Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an Academy Award-winning American film actress. Zellweger was born in Baytown, Texas and moved to Katy, Texas at the age of nine with her family. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born engineer who worked in the oil refining business, and her mother, Kjellfried Irene (Andreassen), is a Norwegian-born nurse and midwife.[2][3][4][5] Zellweger was raised in a family of "lazy Catholics and Episcopalians". In high school, she was a cheerleader and gymnast, and participated in the drama club. She graduated from Katy High School in Katy, a suburb of Houston in 1987. After high school, she went to the University of Texas at Austin to major in English. Though she took a drama class only because she needed a fine arts credit to complete her degree, it made her appreciate how much she loved acting. During this time, she supported herself by taking a series of waitressing jobs in Austin, Texas.Zellweger dated Sims Ellison while studying at the University of Texas, but the couple broke up after graduation. She also dated Josh Pate, whom she began seeing in November 1996 after the filming of "Deceiver". She also was rumoured to have dated George Clooney. Her first high-profile romance was with actor/comedian Jim Carrey. The relationship ended in a broken engagement in December 2000. Zellweger notably poked fun at the prior relationship when she ended her opening monologue on Saturday Night Live by reading an entry from her own "diary", marked "Dear Diary, I can't believe I am dating Jim Carrey".
For two years, Zellweger dated The White Stripes singer Jack White, who is six years her junior. However, it was felt that White didn't want to settle down, and they broke up.
On May 9, 2005, Zellweger married singer Kenny Chesney in a ceremony at the island of St. John. They had met in January at a tsunami relief benefit concert. Zellweger missed out on the engagement ring since the wedding was planned over a short span of time. On September 15, 2005, after only four months of marriage, they announced their plans for an annulment. Zellweger cited fraud as the reason in the related papers.After media scrutiny of her use of the word "fraud", she released the following statement: "(The term is) simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character. I would personally be very grateful for your support in refraining from drawing derogatory, hurtful, sensationalized or untrue conclusions. We hope to experience this transition as privately as possible." The annulment was finalized in late December 2005. When interviewed on Late Show with David Letterman in December 2006, she was still reluctant to answer questions over the relationship. Since her marriage annulment, she been linked to various personalities, including actor Luke Perry of Beverly Hills, 90210 fame.
Zellweger sold her home in the Hollywood Hills, and after renting for a while she now again owns a home in Bel Air. She admits that she gets scared at home alone, and has considered buying a gun for reasons of personal security.
