Reese Witherspoon showed up in court Friday addressing her father's alleged illegal second marriage and mental incapacity ... asking a Tennessee judge to place him under a conservatorship STAT. 

Reese's mother filed a lawsuit earlier this week ... claiming the Oscar-winner's father illegally married ANOTHER woman earlier this year, but was not mentally stable enough to remember ... citing his major drinking problems and on-set dementia in the suit.

Witherspoon's parents have been separated since 1996 ... but they never filed for divorce so legally they are still married.

Reese appeared in front of a probate judge Friday in an emergency hearing and asked that her father be placed under a conservatorship ... claiming he is not capable of making his own decisions.

Witherspoon's mother also obtained a restraining order against her husband's new wife and barred her from using the last name Witherspoon.

A judge has yet to rule.

Reese Witherspoon turns 36 today ... and she may be getting the best birthday gift ever if she really is carrying her first child with husband Jim Toth.

The same day news of her pregnancy was reported, Reese was spotted in a loose fitting black top and red skirt in L.A. on Wednesday.

While the Oscar winner has yet to confirm the baby news, she already has two kids with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe.

Reese Witherspoon didn't let a little thing like a black eye from getting run over by a 84-year-old woman while jogging two weeks ago stop her from ... jogging again this weekend.

She's a fighter.

Reese Witherspoon is still bearing the scars from a run-in with a car last week -- sporting a big black eye ... 6 days after she was run over by an 84-year-old woman.

Reese was out in L.A. yesterday, smiling on her way to a birthday party -- despite the big band-aid on her forehead.

A different photo that we quickly learned had been taken BEFORE the accident had made the rounds last week showing Reese looking fine ... but the fact is, that photo was taken before Reese was hit by a car in Santa Monica.

As TMZ previously reported, Reese was hospitalized after the accident on Wednesday, but she was soon released after doctors determined her injuries were only minor.

The 84-year-old woman who hit Reese Witherspoon with her car says she feels awful about the situation ... but also thinks there's a big problem with the intersection where the accident happened.

According to a family member, the woman thinks the Santa Monica corner is especially dangerous because there's a large tree blocking sight lines for drivers.

We're also told she was very shaken up by the accident -- and had no idea she had hit an Oscar winner when it all went down.

The family member says the woman has stayed off the road since the accident. The citation she received requires her to retake her driving test. She plans to do so as early as today ... and is due in court October 7.

The 84-year old woman ticketed for hitting Reese Witherspoon in a crosswalk just got slapped with another stiff penalty -- she's been ordered to the DMV to retake her driver's test.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Santa Monica police have asked the DMV to haul in the elderly driver for a full re-examination within the next 30 days. In addition to the driver's test -- we're told she will have to take an eye exam, and provide a list of medications she's taking.

The woman was already cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk ... but making anyone -- much less an octogenarian -- stand in line at the DMV is a punishment that sticks with you.

Reese Witherspoon was rushed to a Santa Monica hospital around 11am this morning, after a car struck the actress while she was jogging.

Law enforcement tells TMZ, Reese's injuries were very minor -- nothing life-threatening.

According to law enforcement, the driver was an 84-year-old woman. We're told Reese was crossing the street at the time of the accident ... and the driver failed to stop.

The driver was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian and released.


7:30 PM: A rep for Reese tells TMZ, the actress has since left the hospital and is now resting comfortably at home.

Looking more appropriate for a walk of shame than to walk a red carpet, Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Stewart and Chelsea Handler sported some serious morning after hair at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday.



Sometimes even the pros need to brush up.

OK, she didn't use her name -- but it was obvious at the MTV Movie Awards last night, Reese Witherspoon HATES everything Kim Kardashian stands for -- from the sex tape to the reality show.



As Reese accepted the "Generation Award," she told the crowd, "I just wanna say to all the girls out there, it's cool to be bad, I get it ... but it's also possible to make it in Hollywood without a reality show."

She added, "When I came up in this business, if you made a sex tape, you were embarrassed and you hid it under your bed and if  you took naked pictures of yourself on your cell phone, you hide your face."

Was that a shot at Blake Lively?

The elephant featured in the Reese Witherspoon/Robert Pattinson movie "Water for Elephants" was abused years before filming the movie -- this according to an animal rights group that claims it has video to prove it.



Animal Defenders International claims the video shows Tai, the elephant in the movie ... and several other elephants ... being trained with electric shock devices and bull hooks back in 2005.

ADI claims the trainers in the video are actually Tai's current owners -- a company called Have Trunk Will Travel.

The American Humane Association was on set during filming of "Water for Elephants" and says "no animals were harmed" ... and filmmakers used computer generated images for the scenes depicting animal abuse.

As for the 2005 video ... the American Humane Association says they are aware of it and will comment shortly.

Calls to Have Trunk Will Travel were not returned. 

UPDATE: A rep for AHA tells us, "We were not present when this video was shot in 2005. We are not clear about all of the content of this video."

The rep adds, "We hope with all our heart that the disturbing images on it are not what they appear to be.  We know Tai, have worked with Tai, care about Tai and we have never witnessed any mistreatment of Tai."

Reese Witherspoon spent Easter with her kids, Deacon and Ava, and her new husband, Jim Toth.


One big happy family.