Ashley Judd is an actress who has appeared in the leading role of several recent thriller genre movies. Her most famous roles were in the films "Kiss the Girls", "Double Jeopardy" and "High Crimes", but she has also appeared in many supporting roles and has worked as a television actress.
Ashley Judd was born in Granada Hills, California on April 19, 1968. Her half-sister Wynonna Judd, is a well known country music singer, as is her mother Naomi Judd. Ashley Judd's parents divorced when she was six, and she lived a poor existence in Kentucky. During high school, Ashley Judd tried working as a model in Japan during breaks. She went to the University of Kentucky where she majored in French, but left before graduation to try to become a Hollywood actress.
In Hollywood, she worked as a waitress as she started a television acting career. Shows that she appeared on during this early period included "Sisters" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Among the film roles that she obtained in the early nineties was an appearance in "Natural Born Killers" which was cut before the film was released. She received good reviews for a number of moderately successful films such as "Ruby in Paradise" and "Smoke and Heat", before finding greater success in the lead of hit thrillers like 1997's "Kiss the Girls" and "Double Jeopardy" in 1999.
As of early 2007, Ashley Judd continues to work frequently as a film actress. While her recent films have received mixed reviews, 2002's "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and 2004's "De-Lovely" were moderately successful. Other movies that she has recently appeared in include "Frida", "High Crimes", "Twisted", "Come Early Morning" and "Bug". She is married to race car driver Dario Franchitti as of late 1999 and lives between Scotland, Tennessee and Manhattan when not filming.