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On 23 February 1994, in Conyers, Georgia, Hannah Dakota Fanning was born to a mother who liked "Hannah" and a father who liked "Dakota". Eventually, she chose "Dakota" as her professional name.

Her dream of becoming an actress was realized in 1999, when the talented five-year-old was chosen from thousands of young hopefuls to star in a nationwide commercial campaign for Tide dishwashing liquid. Several small television roles followed, including a guest appearance as a leukemia patient on ER, which remains one of her favorite characters.

I Am Sam would catapult young Dakota to stardom around the globe. By this time, the family had relocated from Georgia to Los Angeles under the recommendation of an agent who predicted a glittering future for Dakota. She was quite justified — at the age of eight, Dakota became the youngest person in history to receive a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild award, and won the prestigious Broadcast Film Critics Association Award.

Since then, she has played opposite Jim Carrey, Eric Close, Tom Cruise, Robert De Niro, Brittany Murphy, Denzel Washington and more in such films as The Cat in the Hat, Hide and Seek, Man on Fire and War of the Worlds.

Filmography

• Hurricane Mary (2008)
• Winged Creatures (2008)
• Coraline (2008)
• Hounddog (2007)
• Charlotte's Web (2006)
• Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (2005)
• Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Hide and Seek (2005)
• Nine Lives (2005)
• "Justice League" (1 episode, 2004)
• Man on Fire (2004)
• "Friends" (1 episode, 2004)
• Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003)
• The Cat in the Hat (2003)
• Uptown Girls (2003)
• "Taken" (6 episodes, 2002)
• Hansel & Gretel (2002)
• Trapped (2002)
• Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
• I Am Sam (2001)
• "The Ellen Show" (1 episode, 2001)
• "Family Guy" (1 episode, 2001)
• Tomcats (2001)
• "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" (1 episode, 2001)
• "Malcolm in the Middle" (1 episode, 2001)
• Father Xmas (2001)
• "Spin City" (1 episode, 2000)
• "The Practice" (1 episode, 2000)
• "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (1 episode, 2000)
• "Strong Medicine" (1 episode, 2000)
• "Ally McBeal" (1 episode, 2000)
• "ER" (1 episode, 2000)
• Tonari no Totoro (1988)

Awards

• Broadcast Film Critics' Choice Best Young Actress "War of the Worlds" 2006
• MTV Movie Awards Best Frightened Performance "Hide and Seek" 2005
• Broadcast Film Critics' Choice Best Young Actor/Actress "I Am Sam" 2001
• Golden Satellite Outstanding New Talent "I Am Sam" 2001