Zellweger was born inKaty, Texas. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is from a small town in thecanton ofSt. Gallen,[1] Switzerland, and is a mechanical and electrical engineer who worked in the oil refining business.[2] Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (née Andreassen), a native ofNorway, is of Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and possibleSámi,[3][4] ancestry. Kjellfrid grew up inKirkenes andEkkerøy,[5] and is anurse andmidwife who moved to theUnited States to work as a governess for aNorwegian family in Texas.[6][7] Zellweger has described herself as being raised in a family of "lazyCatholics andEpiscopalians".[7] Zellweger took acting classes because she wanted to make certain shegraduated from theUniversity of Texas at Austin with aliteraturedegree.
.jpg)
