Ashley Judd

Early life

Judd was born Ashley Tyler Ciminella, Ashley's elder half-sister, Wynonna Judd, is also a country music singer.

Ashley's paternal grandfather was of Sicilian (Italian) descent, and her paternal grandmother was a descendant of Mayflower pilgrim William Brewster.

When Judd was born, her mother was a homemaker. Judd's parents divorced in 1972 when she was four. The following year, Judd's mother Naomi returned with Ashley to Kentucky, where Judd lived for most of her childhood. Judd has stated that even if she professionally uses her mother's maiden name, her legal surname is still the Ciminella of her father, as "I loved both my last names and the branches of the family they represented", and the one time she tried to legally change it the judge refused it.

Judd attended 13 schools before college, including the Sayre School (Lexington, Kentucky), Paul G. Blazer High School (Ashland, Kentucky), and Franklin High School in Tennessee. She briefly tried modeling in Japan during a school break. At the University of Kentucky, she majored in French and minored in anthropology, art history, theater, and women's studies. She joined the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. Judd spent a semester studying in France as part of her major. She graduated from the University of Kentucky Honors Program and was nominated to Phi Beta Kappa.

After college Judd moved to Hollywood, where she studied with acting teacher Robert Carnegie at Playhouse West. During this time, she worked as a hostess at The Ivy restaurant and lived in a Malibu rental house. Around that time, she returned East to Williamson County, Tennessee, where she lived near her mother and sister.

Career

Starting in 1991, Judd appeared as Ensign Robin Lefler, a Starfleet officer, in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Darmok" and "The Game". From 1991 to 1994, she had a recurring role as Reed, the daughter of Alex (Swoosie Kurtz), on the NBC drama Sisters.

She made her feature film debut with a small role in 1992's Kuffs. In 1993, she was cast in her first starring role playing the title character in Victor Nuñez's Ruby in Paradise. The latter film won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Believing that this role would shape the rest of her career, Judd was extremely nervous before the audition, nearly getting into a car accident en route. "From the first three sentences, I knew it was written for me", she told the San Jose Mercury News. She received positive reviews in her role as Ruby Lee Gissing, a young woman trying to make a new life for herself.

Nuñez told biographer James L. Dickerson that Judd created the resonance of this character: "The resonance, those moments, was not contrived. It was just a matter of creating the scene and trusting that it was worth telling."

Oliver Stone, who had seen Judd in Nuñez's film, cast her in Natural Born Killers (1994), but her scenes were cut from the version of the film released theatrically. The following year, she gained critical acclaim for her role as Harvey Keitel's estranged daughter in Wayne Wang's Smoke and as Val Kilmer's wife in Michael Mann's Heat. That same year she played the role of Callie in Philip Ridley's dark adult fairy tale The Passion of Darkly Noon.

In 1996, she co-starred with Mira Sorvino as Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jean and Marilyn, where she recreated the photo shoot for the centerfold for the first issue of Playboy. The same year she had a supporting role in the thriller film A Time to Kill. It received positive reviews and was a major box office success. By the end of the 1990s, Judd had achieved considerable success as a leading actress, having lead roles in additional thrillers that performed well at the box office, including Kiss the Girls (1997) and Double Jeopardy (1999).

In the early 2000s she starred in Where the Heart Is (2000), Someone Like You (2001), and High Crimes (2002). These were moderate box office successes. In 2002, Judd starred in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which performed well, and acted in the critically acclaimed film Frida.

Judd played the role of Maggie the Cat in the 2003 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

In 2004 she received praise and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, for her performance in De-Lovely, opposite Kevin Kline, who played Cole Porter. She also starred in Twisted (2004). This was widely panned.

In 2010, Judd was Janet Tamaro's original choice for the role of Detective Jane Rizzoli in the TV series Rizzoli & Isles but she declined. Angie Harmon took the role. In 2011, she co-starred in the family film Dolphin Tale and its 2014 sequel, Dolphin Tale 2. Also in 2011, Judd co-starred with Patrick Dempsey in the film Flypaper. In 2012, she starred as Rebecca Winstone on the ABC series Missing.

In 2013, Judd played First Lady Margaret Asher in the action thriller Olympus Has Fallen. In 2014, she appeared as Natalie Prior in Divergent, which she reprised in the 2015 sequel The Divergent Series: Insurgent and the 2016 penultimate film of the series The Divergent Series: Allegiant.

In 2014, Judd was the narrator of the documentary film about Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen, Love Is a Verb, directed by Terry Spencer Hesser. The following year she became the first woman to narrate the opening for the telecast of the Kentucky Derby.

Sponsorships

Starting in 2004, Judd was the advertising "face" of American Beauty, an Estée Lauder cosmetic brand sold at Kohl's department stores, and of H. Stern jewelers. In June 2007, Goody's Family Clothing launched three fashion clothing lines with Judd in the fall to be called "AJ", "Love Ashley", and "Ashley Judd". In 2008 they added an "Ashley Judd Plus" line.

Personal life

In December 1999, Judd became engaged to Dario Franchitti, a Scottish racing driver who competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). They married in December 2001 at Skibo Castle in Scotland. They divorced in 2013.

Judd is an avid martial arts practitioner: she has practiced kickboxing, judo, and Tae Bo.

In February 2006, she entered a program at Shades of Hope Treatment Center in Buffalo Gap, Texas and stayed for 47 days. She was there for treatment of depression, insomnia, and codependency.

In 2011, Judd released her memoir All That is Bitter and Sweet, in which she discusses her life from adolescence to adulthood. The memoir concentrates on her humanitarian work as an adult.

In February 2021, while hiking in the jungle in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Judd shattered her leg. Porters transported her for 55 hours to reach a hospital for surgery in South Africa.

Judd is a Christian and cited her faith as why she went public against Harvey Weinstein.

Education

In May 2007, Judd received a BA in French at the University of Kentucky. She was awarded an Honorary DHL degree from Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky, on May 9, 2009. Judd undertook postgraduate study, earning a mid-career MPA degree from Harvard Kennedy School in 2010.

In August 2016, Judd enrolled at UC Berkeley to pursue a PhD in Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy. She took a medical leave of absence two months later because she was suffering from siege migraines.

Interests

Judd follows sports at her alma mater, and has attended many University of Kentucky basketball games.

During the 2007 IndyCar season, Judd criticized allowing rookie Milka Duno to race. After the final race, Judd said to reporters, "I know this is not very sportsmanlike, but they've got to get the 23 car (Duno) off the track. It's very dangerous. I'm tired of holding my tongue. She shouldn't be out there. When a car is 10 miles [an hour] off the pace, it's not appropriate to be racing. People's lives are at stake."

Sexual harassment and assault

In October 2015, Judd told Variety that she had been sexually harassed by a studio mogul but did not name the person. In October 2017, she said the person was Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax, and said that the sexual harassment occurred during the filming of Kiss the Girls.

On April 30, 2018, Judd filed a defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit against Weinstein, stating that he hurt her career by spreading lies about her after she rejected his sexual advances. Weinstein filed a motion to dismiss in July. In January 2019, a federal judge in California dismissed Judd's claim of sexual harassment against Weinstein but allowed Judd to pursue her defamation claim that Weinstein sabotaged her career.

At the Women in the World summit in April 2019, Judd addressed Georgia's six-week abortion ban, which had been passed in March 2019. She said that she had been raped three times, and became pregnant once. She said, "As everyone knows, and I'm very open about it, I'm a three-time rape survivor. One of the times that I was raped there was conception and I'm very thankful I was able to access safe and legal abortion. Because the rapist, who is a Kentuckian, as am I, and I reside in Tennessee, has paternity rights in Kentucky and Tennessee, I would've had to co-parent with my rapist."

Activism

Judd has conducted humanitarian work that focuses on gender equality, pro abortion causes and the rights of women and girls. In 2016, she was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNFPA, the United Nations agency with responsibilities including sexual and reproductive health. As of May 2018, she had visited UNFPA's projects for women and girls affected by humanitarian crises in Jordan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Bangladesh, and its development work in India and Sri Lanka.

Judd has travelled with YouthAIDS to places affected by illness and poverty, such as Cambodia, Kenya, and Rwanda. She has become an advocate for preventing poverty and promoting awareness internationally. She has met with political and religious leaders on behalf of the deprived about political and social change. Judd has narrated three documentaries for YouthAIDS that aired on the Discovery Channel, in National Geographic, and on VH1.

In 2011, she joined the Leadership Council of the International Center for Research on Women. Other organizations Judd has been involved with include Women for Women International and Equality Now. She is a member of the advisory board for Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an organization fighting sex-trafficking and inter-generational prostitution in India. Judd is active on the speakers' circuit, giving speeches about gender equality, abuse and humanitarian topics.

Political activities

In 2008, Judd supported Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In 2009, she appeared in a one-minute video advertisement for the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, in which Judd condemned Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for supporting aerial wolf hunting. In response, Palin stated the reason these wolves are killed is to protect the caribou population in Alaska. Palin called the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund an "extreme fringe group". In 2010, Judd signed the Animal Legal Defense Fund's petition to urge Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to protect that state's homeless animals through tough enforcement of Kentucky's Humane Shelter Law.

She was appointed Global Ambassador for YouthAIDS, an education and prevention program of the international NGO Population Services International (PSI), promoting AIDS prevention and treatment. Judd was honored November 10, 2009, as the recipient of the fourth annual USA Today Hollywood Hero, awarded for her work with PSI. On October 29, 2006, Judd appeared at a "Women for Ford" event for Democratic Tennessee Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. She has also campaigned extensively both locally and nationally for a variety of Democratic candidates, including President Barack Obama in critical swing states.

On September 8, 2010, CNN interviewed Judd about her second humanitarian mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Judd traveled with the Enough Project, a project to end genocide and crimes against humanity. In the interview, Judd discussed her efforts to raise awareness about how conflict minerals fuel sexual violence in Congo. During her trip, Judd visited hospitals for victims of sexual violence, camps for displaced persons, mines, and civil society organizations. On September 30, 2010, CNN published an op-ed titled "Ashley Judd: Electronics fuel unspeakable violence" by Judd and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast regarding the continued violence in Congo. On November 26, 2010, she published a subsequent op-ed, "Costs of Convenience", excerpted from her trip diary from eastern Congo. These pieces discussed the recent provision in the Dodd-Frank Reform bill that requires companies to prove where their minerals originated, and the link between modern electronics (which rely on those minerals) and mining camps plagued by such violence.

Judd represented Tennessee as a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She also considered returning to Kentucky and challenging Senator Mitch McConnell in 2014. In response, the conservative Super PAC American Crossroads released an attack ad against Judd in Kentucky.

In February 2013, she invited her Twitter followers to join a mailing list, hinting that she might ultimately announce a run for the Senate to those on the list. However, she announced on March 27, 2013, that she would not run, citing her need to be focused on her family. Judd later endorsed Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.

On July 26, 2016, Judd attended a Creative Coalition luncheon in support of DC Statehood that took place during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The event, hosted by Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, also included actors Elizabeth Banks, Tim Daly, Josh Gad, William Baldwin, and David Schwimmer.

In January 2020, Judd endorsed Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren in her run for the presidency.

On July 12, 2024, Judd wrote an op-ed for USA Today calling on President Joe Biden to suspend his 2024 reelection campaign. She wrote Biden was "incapable of countering Trump, while he, unchecked, gushed a firehose of galling lies" at the first presidential debate of the cycle in late June, 2024. The Independent called it "a deeply personal and heartfelt op-ed".

Filmography

Film

Television

Documentaries

Book

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Honors

• Kentucky Colonel
• Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Union College, Barbourville, Kentucky
• 2017 Time Person of the Year, as part of the "Silence Breakers"

Notes

References

References

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3. link. (October 25, 2012 , Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) – May 9, 1997)
4. (April 4, 2011). "Ashley Judd details 'bitter and sweet' in memoir". Newsvine.
5. Entertainment.gather.com] {{webarchive. link. (December 3, 2013 (November 9, 2010). Retrieved on April 11, 2011.)
6. [http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/actress/7_ashley_judd.html Actress of the Week] ''AskMen.com'' (2006)
7. Newman, Judith. "We are Family", ''Ladies' Home Journal'' (March 1998, pp. 152–55, 213–14)
8. (March 2015). "Ashley Judd voting record shows not a property owner in Williamson County". nationalreview.com.
9. Lovell, Glenn. ''San Jose Mercury News,'' November 8, 1993
10. "Ruby in Paradise movie review (1993) {{!}} Roger Ebert".
11. Staffer, Steve PersallFormer Times. "Real Florida is Ruby's paradise".
12. Dickerson, James L. ''Ashley Judd: Crying on the Inside,'' Schirmer Trade Books, 2002, p. 75
13. (June 13, 2022). "Ashley Judd's Transformation From 22 To 54 - Her Life Behind The Camera".
14. Susman, Gary. (February 27, 2004) [http://www.ew.com/article/2004/02/27/ashley-judd-can-you-tell-her-movies-apart. 7273. 0_0_,00.html You Be the Judd. Movies]. EW.com. Retrieved on April 11, 2011. {{webarchive. link. (April 2, 2015)
15. (1 June 2002). "Ashley Judd gets her ya-ya's out making "Divine Secrets'". The Morning Call.
16. (2024-01-26). "'Hot Tin Roof,' With Three Slips Showing". Washington Post.
17. Giles, Jeff. (August 7, 2008). "Moldy Tomatoes: The 10 Worst Movies of the Last 10 Years – Page 7".
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21. Don Doxsie. (May 2, 2015). "Eye Openers: Bears needed defense, but did the White thing". Qctimes.com.
22. (April 25, 2015). "Ashley Judd to be first woman to narrate opening of Kentucky Derby". Fox News.
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26. McDonald, Toby. (January 29, 2006). "ASHLEY: I REFUSE TO HAVE A BABY; Star says 'breeding' is out while kids starve". [[Sunday Mail (Scotland).
27. (May 9, 2014). "At Home with Dario Franchitti".
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34. "Coming soon: Ashley Judd's memoir, All That is Bitter and Sweet". Ballantine Books.
35. "Ashley Judd Shares Photos from Her 'Grueling 55-Hour' Rescue After Shattering Her Leg in the Congo".
36. "The Christian Conviction of She Said".
37. Blackford, Linda. (May 10, 2007). "Ashley Judd is finally a UK graduate". Lexington Herald-Leader.
38. Oldenburg, Ann. (May 28, 2010). "Ashley Judd gets her Harvard degree". [[USA Today]].
39. "Ashley Judd to earn Ph.D. at UC Berkeley beginning this fall". SFGate.
40. "Ashley Judd withdraws from school".
41. Judd, Ashley. (May 3, 2004). "Wild Cats Fan The actress's love for UK basketball epitomizes a statewide passion".
42. (September 9, 2007). "Actress Judd praises husband, rips other driver--Franchitti's wife says rookie should be taken off track". NBC Sports.
43. (September 10, 2007). "NewsLibrary.com – newspaper archive, clipping service – newspapers and other news sources". NewsLibrary.com.
44. Niemietz, Brian. (October 5, 2017). "Harvey Weinstein admits his behavior has caused women pain after Ashley Judd, others accuse him of harassment". [[New York Daily News]].
45. Serjeant, Jill. "American actress Ashley Judd sues Harvey Weinstein for defamation,...". U.S..
46. "Harvey Weinstein files motion to dismiss Ashley Judd suit".
47. (January 10, 2019). "Ashley Judd's sexual harassment claim against Harvey Weinstein dismissed". [[BBC News Online]].
48. [https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/ashley-judd-i-would-have-had-to-coparent-with-my-rapist/news-story/98c6ee1bb2735e4ae34e679c897847ee Ashley Judd: 'I would have had to co-parent with my rapist'], Megan Palin, News.com.au, April 13, 2019
49. (April 21, 2016). "UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd Visits Refugees in Jordan".
50. "Ashley Judd Reports Back from Her Humanitarian Trip to Ukraine: 'Human Rights Abuses Abound'".
51. (February 26, 2018). "Ashley Judd visits Rohingya refugees - CNN Video".
52. "Ashley Judd: Ashley Judd gets KISS Humanitarian Award | Bhubaneswar News - Times of India". [[The Times of India]].
53. "'I'm here as a global citizen, not as an American'- Ashley Judd | the Sunday Times Sri Lanka".
54. "Ashley Judd's Faces of Philanthropy profile page". Faces of Philanthropy.
55. Gaynair, Gillian. (January 21, 2011). "Actor Ashley Judd Joins ICRW Leadership Council". ICRW.
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57. [http://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Ashley-Judd "Ashley Judd"] {{Webarchive. link. (February 1, 2014 . All American Speakers. Retrieved January 17, 2014.)
58. David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster. (February 3, 2009). "Actress Judd goes after Palin over aerial wolf killing".
59. Hamby, Peter. (February 4, 2009). "Palin takes on Ashley Judd's 'extreme fringe group'". CNN.
60. link. (July 22, 2011 . Aldf.org (May 11, 2010). Retrieved on April 11, 2011.)
61. [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/marketing/media_kit/pressroom/2009/releases/091609_hollywood_hero_2009.html Hero Award honors Ashley Judd for her work with Global Health Organization PSI] September 16, 2009. ''USA Today''. Retrieved on April 11, 2011.
62. (September 8, 2009). "Ashley Judd confronts Africa's deadly mineral issue". CNN.
63. Ashley Judd and John Prendergast. (September 30, 2010). "Ashley Judd: Electronics fuel unspeakable violence". CNN.
64. Ashley Judd. (November 26, 2010). "Ashley Judd: "Costs of Convenience"". The Huffington Post.
65. (November 8, 2012). "Ashley Judd doesn't rule out challenge to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell". Courier-Journal.
66. (February 6, 2013). "Ashley Judd Takes Jabs From Conservative Super PAC". ABC News.
67. Gabriel, Trip. (February 15, 2013). "Kentuckians don't rule out a star as a potential senator". The New York Times.
68. (March 27, 2013). "Ashley Judd won't run for Senate in Kentucky". The Hill.
69. (July 3, 2013). "Ashley Judd 'Ready to Fight' Beside Alison Lundergan Grimes in Race Against Mitch McConnell – 89.3 WFPL". Wfpl.org.
70. (July 3, 2013). "Ashley Judd backs Grimes for Senate". [[USA Today]].
71. (July 26, 2016). "Celebrities Join Push for DC Statehood".
72. Buckley, Cara. (January 25, 2020). "Ashley Judd Wants the Next Women's March to Be a 'Victory March'". The New York Times.
73. (July 12, 2024). "Actor Ashley Judd, a Democratic activist, adds her voice to those calling on Biden to leave the race". Associated Press.
74. (July 12, 2024). "Ashley Judd pens deeply personal op-ed calling on Biden to step aside: 'We can't risk a Trump presidency'". The Independent.
75. (March 21, 2017). "Ashley Judd Joins Epix's 'Berlin Station' Season 2".
76. (May 15, 2022). "Naomi Judd CMT tribute includes speeches from Wynonna, Ashley Judd". The Washington Post.
77. Kentucky Colonels, Honorable Order of. "Colonels website". Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.
78. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090304065944/http://www.unionky.edu/News/09/022509_Judd_Commencement.asp Union College News Release 02–25–09: Ashley Judd Announced as 2009 Commencement Speaker]. Unionky.edu (February 25, 2009). Retrieved on April 11, 2011.
79. (December 6, 2017). "Ashley Judd on cover of Time as a 'Person of the Year' for being a harassment silence breaker".