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How Ashley Judd Achieved a Net Worth of $22 Million

Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd is an American television personality who gained fame and fortune through her acting career. Her stunning beauty made it easy for her to land several roles in movies that skyrocketed her into a life of success in her chosen profession. She has earned an estimated $22 million in net wealth. Acting is a tough profession to break into and so many talented actors struggle to make ends meet. Ashley was fortunate in her career to get a few lucky breaks that helped her make it to the top of her profession, but it was not an easy road for her. How did she become so incredibly wealthy? Did she earn this fortune through her acting career or did she have other income sources that contributed to her large estate? We looked into her personal and career history to find out and here is what we discovered.

Her early years

Ashley Judd was born on April 19, 1968, according to Article Bio, to Naomi Judd and Michael Ciminella in Granada Hills Los Angeles. She is approaching her 53rd birthday in April of 2021. She was born into a family of famous women. Her mother Naomi and sister Wynona achieved fame and fortune when their country music career as a mother-daughter duo took off with several hit releases and a grueling touring schedule. This wasn't the career path that Ashley chose to follow. The younger sibling found her niche, but it was not in the music industry. Although it seemed she remained in the shadow of her famous mother and sister, her time came to shine and she became one of Hollywood's most brilliant stars.

Her career in film

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ashley's intelligence and beauty were two of her strongest traits that helped her to get ahead and blaze a trail in the movie industry. In 1993 she landed a role in the film "Ruby in Paradise," which turned out to be her breakthrough role. She was cast in other starring roles that portrayed her as a strong and capable woman. She co-starred with Morgan Freeman in "Kiss the Girls," and also went on to take the lead part in "High Crimes. She was fortunate to be cast in the science fiction project "Star Trek: The Next Generation" which ran from 1987 through 1994, making a few appearances. Next, she appeared as the wife of Val Kilmer in the film Heat" in 1995. In 1996, Ashley was cast in the role of the famous Marilyn Monroe in the HBO movie "Norma Jean & Marilyn." In 2002, she appeared in "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, followed by a horror flick titled "Bug" in 2006. She went on to star in the hit thriller "Double Jeopardy" playing a parolee falsely imprisoned for the murder of her abusive husband, who faked his death and framed her for the crime, opposite Tommy Lee Jones, in 1999. She seeks to clear her name and exact a little revenge in the film.

Her personal life

According to Net Worth Lists, Ashley's career as an actress was successful, but everything was not smooth sailing in her life. Although her mother and sister achieved fame just before the launch of Ashley's very successful career, this was a time in her life that was not as glamorous as it appeared. The side effects of her rise to fame and fortune came with a price. She battled with loneliness and depression, as outlined in her published memoirs titled "All That is Bitter & Sweet," released in 2011. She didn't achieve super-star status as an actress as some of her contemporaries in the business and it was a tough industry to navigate. Ashley went for roles that were not that difficult to secure, and she wasn't afraid to take on a challenge, which in part, helped her to achieve success. She is a talented actress who proved her mettle by taking on challenging roles. She shined as a beautiful, intelligent, and skilled professional actress, but her life was not as glamorous as it seemed to observers.

Ashley's other interests

The Richest reveals that Ashley got married in December of 2001. She wed Dario Franchitti, a Scottish auto racer. The marriage lasted for 12 years before they decided to go their separate ways and divorced in 2013. Judd revealed that earlier in her career, she was one of the women who was sexually harassed by the infamous Harvey Weinstein, Miramax co-founder who is now serving time in prison for his multiple convictions of the crimes. The harassment happened while she was filming "Kiss the Girls."

Ashley is an educated woman who attended the University of Kentucky. She studied theater, art history, anthropology, French, and women's studies. She also attended the John F. Kenned School of Government at Harvard University where she earned her Master of Public Administration degree. She enrolled in the Ph.D. program in public policy at the University of California Berkeley, but after 6-weeks in the program, she was forced to drop her enrollment because of severe headaches. However, she was awarded an honorary doctor of Human Letters degree from Union College of Barbourville, Kentucky. Ashley is also a political activist who supported former President Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign. She is also involved in various humanitarian efforts and she is an active philanthropist, supporting worthy causes. She is also a fashion designer with three very successful fashion lines, as well as spending some time during her career as a model.

Final thoughts

Ashley Judd's fortune of $22 million is the result of her hard work in the film industry. She earned the bulk of her fortune by starring in multiple box office hit films for which she was paid very well. She also brings in other teams of income from her multiple other ventures, but most of her estate has been built by her acting career.

Allen Lee

Written by Allen Lee

Allen Lee is a Toronto-based freelance writer who studied business in school but has since turned to other pursuits. He spends more time than is perhaps wise with his eyes fixed on a screen either reading history books, keeping up with international news, or playing the latest releases on the Steam platform, which serve as the subject matter for much of his writing output. Currently, Lee is practicing the smidgen of Chinese that he picked up while visiting the Chinese mainland in hopes of someday being able to read certain historical texts in their original language.

Read more posts by Allen Lee

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