Zooey Claire Deschanel was born on Jan. 17, 1980 in Los Angeles, CA. She and her older actress sister, Emily, were raised by their father, Caleb, an Oscar-winning cinematographer and their mother, actress Mary Jo. Deschanel, whose first name was taken from the male Zooey Glass character of J.D. Salinger’s story Franny and Zooey, often spent her young years hanging out on film set locations – despite the fact that deep down, Deschanel wished for a typical, sedentary family home life. Despite this fact, by the time she was old enough to know what acting was, she wanted to be an actress, but her parents rejected the idea, telling her she would have to wait until she had a driver’s license to get her around town.
