The actress' pavement accolade is set to be right in front of the landmark cinema Grauman's Chinese Theater. That would have been a far cry for a girl who lived out of a car with her mother when they first moved to Southern California for her acting dream.

Swank's new film, in which she stars in the true-life story of a Long Beach high school English teacher, who sought to inspire a collection of would-be gang members, underachievers and misfits, grossed some 9.7 million dollars in its debuting weekend with a No.4 spot at the box office. She was also one of the film's executive producers.

Born July 30, 1974 in Lincoln, Nebraska, Swank was raised in Bellingham, Washington, where she participated in school and community theater programs, swimming and gymnastics.

As a teenager, Swank moved to Southern California to further her acting hopes, living out of a car with her mother Judy until her mother saved enough money to rent an apartment.

Swank made her movie debut in 1992's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and played the title role in "The Next Karate Kid" in 1994.

She joined the cast of the Fox Broadcasting primetime soap opera "Beverly Hills 90210" in 1997, portraying a single mother working as a waitress, but was dropped after 16 episodes.

However, that allowed Swank to audition for the first of her two best actress Academy Award-winning roles, a girl murdered after passing herself off as a boy in "Boys Don't Cry." She was paid 3,000 dollars for her work in the 1999 film.

Swank's second Oscar came for her portrayal of a woman boxer in the 2004 film "Million Dollar Baby" directed and co-starred by Clint Eastwood.

Swank's next film is "The Reaping," due out March 30, starring as a former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was killed, becomes a world-renowned expert in disproving religious phenomena and investigates what appears to be biblical plagues in a small Louisiana town.