“You can do anything if you work hard enough…just do it!” These are the words Judy Swank said to her daughter, two time Oscar-winning actress, Hilary Swank, from the time she was a young girl, and the words she has since lived by in her own life. The journey Judy has experienced in her lifetime has been one of trials, determination, and triumph. Never one to give up, she’s faced poverty, divorce, unemployment, uncertainty and now, with those things behind her, has found a sense of contentment and joy.

Judy was born in Leon, Iowa, to James and Frances Clough and raised on a farm with her three sisters and two brothers in the nearby small town of Kellerton. After graduating from high school, she attended Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa, and received Certification as a Legal Assistant. She has lived in six states and traveled extensively throughout the U.S. before coming to California in 1990 with her daughter, Hilary, where she would tirelessly work to get her daughter into auditions, meetings with agents, and ultimately find success in Hollywood. Known for living out of her car for a few weeks and calling from payphones to follow Hilary’s dream, Judy demonstrates the core determination that people often wonder how people achieve. “When you see something special in your child that should be believed in and nurtured, you realize with certainty that nothing worthwhile is achieved without sacrifice.”

Judy is the mother of two children, Dan and Hilary, and the grandmother of three, Zackery, Amanda, and Brandon James. She now resides in Playa Del Rey with her sweetheart, Mark. In 2006 she was a recipient of the Woman of Courage Award given by the City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women and presented with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition. She has appeared on Oprah, on radio, and in a variety of publications with her daughter.

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