Major Works
- Homesick: A Memoir (2002)
Sela Ward: A Biography
by Justine Couvillion (SHS)
Sela Ward was born on July 11, 1956, in Meridian, Mississippi. Her father was an electrical engineer, and her mother was a homemaker. Sela is the oldest of four children.
After high school, Sela went to the University of Alabama to major in art and advertising. During her college years, she was also a cheerleader and homecoming queen. She graduated in 1977 and moved to New York to work for an advertising agency, where she also began a successful career in modeling with the Wilhelmina Agency. After appearing in almost twenty television commercials, Sela decided to move to Los Angeles. She became interested in television and film and got her first TV role on the short-lived series, Emerald Point, N.A.S. Then Sela got her big break when she was chosen for The Man Who Loved Women, co-starring with Burt Reynolds (“Sela Ward”).
During her career, Sela Ward has received several awards and honors, including two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her work on Once & Again and Sisters, and a Cable Ace Award for her role as Jessica Savitch in Almost Golden (Ward). Sela is also on the Mississippi Wall of Fame.
Ward founded Hope Village for Children, a permanent home for abused and neglected children in Meridian, Mississippi, her hometown. Part of the proceeds from her first book, Homesick: A Memoir, will go to Hope Village for Children (DiBlasi).
Sela is married to Howard Sherman and has two children; a son named Austin, and a daughter, Anabella. She and her family currently live in Los Angeles and have land and a little house in Meridian (Ward).
Timeline
- 1956- Sela Ward was born on July 11th
- 1959-Attended Miss Mary Alpha Johnson’s Charm School
- 1970- Ninth grade, Lamar Phi Kappa Little Sister at Lamar, a private high school
- 1971- Seventeen advertisement appeared
- 1973- Graduated from Lamar (a year early)
- 1973-1974- Attended a local junior college
- 1974- Became a varsity cheerleader at the University of Alabama
- 1976- Pepsi girl
- 1977- Graduated from the University of Alabama in fine arts and advertising
- 1977- Worked for Wilhelmina Agency model in New York and also started acting classes
- 1983- Moved to Los Angeles and was cast in her first movie The Man Who Loved Women
- 1983 – “Hilary Adams” in a new TV series, a drama called Emerald Point N.A.S.
- 1991- First season on TV series Sisters
- 1991 – Met her husband Howard Sherman
- 1992- Sela Ward and Howard Sherman married (May 23rd)
- 1993 – Bought Honeysuckle Farm in Meridian, Mississippi, and built Rose Cottage
- 1993 – “Played Helen Kimble in The Fugitive with Harrison Ford
- 1994 – Birth of son Austin
- 1997 – Birth of daughter Anabella
- 1997 – Purchased an old building for Hope Village for Children in Meridian, Mississippi
- 1999 – “Lily Sammler” in Once & Again (TV)
- 2000 – Won “Emmy” for Once & Again
- 2002 – Death of her mother Annie Kate Boswell Ward
- 2017 – Inducted in to the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame
Reviews
A Review of Homesick: A Memoir
by Justine M. Couvillion (SHS)
Justine Couvillion, SHS Researcher
Homesick: A Memoir by Sela Ward is an autobiographical, true story, full of joy, heartaches, and laughter. The story brings both warmth and sorrow to the true American who is yearning to be in touch with her inner self. These stories and lessons throughout this book can benefit everyone.
Sela Ward describes how she grew up in the small town of Meridian, Mississippi, as the oldest of four children. She was always taught to believe in herself and to recognize the importance of virtues such as self-respect, grace, and sacrifice (Ward). These virtues have always remained with her as have some of the small town ways of life.
After graduating from the University of Alabama, Sela Ward explains how she moved to New York to begin working for an advertising agency. She also began modeling for television ads, but she felt that this was not the career she desired and decided to go into acting. She then moved to Hollywood where she finally felt she had found her place in life. Sela Ward shares in her memoir how in Hollywood she met her true love, Howard, and how they were soon married and became the parents of two children, Anabella and Austin. Her words express how, although she has accomplished so much in life, still had the feeling something missing. That something turned out to be her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi. Sela missed the warmth of the small town and wanted her children to feel the love of the South. She describes how they found and bought some land in Meridian and built their very own magical getaway. The tone of the story changes when a tragedy occurs in her family with the death of her mother from cancer at the first of the year in 2002. Through this tragedy she has learned the real reason she made that simple journey home. It will forever impact her life.
This book is proof of the true love of families and childhood friends. I enjoyed reading this book because it relates to the small town life that many of us live and some of us yearn for. Her words are easy for me to understand, and her style makes it easy to feel as if I have become a part of her life. I recommend this book to anyone who is searching for meaning in life and for those who just want to experience life itself through the eyes of Sela Ward.
Related Websites
- Sela Ward movies on IMDb
- Sela Ward Official Fan Club site
- Wikipedia page for Ward includes all of her movies, television shows, and awards
- Read a biography, updates, games, message board, photos, and news about Sela Ward.
- Read book reviews from critics and customers from Barnes & Noble on Sela Ward’s book Homesick: A Memoir.
Bibliography
- DiBlasi, Laura. “Actress/author Sela Ward Holds Book Signing.” Dateline Alabama. Ed. Alyda Hardy. 9 December 2002.
http://www.datelinealabama.com/article/2002/12/7/3458_arts_art/php3 - “More Than a Pretty Face: Meridian Honors Sela.” Sela Ward. 9 December 2002.http://www.selawardtv.com/honors.html.
- Morrow, Terry. “Actress Sela Ward Finds Comfort and Purpose in Writing Homesick.” Knoxnews: Living. 9 December 2002. http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/living/article/0,1406,kns_2796_15862,00.htm17.
- “Sela Ward.” Thespian Net. 9 December 2002.http://www.thespiannet.com/actresses/w/ward_sela/.
- Ward, Sela. Homesick: A Memoir. New York: Harper Collins, 2002.