Birthdate: September 9, 1980
Birthplace: Kalispell, Montana
Soundbyte: "I was born with a fierce need
for independence."
In doing a bit of research on Michelle Williams for this piece, I discovered that she's got much more acting experience under her belt than I realized. I know her best as Jen Lindley from Dawson's Creek, but Michelle was on a slew of other TV shows, such as Lassie (the newer one, obviously), Step By Step, Home Improvement and Baywatch (Really? She was on Baywatch?).
It was her role on Dawson's Creek that really put her in the spotlight; she appeared in a handful of noted indie films and would later star alongside Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the critically acclaimed Brokeback Mountain, for which she won a Critic's Choice Award.
The set of that movie is where she met Heath, who played her husband in the film. The couple eventually got engaged, had a daughter, Matilda Rose, in October of '05, but split in late '07 before marrying.
On January 22 of this year, Heath was found dead in his New York of an accidental overdose. Days later, Heath's publicist released a statement on behalf of Michelle, saying,
"My heart is broken. I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up with the best memories of him."
My heart broke for Michelle the day I hear of her ex's death; though their relationship didn't last, they created a beautiful daughter and took obvious pride in raising her and being her parents. I can't imagine what it's been like for Michelle in the months since Heath's death; she has, understandably, flown under the radar.
In Cannes last week, Michelle made her first (and then second) red carpet appearance since Heath's death, promoting the movies Wendy and Lucy and Synecdoche, New York. She looked radiant, and happy, and while I looked at the pictures, I couldn't help but feel a little bit proud of her.
Okay, a lot proud.
[photos:google images/source]
[quote:source]
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