Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward was born on February 27th, 1930 in Thomasville, Georgia USA. She was born to Wade Woodward and Elinor Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward, a modest household. Her one older brother, Wade Jr., was the favorite of her father, he eventually became an architect. Elinor Woodward was a quite a movie buff and enjoyed going to picture shows often. Joanne claims she was nearly born in the middle of a Joan Crawford movie (Our Modern Maidens). Her mother wanted to name her "Joan", but being Southern, it got changed into "Joanne".

Thomasville, Georgia was a typical small town in Southern Georgia, around ten miles from the border of Florida. Joanne was born right into the Great Depression. Joanne's father was an administrator in the school system in Thomasville. Her family was raised Episcopalian. Joanne's mother, being an avid movie lover, it wasn't a surprise that Joanne wanted to go into the acting profession. Her father wasn't too keen on the idea, but her mother saw it coming and was thrilled. Joanne and her mother both adored the movie Wuthering Heights starring Laurence Olivier. And, in 1939, Elinor took her daughter to the premiere of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta. Pulling up with the love of his life Vivien Leigh (who starred in Gone with the Wind) in a limo, Laurence Olivier was shocked when 9-year-old Joanne hopped right into the limo and sat in his lap without any warning. Years later when Joanne was famous, Olivier keenly remembered this incident. She later worked with Olivier in Come Back, Little Sheba.

In her teens, Joanne entered and won many Georgia beauty contests. Her mother said "she was the prettiest girl in town". But all Joanne wanted to do was act and she saw beauty contests as taking the first step toward her dream. When she was of age, she enrolled into Louisiana State University, majoring in drama. After graduation and doing small plays, Joanne headed to New York and studied acting with Sanford Meisner. The first thing he tackled was Joanne's Southern drawl.

Soon, Joanne was starring in television productions and theater. One day, by her agent, she introduced to another young actor at her level by the then-unknown name of Paul Newman. Paul's first reaction was "Jeez, what an extraordinarily pretty girl". Joanne, while admitting that he was very good-looking, didn't like him at first sight. But, she couldn't resist him. Soon they were working together as understudies for the Broadway production of "Picnic". They worked very closely together and got along very well. They would have long conversations about everything and anything. Then both their movie careers took off, Joanne with Count Three and Pray, Paul with The Silver Chalice. Also adding to the tension was Paul's wife, Jackie, who refused to get a divorce when Paul asked her for one. He wanted to marry Joanne; Jackie would simply not have it. Eventually, Jackie saw the anguish this was causing Paul and agreed to divorce. Less than a week after the divorce was final, Paul married Joanne in Las Vegas. This was on January 29th, 1958, just months before Joanne won her Best Actress Oscar for The Three Faces of Eve, in which she plays a woman with Multiple Personality Disorder.

On April 8th, 1959 Joanne gave birth to their first child, Elinor Teresa Newman, named after both their mothers. They both continued on with their careers, doing movies both together and apart. Two more children would follow. Melissa Steward Newman on September 17th, 1961 and Claire Olivia Newman on April 21st, 1965. Since then, Joanne has been extremely busy. She was very active in theater, film and television as well as ballet performances and being very involved with charities and taking care of her family. In 2003, Joanne will be starring in a movie with Paul on HBO.



Born at 4:00am EST. When she was 9 years old, Joanne traveled with her mother to Atlanta for the premiere of Gone with the Wind (1939). During the parade, she leapt into a limousine carrying Laurence Olivier and sat in his lap as she had a crush on him after seeing Wuthering Heights (1939). Years later when the two were working on Come Back, Little Sheba (1977) (TV), Olivier claimed to remember the incident vividly. Wore a handmade dress that cost about $100 to the 1957 Oscar ceremony (the year she won Best Actress for Three Faces of Eve). Loves ballet and horseback riding. In 1960 she became the first actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her favorite movies are Gone with the Wind (1939), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Jezebel (1938). Had to have her strip/dance scenes in The Stripper (1963) censored and approved by her husband, Paul Newman. Her likeness was used for the paintings of Marguerite Wyke in the Laurence Olivier/Michael Caine thriller Sleuth (1972). In the July 21, 1975, issue of People magazine, in which she shared the cover with her husband Paul Newman, Woodward claimed that her older relatives back in a small town in rural Georgia would be upset if they knew that Newman was half Jewish. Mother of Nell Potts and Claire Newman. As of 2007, she is one of six women who have received Best Actress nominations for performances directed by their spouses. The other five are Frances McDormand for Fargo (1996), Gena Rowlands for A Woman Under the Influence (1974) & Gloria (1980), Julie Andrews for Victor Victoria (1982), Elisabeth Bergner for Escape Me Never (1935) and Jean Simmons for The Happy Ending (1969). Jules Dassin directed Melina Mercouri in an Oscar-nominated performance (Pote tin Kyriaki (1960)), but they weren't married yet at the time of the nomination.