Name at birth: Ashley Tyler Ciminella

A winsome actress with an earthy vitality, Ashley Judd made a splash in the 1993 independent film Ruby in Paradise. She went on to star in action dramas like Heat (1995, with Robert DeNiro), A Time to Kill (1996, with Sandra Bullock), and Double Jeopardy (1999, with Tommy Lee Jones), along with feel-good flicks like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002, again with Bullock). Ashley Judd is from a celebrity family: her mother Naomi Judd and older sister Wynonna were the country music combo The Judds, and Wynonna went on to a successful solo career. Ashley Judd married Scottish auto racer Dario Franchitti in December of 2001. Her other films include the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely (2004), Crossing Over (2009, with Judd as an attorney defending immigrants) and Tooth Fairy (2010, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). She has also dabbled on Broadway, appearing in revivals of Picnic (1994) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (as Maggie, 2003-04).

Ashley Judd was elected Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kentucky, and is a famous fan of the school's basketball team... Ashley's mother and her father, Michael Ciminella, were divorced in 1972. Judd is Naomi Judd's maiden name.