Jennifer Love Hewitt - Early Life

Early Life

Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, to Patricia Mae (née Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician. Hewitt grew up in Nolanville, in Central Texas, and has close kinship ties in parts of Arkansas. Hewitt received her middle name after her mother promised her college friend (named "Love") that if she had a daughter, she would name the girl after her. Hewitt's older brother, Todd Hewitt, chose the name "Jennifer" as an homage to a crush he had at the time she was born. After their parents divorced, Hewitt and Todd were raised by their mother. Patricia Mae Hewitt died on June 12, 2012, aged 67, following a battle with cancer.

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. The following year, at a restaurant-dance hall, she entertained an audience with her version of "Help Me Make it Through the Night". By age five, she 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 age ten, at the suggestion of talent scouts and after winning the title of "Texas Our Little Miss Talent Winner", she moved to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue a career in both acting and singing. In Los Angeles, she attended Lincoln High School where her classmates included Jonathan Neville, who became a talent scout and recommended Hewitt for her role in Party of Five.