Who is JoAnna Garcia Swisher?
JoAnna Lynne Garcia Swisher, born August 10, 1979, is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery on the WB/CW sitcom Reba and Maddie Townsend on the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias.
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Biography
JoAnna Garcia Swisher was born on August 10, 1979, in Tampa, Florida. Her mother, Loraine, is a homemaker and former elementary school teacher of Spanish descent. Her father, Jay García (1945-2019), was a gynecologist from Cuba. She has one brother, Michael García.
Swisher began performing at age 10 when she auditioned for a local theater production and landed the lead. Disney Channel discovered her, but her parents put school first and she acted in local plays to keep up with her passion. She was the homecoming queen at Florida’s Tampa Catholic High School.
While in high school, Garcia Swisher was re-discovered by Nickelodeon and starred for three seasons as Samantha on Are You Afraid of the Dark?. She commuted from Florida to Montreal, Canada, where the show was filmed. She was cast at the age of fifteen on the 1994 television drama Party of Five, playing the recurring character Hallie.
After graduating from high school, Garcia Swisher spent a year attending Florida State University, but dropped out to move to Hollywood to pursue acting full-time. She continued to guest star on television shows such as seaQuest DSV, Second Noah, and Superboy. She also had roles in several films of the week.
In 2001, Garcia landed her breakout role as Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery on the WB/CW sitcom Reba. The show ran for six seasons and was a critical and commercial success. Garcia Swisher received two Teen Choice Award nominations for her performance.