Jennifer Love Hewitt

May 31, 7:59 PMCelebrity Profile ExaminerAndy Williamson

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JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

If Hollywood gave out awards for cuteness, perkiness, and internet downloads (not to mention hourglass figures), Jennifer Love Hewitt would have run out of room for them by now.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was born on February 21st, 1979 in Waco, Texas.  She is the daughter of Patricia Mae Shipp (a speech/language pathologist) and Herbert Hewitt (a medial technician).  After her parents divorced when she was six months old, Jennifer and her older brother Todd were raised by their mother in Nolanville, Texas.  As for her moniker, “Jennifer” was selected by her brother (he had a crush on a girl named Jennifer at the time), and “Love” (which she goes by in real life) was picked by her mother since her college roommate was so named.

Always a musical child, Love (as I will now refer to her) was singing publicly by the age of three.  By five, she added tap dancing and ballet to her repertoire.  By age nine, Love was accepted as part of the international touring group The Texas Show Team.  By ten, after winning several talent contests, Love and her mother moved to Los Angeles to further the budding young star’s career.  Love attended Lincoln High School -- one of her schoolmates was Jonathan Neville, who in later years, as a talent scout, would recommend Love for a part on the TV series Party of Five.

Once in L.A., work came fairly quickly.  Love’s first television appearance was on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989 - 1991) where her name was listed as simply Love Hewitt.  She made her film debut in 1993’s Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.  Also during this time, the young actress appeared in over twenty TV commercials.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

In the early 90s, Love was cast in a number of pilots and short-lived series, including Shaky Ground (‘92 - ‘93), The Byrds of Paradise (‘94), and McKenna (‘94 - ‘95).  Then, in the fall of 1996, Love got the role that finally brought her to prominence -- Sarah Reeves on the second season of Fox-TV’s Party of Five (‘95 - ‘99).  When that show was on hiatus, Love appeared in the films House Arrest (1996), Trojan War (1997), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Can’t Hardly Wait (1998), and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998).  When Party of Five ended, Love starred in a spin-off, Time of Your Life, where her character moved to New York to seek her father.  The show was canceled after only half a season.

Despite that disappointment, Love never lacked for work.  Neutrogena and Nokia offered the fresh-faced star lucrative deals to become their spokeswoman.  In 2000, she co-produced and starred in The Audrey Hepburn Story for ABC-TV.  In 2001, she appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song Hero.

More feature films followed, including Heartbreakers (2001), The Tuxedo (2002), The Truth About Love (2004), If Only (2004), The Devil and Daniel Webster (2004 - aka Shortcut to Happiness, where Love played the Devil), Garfield (2004), Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber (2005), and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (2006).

Since 2005, Love has starred in the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer -- she plays Melinda Gordon, a young woman who can see and communicate with earthbound spirits.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT

Throughout her acting career, Love has never forgotten her passion for music.  Over the years she has released a number of albums, including Love Songs (1992), Let’s Go Bang (1995), Jennifer Love Hewitt (1996), Bare Naked (2002), Cool With You: The Platinum Collection (2006), and Hey Everybody (2007).  Though a few of her songs have charted, her singing career shows no signs thus far of eclipsing her vocation as an actress.

Romantically, Love has been linked to musician John Mayer, talk show host Carson Daly, actor Kip Pardue, writer Chris Benson, actor Joey Lawrence, and singer Enrique Iglesias.  In 2007, Love was engaged to Scottish actor Ross McCall -- however, in January 2009, the actress called it off.  She is currently dating actor and comedian Jamie Kennedy.

Whatever lies ahead for the lovely actress, she will no doubt continue to inspire, charm, and enchant her legions of fans.

Jennifer Love Hewitt Quotes:

Regarding her oft-commented upon breasts: "I just accepted them as a great accessory to every outfit.”

"When I came to Los Angeles, it was the first time that I ever felt like I belonged somewhere.  Not because it was wacky, but because people here understood what I felt like to perform, and there were other kids my age who wanted to do it.  I didn't get looked at as, 'God, you freak.’ “

"We had this joke on the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer.  All the girls wore tiny tops, so we called it 'I Know What Your Breasts Did Last Summer.' "

"I would just love once to be called sexy.  Just because it would make me something other than cute."