Ashley Judd is an American actress. Ashley Judd is the daughter of Naomi Judd, a country music singer and Michael C Ciminella a marketing analyst. Her elder half-sister, Wynonna, also is a country music singer. At the time of her birth, Ashley Judd mother was unemployed. Her parents divorced in 1972, and in 1973 her mother took her back to her native Kentucky.

Ashley Judd attended thirteen schools before college, and tried modeling in Japan. Ashley Judd majored in French and minored in anthropology, art history and theater. She spent a semester studying in France as part of her major. She graduated from the UK Honors Program and was nominated to Phi Beta Kappa.