'''Ashley Judd''' (born '''Ashley Tyler Ciminella''' on April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her leading roles in a series of late 1990s and early 2000s thrillers, including ''
Kiss the Girls'', ''
Double Jeopardy'' and ''
High Crimes''.
Biography
Early life
Judd was born in Granada Hills, California to Michael Ciminella, Jr., an Italian American marketing analyst for the horseracing industry, and Naomi Judd, a well-known country music singer; she has a half-sister, Wynonna Judd, who is a country music superstar. At the time of her birth, her mother was working as a nurse, and had only become well-known as a singer along with her daughter Wynonna in the late 1970s. Judd's parents divorced in 1972, and in 1974, her mother took her back to her own native Kentucky, where Judd grew up in poverty, as the family sometimes lived without running water, electricity, or a telephone.http://www.askmen.com/women/actress/7_ashley_judd.html
Judd was raised in her mother's Baptist religion, and attended twelve schools before college. She was a sister of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and is a Phi Beta Kappa alumna of the University of Kentucky, where she majored in French and minored in anthropology, art history, theater, and women’s studies. She did not graduate with her class
[Newman, Judith. “We are Family” ''Ladies’ Home Journal''. March 1998. Pages 152–155, 213–214.], leaving university early to drive cross-country in pursuit of an acting career in Hollywood, where she studied with well-respected acting teacher, Robert Carnegie, at the Playhouse West. During this time, she worked as a waitress at “The Ivy” restaurant.
Career
Judd began acting on television, and appeared as Ensign Robin Lefler, a Starfleet officer, in a 1991 episode of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. From 1991 to 1994 she had a reoccurring role as Reed, the daughter of Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), on the NBC drama ''Sisters''. She made her feature film debut in 1992's ''
Kuffs'', and had the starring role in 1993's independent film, ''
Ruby in Paradise'', for which she received good reviews. She also had a role in the 1994 Oliver Stone film ''Natural Born Killers'', but her scenes were cut from the final print. She gained further critical acclaim for her role in 1995's ''
Smoke'' and ''
Heat''. She also played the role of Callie in Philip Ridley's dark, adult fairy-tale The Passion Of Darkly Noon.
By the end of the 1990s, Judd had managed to achieve significant fame and success as a leading actress, after leading roles in several thrillers that performed well at the box office, including ''
Kiss the Girls'' in 1997 and 1999's
