February 23rd, 2008 - Happy Birthday Dakota Fanning!

As of 2007, her most well-known films have been War of the Worlds and Charlotte’s Web.

She has won numerous awards, and is currently the youngest person ever to have been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Fanning was born Hannah Dakota Fanning in Conyers, Georgia, the daughter of Joy (née Arrington), who played tennis professionally, and Steve J. Fanning, who played minor league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and now works as an electronics salesman in Los Angeles. Her maternal grandfather is football player Rick Arrington and her aunt is ESPN reporter Jill Arrington.

Fanning is the older sister of Elle Fanning, also an actress. Fanning’s mother had wanted to name her “Hannah” and her father wanted to name her “Dakota”; she has always used Dakota among her friends and family. Fanning is of half German descent and Irish origin. Fanning and her family are members of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Fanning began acting at the age of five after appearing with legendary musician Ray Charles in a television commercial for the state lottery and being chosen for a Tide commercial. Her first significant acting job was a guest-starring role in the NBC prime-time drama, ER, which remains one of her favorite roles,

“I played a car accident victim who has leukemia. I got to wear a neck brace and nose tubes for the two days I worked.”

Fanning subsequently had several guest roles on established television series, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Friends, The Practice, Spin City and Malcolm in the Middle. She also portrayed the title characters of Ally McBeal and The Ellen Show as young girls. In 2001, Fanning was chosen to star opposite Sean Penn in I Am Sam, the story of a mentally impaired man who fights for the custody of his daughter (played by Fanning).

This role made Fanning the youngest person (in 2002, at age eight) ever to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, for her supporting performance. This role would establish her as Hollywood’s main annoyingly inquisitive child actor. When she won the Best Young Actor/Actress award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association for the film, she was too short to reach the microphone; presenter Orlando Bloom held her up for the duration of her acceptance speech.

Fanning is an avid reader, and includes among her hobbies knitting, swimming, piano, violin, ballet, and horseback riding. Dakota also wears ceramic orthodontic braces and a palatal expander.

In 2006, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the youngest person ever at the age of 12.

Peter Fonda/Actor -68
Patricia Richardson/Actress -57
Howard Jones/Singer -53
Kristin Davis/Actress -43
Emily Blunt/Actress -25

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