Television but began his career as a newscaster and announcer at the college’s radio station.

Upon graduation, he realized his true passion was for television. His gig as the host of an Indianapolis radio talk show station was followed by his job as a local anchor and weatherman on his first TV appearance, which quickly brought him recognition for his unpredictable on-air behavior.

After moving to Los Angeles with the goal of becoming a comedy writer, he worked writing material for the show Good Times, appearing on stage at The Comedy Store, and made a brief appearance on the Starland Vocal Band Show. Several appearances on various other shows led to his regular guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Eventually, he earned his own morning comedy show, which led to his long-running Late Night with David Letterman program, which still airs today.

This hot star waited until college to aim his sights on Hollywood, but if you’re sure your cute kid has a funny bone that will get him places, embrace it! He or she could be the next David Letterman!

[photo: SSGT REYNALDO RAMON, USAF]

What’s your favorite Late Night skit on Letterman’s show?

English actress Natasha (Redgrave) Richardson was born in 1963 into what was considered a “theatrical and film acting dynasty.” With an actress mother and a producer father, her film debut was at age four in The Charge of the Light Brigade, directed by her father.

It wasn’t until 1984 when she became active in acting, taking roles in television, film, and theatre in both England and the United States. During her career, she was awarded the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress (1990 & 2005) and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival award for Best Actress (1994).

Perhaps acting was just in her blood, but there is no doubt that this star of movies such as The Comfort of Strangers, Nell, and The Parent Trap had her life cut too short. She is survived by her husband Liam Neeson and their two sons.

What was your favorite Natasha Richardson movie role?

[Photo by: Khedara Ariyaratne; early photo: © Bettmann/CORBIS]

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This 2009 Best Actor Academy Award winner is known more for his career than for his marriage to Madonna, rough relationship with the paparazzi, and outspoken political views. Born to a director father and an actress mother, Sean Penn was destined for showbiz.

Penn’s first appearance in front of the camera was at age 12 in an episode of Little House on the Prairie that his father Leo Penn was directing. After growing up in Los Angeles, California, and graduating from Santa Monica High School (where he shared the campus with fellow schoolmates Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, and Rob Lowe), Penn followed his passion for acting to New York. He quickly landed a role in a Broadway play, Heartland, but it was 1981 that marked the true beginning of his career with the movie Taps. A year later, his breakthrough role as Jeff Spicoli in the comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High truly aimed his star at Hollywood greatness.

Five Oscar nominations in the Best Leading Actor category and two wins later, Penn is proving that Tinseltown hasn’t seen the last of him yet!

How important do you feel formal training is in the success of YOUR cute kid?

[Photo: HO/AMPAS]

Photo by Lisa Ros/JPI

Heath Ledger’s life was cut short at age 28 by an accidental overdose of prescription medication. But his professional accomplishments live on.

Born and raised in Western Australia, Ledger had his first taste of acting at 10 years old in a school production of Peter Pan. At age 16, he left school to pursue acting, gaining a small role on a two-part television series and eventually leading to other television acting jobs. His first big-screen appearance was in 1997 in the Australian movie Blackrock, which eventually landed him in several Hollywood movie such as 10 things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain.

In his short life, Ledger earned several awards for his talent, most recently winning an Oscar for Actor in a Supporting Role at the 2009 Academy Awards for his role as The Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. Ledger proved that, even after death, all Hollywood stars aren’t born stateside!

This week’s news released the word that Sleepless in Seattle, one of Meg Ryan’s most notable movies, will be hitting the Broadway stage in 2010. The mother of two has chosen many roles in Tinseltown, but Sleepless gifted her with one of those unforgettable roles that endeared her to a wide audience.

She was born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra on November 19, 1961, in Fairfield, Connecticut, to a former actress mother and a math teacher father. Encouraged to pursue the study of acting, this big-screen beauty majored in journalism at New York University. Her 1981 acting debut under the screen name “Meg Ryan” helped her earn money through college, starring in the film Rich and Famous. Her television run from 1982-1985 found her in roles in  series like As the World Turns, One of the Boys, and Wildside.

Her return to the big screen starred Ryan as the wife of “Goose” in 1986’s Top Gun, but it was her starring role in When Harry Met Sally that sent her shooting up to Hollywood stardom. Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid in 1991 and gave birth to son Jack Henry in 1992, yet the blonde babe still managed to find time to earn a nomination for the Golden Globe for her role in Sleepless in Seattle (1993). Eventually divorced from Quaid and now also mom to adopted Daisy True, Ryan is sure to continue to basque in the limelight for years to come.

What’s your favorite Meg Ryan character?

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images North America]

The Jonas Brothers began as a solo act when youngest band member Nick was referred to a talent agent at age six and started singing in a barber shop. By age seven, Nick made his way to Broadway, where his first hit was launched and he was signed by INO Records.

As Nick worked on his solo project, his brother Joe followed his path to Broadway. Columbia Records execs soon came across the track that made Nick get noticed and signed him jointly with INO Records and Columbia Records.

In 2005, the new Columbia Records president decided he did not like Nick’s album, but liked his voice. He then met with Nick and heard a new song, performed by the three brothers, and signed them as a group.

Since releasing three albums, switching record labels, recording for Disney, and starring in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock, their star continues to rise together as these three young brothers hit the 3-D big screen with their concert flick last week.

Do you have more than one offspring with talent? The youngest Jonas Brother may have paved the way for this band with the 17-and-under following, but the brotherly band is unique enough to gain notice as a whole!

What do The Jonas Brothers fans in your household think of the band’s new movie release?

[photos from insider.com and fanpop.com]

Director/actor Kevin Smith must know which buttons to push to stay in the limelight. The posters for Kevin’s latest project to hit video stores, Zack and Miri, may have been deemed inappropriate by the MPAA, but there’s something about his crude humor I am not afraid to admit I like.

On August 2, 1970, Kevin Patrick Smith was born in Red Bank, New Jersey and raised there. After attending The New School for Social Research in New York and the Vancouver Film School, majoring in film, he dropped out halfway through in order to take part of his tuition reimbursement to finance his first film. He then made his directing and acting debut in the movie Clerks in 1994, inspiring a sort of cult following with subsequent movies such as Chasing Amy (1997) and, my personal favorite, Jersey Girl (2004). He now enjoys parenthood raising his daughter Harley Quinn with wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, enjoying his time in the limelight with the occasional controversy over his edgy movies.

[Photo: Kevin Smith at the premiere of Superbad, held at the Mann Chinese Theater, Hollywood, California]

Dropping out of school may have worked for Kevin Smith, but is it luck or talent? What do you think?

Before there was bling, there was Angie’s life in Los Angeles. Born in 1975 to actor father Jon Voight, she later trained for her craft at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she also got her taste for the stage.

From student to professional model to film star to sexy music video siren, her studies took her from New York University for film studies to the Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles while her growing career took her from London to L.A. and New York. It’s no wonder this Jet-setting mommy is used to bouncing ‘round the globe!

The mid ’90s boosted Angelina’s career with on-screen successes and made-for-TV movies, which earned her a Golden Globe award, Emmy nomination, and a SAG award. But, the roles that took her to true star status were big-screen movies The Bone Collector (1999) and Girl, Interrupted (1999).

Two divorces, a public estrangement from her father, and six children later, Angelina still keeps the paparazzi’s attention week after week. Whether you are of the opinion that her stardom is talent-based or simply based on her extreme choices, there’s no doubt that she’s not leaving the limelight anytime soon.

Do you think Angelina is a good mother?