Biography And Photos: Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American film and television actress. She has had lead roles in TBS's The Bill Engvall Show and in the independent films The Burning Plain and Winter's Bone, for which she received critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. At age 20, this made her the second youngest actress to ever be nominated for the award. She was cast as Katniss Everdeen in the upcoming 2012 film, The Hunger Games, which is based on the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Early life
Lawrence was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Karen (née Koch), who runs a children's camp, and Gary Lawrence, who once owned a concrete construction firm, Lawrence & Associates. She acted in church plays[5] and, by the age of 14, had decided to pursue an acting career, persuading her parents to take her to New York City to find a talent agent. Although she had no training or experience, she received high praise from the agency for which she auditioned. She graduated from high school two years early in order to begin a career in acting.