By Robert Metz

Renee Zellweger had no voice training when she sang a karaoke number in Bridget Jones? Diary (2001) Yet, Renee wowed critics with a powerful, if unschooled voice.

Singing and dancing in Chicago (2000) she charmed moviegoers, though self-taught even then. She shrewdly mimicked her polished singer-dancer co-star, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Did Lincoln's syllogism "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" send her to class? Or did she heed a native Teutonic determination in seeking professional help?

In any event, this half Swiss, half Norwegian actress was already in mid-career at age 30 when she took on and endured a grueling regimen of vocal coaching and dance training that consumed her for ten months, a regimen that enabled her later to exhibit professional excellence.

Renee Kathleen was born in Texas on April 25, 1969. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, comes from the small German-Swiss town of Au in the Rhine Valley of St. Gallen. Her Norwegian mother, Kjelfrid Irene Andreassen, met Rene's father on a ship going to Denmark.

Emil was an oil-industry engineer who promised to meet Kjelfrid in Houston, where she had obtained a job as a nurse. They married in Texas in a town west of Houston named Katy, where Renee Kathleen Zellweger ("Zelly") and her older brother Andrew ("Drew") were both born,

From the time Renee entered high school, her super-charged personality made her a standout member of the student body. She helped spark the school's Bengal Brigade and Cheerleaders squad. When a graduating senior she was voted prettiest girl in the class.

Her's was no ordinary pretty face. Renee's good looks bore telltale signs of her mother's sami ancestry. The sami clan is a minority originating from northern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula that are referred to as Lapland. (Renee is not a Lap scholar, but she speaks German flawlessly.)

Renee has some typical sami features, such as her strong cheekbones and squinty eyes. Not the "when you've seen one, you've seen them all," Hollywood looker. Who cares? She was chosen by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world (2001). This was a different look for Tinseltown but one that moviegoers gravitated to easily.

Before Renee went west, she worked Houston, acting locally when she could grab a gig. Like all actor wannabes, Renee struggled, once working as a cocktail waitress in a strip club.

Winning a role in a sequel called The Return of the Texas Chairsaw Massacre (1994) she met Matthew McConaughey, another Hollywood up-and-comer. He was working on a project at the time that Renee took an interest in. She auditioned for and won the role in his film Love and a .45 (1994), which earned her enough critical praise that she decided to relocate in Los Angeles.

A role followed in The Whole Wide World (1996) and that led to her big break. She portrayed a Depression-era school teacher/writer who fell in love with a pulp fiction writer. Director Cameron Crowe, who produced Almost Famous while a Slate Magazine writer, was casting his next film: Jerry Maquire (1996) starring Tom Cruise. Crowe,, was by now a Hollywood hot hand.

He was seeking the perfect someone to play opposite Cruise, like, perhaps, Cameron Diaz, Bridget Fonda, Winona Ryder or Marisa Tomei. He?d learned of Zellweger's award-winning performance in The Whole Wide World. He auditioned Ren?e and was confident he had found his Dorothy Boyd.

At the Golden Globe awards for her work in Nurse Betty (2000) Renee was in the loo when future co-star Hugh Grant told of her win. She later explained, "I had lipstick on my teeth!"

In Cold Mountain Renee played Nicole Kidman's companion who helped dainty Southern Belle Nicole put a decaying family farm to rights. No lip gloss here, earthy Renee is seen twisting the head off a rowdy rooster. Nicole is seen sighing wistfully while awaiting the return of her love, a wounded Confederate soldier (Jude Law.)

The movie became a Zellweger capstone in a career path all ready littered with top awards: Renee won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

For her wedding to country singer Kenny Chesney in May 2005 Zelly wore a gown designed by her favorite designer, Carolina Adriana Herrera. On the resort island of St. John, the wedding ceremony lasted 15 minutes. The marriage was annulled after 7 months.

No show biz record this. Movie heavy, Ernest Borgnine and Broadway belter Ethel Merman split after a long week-end. Johnny Carson shyly confronted the hardnosed Merman on the Carson show with, "I've got a headache that's lasted longer than your marriage."

Merman belted out a belly laugh. Renee is undoubtedly enjoying many a laugh in both English and German as she dances - very professionally - all the way to the bank. Back to Movies