Ashley Judd is the daughter of Naomi Judd and Michael Ciminella, and sister to Wynonna. When Ashley was four and Wynonna eight, their parents divorced and two years later, Naomi packed up the girls and moved them out of L.A. to central Kentucky. During what her mom refers to as the "U-Haul-it years", Ashley attended a series of twelve different schools in thirteen years, an experience which made her adept at adapting. During the first few years, Ashley's mom worked as a nurse, but making ends meet was still a struggle, so Ashley and her sister made their own soap to help out, and grew fresh vegetables in the family garden. Their home at the time had no TV or telephone, so music became a major part of the Judds' lives. Ashley learned to play the fiddle when she was in the third grade, but it was soon discovered that a fiddle was not the ideal instrument to be played by an 8-year-old in a one-bedroom house. Although Ashley never took to singing professionally, she has a beautiful voice, which she shares with family and friends.
      Ashley graduated from the University of Kentucky with a major in French and four minors (anthropology, art history, theatre and woman's studies). In the early 90's she was a drama student at Playhouse West School and Repertory Theater in Los Angeles, and got a bit part in the first movie she ever auditioned for, 1992's Kuffs. Interestingly, when she was offered the lead in Kuffs, she refused when learning that it would mean baring something for the camera. She said that her mother Naomi sacrificed too much for her daughter to be in the altogether for her first film role. The following year, Ashley got a chance to flex her acting muscles in the title role of Ruby In Paradise, her true feature debut.
      The five-foot-seven Ashley is very athletic and enjoys rock climbing, hiking and running. In fact, during the filming of one of the scenes in the movie Double Jeopardy, the actors who were playing the pursuing police officers had to ask her to slow down a bit !!! She also enjoys doing her own stunt work when she can get away with it. On the set of Double Jeopardy, however, the filmmakers foiled her plans. They knew Ashley wanted to jump from the roof of a school, so they furtively filmed the scene while she was away on a dinner break.
      Ashley lives in Tennessee near her Mom and sister, and has dated actor Matthew McConaughey and singer Michael Bolton. She married racecar driver Dario Franchitti, in December 2001.
Photo © Unknown - Bio by ThespianNet.com © 2001