Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated. She rose to fame in teenage popular culture via her roles in the Fox series Party of Five, as Sarah Reeves, and the films I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, as Julie James.
As a singer, Hewitt has been signed by Atlantic Records and Jive Records. She is primarily known for her recordings in the pop genre and has a contralto vocal range. To date, her most successful single is the 2002 release "BareNaked", and the album of the same title landed at #37 on the Billboard 200. In addition, she has contributed music to the promotion or soundtracks of acting projects.
Hewitt's physical appearance has been the subject of much media attention throughout her career. Named the sexiest woman in the world in 1999[4] and the sexiest woman on television in 2008, she has been repeatedly honored by publications such as Maxim, TV Guide, FHM, and numerous readers of these periodicals. In 2007, paparazzi photos of Hewitt on a beach led to a much-publicized matter in which she defended her weight, and was supported by other celebrities. These incidents received coverage from People magazine.
In addition to acting, Hewitt has also served as a producer on certain film or television projects. She can be seen on the CBS television program Ghost Whisperer as Melinda Gordon, a young woman who can communicate with ghosts.
Early life and career
Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, the daughter of Patricia Mae (née Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician. Hewitt grew up in Nolanville, Texas; after the divorce of her parents, Hewitt and her older brother, Todd Hewitt, were brought up by her mother. Her first name was given to her by her brother, after a girl he was fond of as a youngster, while her middle name, "Love", was given to her by her mother after her best friend in college.
As a young girl, Hewitt was attracted to music, which led to her first encounters with the entertainment industry. At the age of three, she sang "The Greatest Love of All" at a livestock show. Just a year after that, at a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of "Help Me Make It Through the Night". By the time she was five, Hewitt already had tap dancing and ballet in her portfolio. At nine, she became a member of the Texas Show Team (which also toured in the Soviet Union). At the age of ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts and winning the title of Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner, she moved to Los Angeles, California, with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing. In Los Angeles, Hewitt attended Lincoln High School where her classmates included Jonathan Neville, who later became a talent scout and recommended Hewitt for her role in Party of Five. She was also a girl scout.
Film career
After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials. Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989–1991), where she was credited as just Love Hewitt. During this time she danced in and sang all the songs for a live action video called Dance! Workout With Barbie released by Buena Vista.
In 1993, she played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde, which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures. However, the series wasn't picked up and the pilot never aired. Hewitt later had roles in several short-lived television series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992–1993), ABC's The Byrds of Paradise (1994), and McKenna (1994–1995), and finally became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show Party of Five (1995–1999). She assumed the role of Sarah after joining that show during its second season and continued it on the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999), which she also co-produced. The show was cancelled after only half a season.
Hewitt made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). She became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), which enjoyed great box-office success (125,000,000 U.S. dollars worldwide). The film made Hewitt and her co-stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar some of the most popular young stars in the USA. She also appeared in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which, though ultimately not as successful as the first film, took in more money on its opening weekend. Other notable film roles have included the high-school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001).
In 2000, Hewitt appeared in The Audrey Hepburn Story. That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of thirty-seven. For that reason, Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson, because of her "fresh image", and her being "a symbol of youthfulness and wholesomeness".
In 2001, she appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song, "Hero", as the singer's love interest.
Hewitt wrote "I'm Gonna Love You" for the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame II because, although she was a well-known singer at the time, her character Madellaine was the only character who didn't sing in the movie. The song won an award for Best Song on DVD Awards.
Since September 2005, Hewitt has starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer. In Australia, Ghost Whisperer has been popular since its introduction; in the United States, the show averages 9–11 million viewers for each new episode. Hewitt has also auditioned for many roles. She was asked to play Juliet in Romeo + Juliet, but the director felt she wasn't modern looking. The role went to Claire Danes. She also had to give up the role of Darlene in Brokedown Palace because of scheduling conflicts.
Music career
In 1991, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's first album Love Songs, when she was just 12. The album was only released in Japan in 1992 where Hewitt became a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."
After she joined the cast of Party of Five in 1995, she signed to Atlantic Records, who rushed her first single and second album, Let's Go Bang, out in October.
Juggling her music career with her acting career, she recorded her follow-up in 1996. The first single, "No Ordinary Love", failed to chart and led to the album doing the same. Atlantic dropped Hewitt, who didn't return to the music scene for 3 years.
In 1999, she recorded the single "How Do I Deal" for the I Still Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack. The song became Hewitt's first charting single by climbing to #59 on the Hot 100 and #36 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also reached #8 in Australia.
In 2002, Hewitt signed to Jive Records and recorded her fourth album with singer/songwriter/producer Meredith Brooks. The first single, "BareNaked", became her biggest radio hit to date when it peaked at #24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, #31 on the Adult Top 40 and #25 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It also climbed to #6 in Australia and #33 in the Netherlands. The moderate success of the single propelled her album of the same name to peak at #37 on the Billboard 200 and #31 in Australia. However, it only remained on the chart for 3 weeks. The second single, "Can I Go Now", failed to chart in the US, while managing to peak at #8 in the Netherlands and #12 in Australia.
Since 2003, Hewitt hasn't actively done anything in the music industry, but a compilation called Cool with You: The Platinum Collection was released in Asia.
In addition to starring in the 2004 film If Only, Hewitt also co-wrote and performed two songs for its soundtrack: "Love Will Show You Everything" and "Take My Heart Back".
She also appeared in the 2004 made-for-television musical A Christmas Carol, performing the singing role of Ebenezer Scrooge's fiance Emily.
Personal life
Hewitt is an honorary godparent of the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.
She has dated singer-guitarist John Mayer, talk show host Carson Daly, actor/model Kip Pardue, writer Chris Benson, singer-songwriter Rich Cronin, actor and singer Joey Lawrence, professional kayaker Brad Ludden, actor Will Friedle, and singer Enrique Iglesias.
Hewitt was engaged to Scottish actor Ross McCall, who she met when he made an appearance on Ghost Whisperer. After a year of dating, they became engaged In November 2007, while vacationing in Hawaii. Paparazzi photographs secretly taken of Hewitt on vacation in a bikini led to harsh criticism of her body by bloggers. Hewitt responded: "I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized.... What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles."
On January 5, 2009, People magazine reported that Hewitt and McCall have called off their engagement.
On Ryan Seacrest's radio show (March 13, 2009) Jamie Kennedy confirmed that he and Hewitt were dating and he was "...madly in love with her.
Stalking
In 2002, conspiracy theorist and former social worker Diana Napolis was arrested for stalking and uttering death threats against Hewitt after "verbally confronting" the actress at the 2002 Grammy Awards, and the subsequent day attempted to pose as a friend to enter the premiere of The Tuxedo. Napolis also admitted to becoming involved in a shoving match with Hewitt's mother while confronting the actress. Napolis accused Hewitt, along with director Steven Spielberg, of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a Satanic conspiracy against her. Napolis was charged with six felonies related to the incidents pleading guilty after a year of involuntary commitment and released on bail with a condition that she was barred from contact with both Spielberg and Hewitt.
Television work
* Dance! Workout with Barbie
* Kids Incorporated (cast member from 1989–1991)
* Running Wilde (1992) (unsold pilot)
* Shaky Ground (1992–1993)
* The Byrds of Paradise (1994)
* The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (24 appearances (1994-2009))
* McKenna (1994–1995)
* Party of Five (cast member from 1995–1999)
* Boy Meets World (Feb 27, 1998) episode "And Then There Was Shawn"
* Time of Your Life (1999–2000)
* Disney's Hercules (1999) Medusa
* The Weekenders (2000)
* The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000)
* Family Guy (Jan. 31, 2002) episode "Stuck Together, Torn Apart"
* A Christmas Carol (2004)
* American Dreams (2004)
* In the Game (2004) (1st unsold pilot)
* In the Game (2005) (2nd unsold pilot)
* Ghost Whisperer (2005–present)
* Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber (2005)
* The Magic 7 (2008) Voice
Commercials
In 2005, Hewitt appeared in a Hanes advertising campaign titled "Look who we've got our Hanes on now". The campaign also featured other celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Charlie Sheen, Cuba Gooding Jr., Marisa Tomei, Damon Wayans, Kevin Bacon, Hugh Hefner, Matthew Perry, and on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arambula, and Pablo Montero. In 2006, the campaign added Christina Applegate to their lineup.
Hewitt has appeared in a "Don't Mess With Texas" commercial. This commercial also features fellow Texans: Matthew McConaughey, Los Lonely Boys, LeeAnn Womack, Lance Armstrong, Owen Wilson, and Erykah Badu. Seattle Seahawks running back Julius Jones, Chuck Norris (star of Walker Texas Ranger), and Janine Turner are also seen in the DMWT commercial.
She also appears in a commercial for Rodan & Fields acne medication Proactiv.
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