Ashley Judd has very famous blood, and an equally famous upbringing. Mother Naomi Judd raised Ashley and sister Winona in poverty. Her father, Michael Ciminella, was not a huge part of her life.She was named after her birthplace, Ashland, KY.

Ashley graduated from Franklin High School in Tennessee in 1986. She then attended the University of Kentucky where she majored in French and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1990.

Success in Hollywood came quickly to this beautiful star. It was so inevitable, that Ashley was able to pick and choose her early roles. She was offered the role that Pamela Anderson took as the "Tool Time Girl" on "Home Improvement," but turned it down to concentrate instead on movies. Her first offered film role was a large part in "Kuffs," but she rejected the role because of nude scenes. "My mother worked too hard for me to take my clothes off in my first movie."

"Ruby in Paradise" would be her biggest role, giving her Independent Spirit awards and concreting her career. In 1995, she did Norma Jean and Marilyn, an HBO film that costarred Mira Sorvino and definitely saw Ashley stray from her earlier no-nudity convictions. But the role earned her much critical praise and a glimpse of the public eye. Then "A Time to Kill" followed, which skyrocketed her to stardom.

But it was a role in the blockbuster "Kiss the Girls" (with Morgan Freeman) which proved that she alone could carry a film. Since then she has appeared in many of the same action/suspense type roles and performed well.

Off the screen, her romances have been highly profiled. In April of 2000, however, she officially announced her engagement to race car driver Dario Franchitti. Previous to this, she had dated Michael Bolton, Robert De Niro, and Matthew McConaughey.