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. After their parents divorced, Hewitt and her older brother 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.

Career

Acting

After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials, including some for Mattel toys. Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989-1991), where she was credited as "Love Hewitt." She later appeared in the live action video short Dance! Workout with Barbie (1992), released by Buena Vista.

She played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde (1993), which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine, whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures. However, the series was not picked up and the pilot never aired. Hewitt later had roles in several short-lived television series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992-1993), ABC's The Byrds of Paradise (1994), and McKenna (1994-95), and finally became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves Merrin on the popular Fox show Party of Five (1995-99). She assumed the role of Sarah after joining that show during its second season and continued it on the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999), which she also co-produced. The show was cancelled after half a season.

Hewitt's first feature film role was in the independent film Munchie (1992). A year later, she achieved her first starring film role in Little Miss Millions (1993). She appeared as a choir member in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). Hewitt became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), which enjoyed great box office success ($125,000,000 USD). Hewitt and her co-stars gained popular exposure from the film. She appeared in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which, though not as successful as the first film, took in more money on its opening weekend. She starred in the high-school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998).

Hewitt starred in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000). That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of 37. Noting her "Q-rating," Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson.

She starred alongside Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001) and did voiceover work in the animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002) as Madellaine, the main protagonist's love interest. Hewitt wrote and performed "I'm Gonna Love You" for the film; the song won "Best Original Song" at the DVD Premiere Awards. She starred alongside Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo (2002), which received negative reviews from critics but was a box office success. Hewitt appeared in If Only (2004) and co-wrote and performed "Love Will Show You Everything" and "Take My Heart Back" for the film's soundtrack. She starred in Garfield (2004), which became her highest-grossing film to date ($200,804,534 USD). She reprised her role for the sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006), which, though it did not perform as well as its predecessor, achieved a strong box office gross.

Hewitt starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer (2005-2010), which ran on CBS for five seasons before being canceled by the network in May 2010. She reunited with her I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star, Freddie Prinze Jr., in Delgo; but when released in 2008, the film was a massive box office bomb, taking in only US$694,782 domestically.

Hewitt's next feature film was the independent drama Café (2010) with her then-boyfriend Jamie Kennedy. She starred in the Lifetime film The Client List (2010), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. The next year, Hewitt starred in the Hallmark Hall of Fame film The Lost Valentine (2011).

In 2011, Hewitt was announced to direct the film Wait Till Helen Comes (based on the novel by Mary Downing Hahn). She had previously directed three episodes of Ghost Whisperer, and this would be her feature film directorial debut. Production on the film was slated to begin in the summer of 2011, but no further announcements about the film have been made as of January 2015. She also starred alongside Ivan Sergei and Joel David Moore in the independent comedy Jewtopia (2012).

Hewitt was a guest star on TV Land's Hot in Cleveland in 2011 and 2012. She starred in the television series The Client List (2012-13) until its cancellation in late 2013.

In July 2014, CBS announced that Hewitt had joined the cast of Criminal Minds as Agent Kate Callahan in the series’ 10th season. However, Hewitt became pregnant with her second child during the production of season 10 of Criminal Minds, and left the cast of the show at the end of the season, with the possibility of further appearances left open.

Music

Hewitt was one of the back-up singers in Martika's number-one single, "Toy Soldiers" (1989). At the age of 12, Meldac funded the recording of Hewitt's debut studio album, Love Songs (1992). The album was released exclusively in Japan, where Hewitt became a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."

After she joined the cast of Party of Five, she signed to Atlantic Records, who rushed her second studio album, Let's Go Bang (1995), out in October. The album and its three singles failed to chart. Juggling her music career with her acting career, she recorded and released her self-titled follow-up album, Jennifer Love Hewitt (1996). The album, along with its four singles, failed to chart and Atlantic dropped Hewitt, who did not return to the music scene for three years.

She recorded the single "How Do I Deal" (1999) for the I Still Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack. The song became Hewitt's first charting single, climbing to No. 59 on the Hot 100 and No. 36 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It reached No. 8 in Australia. Hewitt also recorded a cover of the Gloria Gaynor song "I Will Survive", which features briefly in the film.

She appeared in the LFO video for "Girl on TV" (1999), a song which band member Rich Cronin band wrote for her while the two were dating. She also appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song, "Hero" (2001), as the singer's love interest.

In 2002, Hewitt signed to Jive Records and recorded her fourth studio album with singer, songwriter, and producer Meredith Brooks. The first single, "BareNaked" (2002), became her biggest radio hit to date when it peaked at No. 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, No. 31 on the Adult Top 40 and No. 25 on the Top 40 Mainstream. It climbed to No. 6 in Australia, remaining there for two weeks, and reached No. 33 in the Netherlands. The song later featured in two episodes of Ghost Whisperer: "The Vanishing" (Season 1, episode 20) and "The Collector" (Season 2, episode 20). The moderate success of the single propelled the album to peak at No. 37 on the Billboard 200 and No. 31 in Australia. However, it only remained on the chart for three weeks. The second single, "Can I Go Now" (2003), failed to chart in the US, while managing to peak at No. 8 in the Netherlands and No. 12 in Australia.

Since 2004, Hewitt has remained inactive in the music industry, but she released the compilation albums Cool with You: The Platinum Collection (2006) in Asia and Hey Everybody (2007) in Brazil. In 2009, reports surfaced that Hewitt was planning on making a country album and was in the process of writing material for it. Jamie Kennedy, Hewitt's boyfriend at the time, said: "I really want to make her a new demo for her music, because I think she should do singing again. She's so good." However, nothing has of yet come of the reports. Hewitt has remained mostly absent from the music industry, but in 2013, she recorded a cover of "I'm a Woman" to promote the second season of The Client List and shot a music video for the song, which reached the top ten in the iTunes Music Video chart.

Writing

In November 2009, Hewitt made a foray into comic books. Writer Scott Lobdell scripted the five-issue anthology, Jennifer Love Hewitt's Music Box (2009-2010), based on Hewitt's ideas. The series was published by IDW Publishing, and was collected in a trade paperback.

She wrote a book titled The Day I Shot Cupid (2010), in which she speaks of her experiences with love and dating. During a January 2010 interview on Lopez Tonight, Hewitt said that there was a chapter in the book about "vajazzling" her "vajayjay" (decorating her vulva with Swarovski crystals); Hewitt is said to have contributed to the popularization of this trend. The book became a New York Times Bestseller the week of its release. She announced via her Twitter page in June 2011 that she was penning a follow-up.

Personal life

In 2002, a conspiracy theorist and former social worker, Diana Napolis, was arrested for stalking and uttering death threats against Hewitt and Steven Spielberg after "verbally confronting" the actress at the 2002 Grammy Awards and attempting to pose as one of Hewitt's friends to enter the premiere of The Tuxedo.

Napolis admitted to being involved in a shoving match with Hewitt's mother while confronting the actress. Napolis accused Hewitt, along with director Spielberg, of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a Satanic conspiracy against her. Napolis was charged with six felonies related to the incidents. After a year of involuntary commitment, Napolis pleaded guilty and was released on bail with a condition that she was barred from any contact with both Spielberg and Hewitt.

In late 2005, Hewitt began dating Scottish actor Ross McCall after he made an appearance on her show Ghost Whisperer. They became engaged in November 2007, while vacationing in Hawaii. People magazine reported that Hewitt called off their engagement in late 2008.

She subsequently dated her Ghost Whisperer co-star Jamie Kennedy for a year, from March 2009 to March 2010.

In March 2012, Hewitt began dating her The Client List co-star Brian Hallisay. In June 2013, Hewitt announced that she and Hallisay were engaged and expecting their first child. They married later in 2013, prior to the birth of their daughter Autumn in November. In January 2015, the couple announced they were expecting their second child. In June, their second child, a son named Atticus, was born.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Munchie	Andrea Kurtz	Credited as Love Hewitt
1993	Little Miss Millions	Heather Lofton	a.k.a. Home for Christmas (as Love Hewitt)
1993	Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit	Margaret	Credited as Jennifer "Love" Hewitt
1996	House Arrest	Brooke Figler
1997	Trojan War	Leah Jones	a.k.a. Rescue Me
1997	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Julie James
1998	Can't Hardly Wait	Amanda Beckett
1998	Telling You	Deb Freidman	a.k.a. Love Sucks
1998	Zoomates	Helen	Voice role; short
1998	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Julie James
1999	Suburbans, TheThe Suburbans	Cate
2001	Heartbreakers	Page Conners
2002	Hunchback of Notre Dame II, TheThe Hunchback of Notre Dame II	Madellaine	Voice role
2002	Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina, TheThe Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina	Thumbelina	Voice role
2002	Tuxedo, TheThe Tuxedo	Del Blaine
2002	Groove Squad	Chrissy	Voice role
2004	If Only	Samantha Andrews
2004	Garfield: The Movie	Liz Wilson
2005	The Truth About Love	Alice Holbrook
2006	Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties	Liz Wilson
2007	Shortcut to Happiness	The Devil	a.k.a. The Devil and Daniel Webster
2008	Tropic Thunder	Herself	Cameo appearance
2008	Delgo	Princess Kyla	Voice role
2010	Café	Claire
2012	Jewtopia	Alison Marks

Television

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1989-1991	Kids Incorporated	Robin	Main role (credited as Love Hewitt)
1992	Dance! Workout with Barbie	Herself	Video (as Love Hewitt)
1992-1993	Shaky Ground	Bernadette Moody	17 episodes
1994	Byrds of Paradise, TheThe Byrds of Paradise	Franny Byrd	7 episodes
1994-1995	McKenna	Cassidy McKenna	3 episodes
1995-1999	Party of Five	Sarah Reeves Merrin	Main role: seasons 2-6 (99 episodes)
1998	Boy Meets World	Jennifer Love Fefferman	Episode: "And Then There Was Shawn"
1998	Saturday Night Live	Herself/host	Episode: "Jennifer Love Hewitt/Beastie Boys"
1999	Hercules: The Animated Series	Medusa	Episode: "Hercules and the Gorgon"; voice
1999-2000	Time of Your Life	Sarah Reeves Merrin	19 episodes
2000	Audrey Hepburn Story, TheThe Audrey Hepburn Story	Audrey Hepburn	Movie
2001	The Weekenders	Herself	Episode: "My Punky Valentine"; voice
2002	All That	Herself / musical guest	Episode: "Jeffrey Licon/Jennifer Love Hewitt"
2002	Family Guy	Herself	Episode: "Stuck Together, Torn Apart"; voice
2004	American Dreams	Nancy Sinatra	2 episodes
2004	In the Game	Riley Reed	2 pilot episodes (not picked up for series)
2004	Christmas Carol, AA Christmas Carol	Emily	Movie
2005	Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber	Katya Livingston	Movie; a.k.a. The Social Climber
2005-2010	Ghost Whisperer	Melinda Gordon	107 episodes
2009	Yes, Virginia	Mrs. Laura O'Hanlon	Voice role
2009	Magic 7, TheThe Magic 7	Erica	Movie; voice role
2010	Client List, TheThe Client List	Samantha "Sam" Horton/Brandy	Movie
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Vicki Sayers	Episode: "Behave"
2011	Lost Valentine, TheThe Lost Valentine	Susan Allison	Movie
2011	Love Bites	Herself	Episode: "Firsts"
2011-2014	Hot in Cleveland	Emmy Chase	3 episodes
2012	RuPaul's Drag Race	Guest judge	Episode: "DILFs: Dads I'd Like to Frock"
2012-2013	The Client List	Riley Parks	25 episodes
2014-2015	Criminal Minds	Kate Callahan	23 episodes

Director

Year(s)	Title	Notes
2009-2010	Ghost Whisperer	3 episodes
2012-2013	The Client List	3 episodes

Producer

Year(s)	Title	Notes
1999-2000	Time of Your Life
2000	The Audrey Hepburn Story	Co-executive producer; TV film
2000	Bunny
2002	One Night
2004	If Only
2005-2010	Ghost Whisperer	Producer (83 episodes); executive producer (11 episodes)
2010	Client List, TheThe Client List	Executive producer; TV film
2011	Lost Valentine, TheThe Lost Valentine	Executive producer; TV film
2012-2013	The Client List	Executive producer

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	AUS	NLD
Love Songs	Released: March 21, 1992 Label: Meldac Formats: CD	—	—	—
Let's Go Bang	Released: October 10, 1995 Label: Atlantic Formats: CD	—	—	—
Jennifer Love Hewitt	Released: September 3, 1996 Label: Atlantic Formats: CD	—	—	—
BareNaked	Released: October 8, 2002 Label: Jive Formats: CD	37	31	72
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
Cool with You: The Platinum Collection	Released: June 6, 2006 Label: WEA Formats: CD
Hey Everybody	Released: December 2007 Label: unknown Formats: CD

Singles

Year	Single	Chart peak positions						Album
		U.S.	U.S. Adult	AUS	NZ	NL	SWI
1992	"Please Save Us the World"	—	—	—	—	—	—	Love Songs
1995	"Let's Go Bang"	—	—	—	—	—	—	Let's Go Bang
	"Couldn't Find Another Man"	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	"You Make Me Smile"	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Cool with You"	—	—	—	—	—	—	Jennifer Love Hewitt
	"No Ordinary Love"	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	"(Our Love) Don't Throw it All Away"	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"I Believe In..."	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	"How Do I Deal"	59	—	8	5	—	—	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
2002	"BareNaked"	124	31	6	26	33	—	BareNaked
2003	"Can I Go Now"	—	—	12	—	8	69
	"Hey Everybody"	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Soundtracks

Year	Soundtrack	Song(s)
1996	House Arrest	"It's Good to Know I'm Alive"
1997	Trojan War	"I Hope I Don't Fall in Love With You", "I Believe In..."
1998	Can't Hardly Wait	"How Do I Make You"
1998	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	"How Do I Deal", "I Will Survive"
2002	The Hunchback of Notre Dame II	"I'm Gonna Love You"
	Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders	"Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?"
2004	If Only	"Love Will Show You Everything", "Take My Heart Back"
	A Christmas Carol	"A Place Called Home (Reprise)"
2013	Alpha Male Experiment	"When It Hurts"
	The Client List	"Big Spender", "Jar of Hearts", "I'm a Woman", "Something to Talk About", "When I'm with You", "His Eye Is on the Sparrow", "When You Say Nothing at All"

Bibliography

Credits as an author:

• The Day I Shot Cupid (2010)

Other credits:

• Jennifer Love Hewitt's Music Box (2009-10) (creator)

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1990	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast	Kids Incorporated	Nominated
1993		Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Youth Series or Variety Show	Kids Incorporated	Nominated
1994		Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Cable or Off-Primetime Series	Kids Incorporated	Won
1996		Best Professional Actress/Singer		Nominated
1998		Best Performance in a Feature Film — Leading Young Actress	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Nominated
1998	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Female Newcomer	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Won
1999	MTV Movie Award	Best Female Performance	Can't Hardly Wait	Nominated
1999	Blockbuster Entertainment Awards	Favorite Actress — Horror	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Won
1999	Teen Choice Awards	Film — Choice Actress	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer	Won
1999	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a Feature Film — Leading Young Actress	Can't Hardly Wait	Nominated
2000	Kid's Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actress	Party of Five	Nominated
2000	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Female Performer in a New Television Series	Time of Your Life	Won
2003	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Female Butt Kicker	The Tuxedo	Won
2003	DVD Premiere Awards	Best Original Song	The Hunchback of Notre Dame II	Won
2006	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television	Ghost Whisperer	Won
2006	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Television Actress	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2006	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Female Television Star	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2007	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television	Ghost Whisperer	Won
2007	Teen Choice Awards	Choice: TV Drama Actress	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2007	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Female Television Star	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2008		Favorite Female Television Star	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2008	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television	Ghost Whisperer	Won
2008	TV Land Awards	Favorite Character from the "Other Side"	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2009	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2010		Best Actress on Television	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2010	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actress	Ghost Whisperer	Nominated
2011	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television	The Client List	Nominated

Charities

Jennifer Love Hewitt supports the following charitable causes: Autism, Homeless, Down Syndrome.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]