BIOGRAPHY
Renée Zellweger, was the second of two children born to a Swiss fathter and a Norwegian mother. She and her brother, Andrew (who lives in Dallas), were the first American-born Zellwegers, which provided her with an excuse to those who wanted her to change her name. She was born on April 25, 1969. In 1987, she graduated from Katy High School in Katy, TX, a small town just outside of Houston, where she was a cheerleader, gymnast and actress in many Drama Club productions ("She was in several of our shows and she was good.", drama teacher Rachel Smith remembers. "This [her success] doesn't surprise me."). She went to college at the University of Texas at Austin, where she received a B.A. in English. We assume that she was there from the fall of 1987 to the spring of 1991. She apparently did exceptionally well, making the Dean's List several times. She took a theatre class to fulfill a fine arts requirement, and was struck with the acting bug ("It reminded me how much I loved acting", she says.). She received her first film role, a non-speaking one, in Richard Linklater's 'Dazed and Confused' before auditioning for 'The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (shot in Austin, about to be released for the first time as 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre-The New Generation') against the advice of a friend. She starred in a few local commercials and had bit parts in films such as 'Reality Bites' (shot in Houston) and '8 Seconds' (San Antonio) before starring in the independent film 'Love and a .45' and making her way into Hollywood. In 1994, she moved to Beverly Hills, where she still lives (Although she says, "I really call Austin [TX] home. I go whenever I can. I love it and miss it."). She has an apartment there with her dog, Dylan (sometimes cited as Woof), a collie-golden retriever mix. For several years she had a boyfriend - an actor she declines to name - in and out of her place. But that ended over a year ago ("I got my heart broken, stomped," she says.). She is currently tied to Josh Pate, who, with his twin brother Jonas, directs Renée in 'Deceiver', released in January 1998. She starred in 'Empire Records' and was chosen to star in 'The Whole Wide World' (also shot in the Austin area). This role opened the door for her role in 'Jerry Maguire', a film which passed over Winona Ryder, Mira Sorvino, Marisa Tomei and Bridget Fonda for the then-unknown Renée. Her performance as Dorothy Boyd won her unanimous critical praise and introduced her to a legion of adoring fans. She has been honored with a SAG nomination for 'Jerry Maguire', and Independent Spirit Award nomination for 'The Whole Wide World', but was unfairly denied an Academy Award nomination for either film. She has been seen most recently in 'Deceiver' with Chris Penn and Tim Roth, in which she plays a prostitute who gets murdered, and the controversial independent drama 'A Price Above Rubies' about a Hasidic Jew woman who has a scandalous affair with a Latin lover. She is currently shooting 'One True Thing', based on Anna Quinlen's best-selling book, with Oscar-winners Meryl Streep and William Hurt as her parents. You can rent her 'Jerry Maguire', 'The Whole Wide World', 'Empire Records', 'Love and a .45', 'The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (now 'Texas Chiansaw Massacre: The Next Generation'), 'Reality Bites', 'Dazed and Confused', '8 Seconds', 'The Low Life' and 'My Boyfriend's Back'.
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