Witherspoon was born in Denton, Texas as Richard Dane Witherspoon. At age 19, he was the youngest student ever accepted by the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, California, appearing in productions from Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams. He performed one season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. After getting his acting degree from ACT, Witherspoon went to Hollywood in 1980 where he landed small roles in The Waltons and Eight Is Enough.
In 1984, he made his soap opera debut as the original Joe Perkins on Santa Barbara. Three months later, Dane was replaced by Mark Arnold. Dane soon returned to daytime as Tyler McCandless on Capitol; he played this part from 1985 to 1986. He met Actress Robin Wright when they auditioned for Santa Barbara. The two were married from 1986 to 1988. Witherspoon had two sons with his second ex-wife, Tracy Shaffer.
