Home •  Biography •  Filmography •  Gallery •  Links Kristen Anne Bell was born on July 18, 1980 in Detroit, Michigan and has two sisters: Sara and Jody. Her parents Tom and Lori split when she was just 2 years old. She attended Burton Elementary School in Huntington Woods, Michigan, where she was known as Annie Bell, because ?Annie? was her favorite musical. She then went to Shrine Catholic High School in Royal Oak, Michigan and studied musical drama at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts in New York, New York. 11-year-old Kristen Bell went to her first audition and won a double role as a banana and a tree in a suburban Detroit theater's production of ?Raggedy Ann and Andy.? After getting an agent, she began to appear in local newspaper advertisements, including for Kmart. She subsequently landed on TV commercials and took private acting lessons. While studying at Shrine Catholic High School in nearby Royal Oak, Bell played the lead role in the school's 1997 production of ?The Wizard of Oz,? singing as Dorothy Gale. She also performed in ?Fiddler on the Roof? (1995), ?Lady Be Good? (1996) and Li'l Abner (1998). In the year of her graduation, Bell took an uncredited appearance in writer-director Theresa Connelly's 1998 film Polish Wedding (starring Claire Danes), which was being filmed locally. After high school, Bell packed for New York and signed up with the high-status Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Three years later, she originated the key role Becky Thatcher in her Broadway debut, the brief-lived ?The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? (2001) and followed it up with the next year?s Broadway appearance in the revival of Arthur Miller's ?The Crucible,? opposite Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. She also officially made her credited film debut in writer-director Louis C.K's musical comedy Pootie Tang (2001, starring Lance Crouther). Bell provided her voice for the English version of the Japanese animated movie Neko no ongaeshi (a.k.a. The Cat Returns) in 2002. In the next year, she debuted on the Hallmark movie The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay, costarring as Alison opposite Tim Matheson, Sean Young and Edward Asner. The drama TV movie was directed by Sam Pillsbury based on Michael De Guzman's novel. She subsequently was spotted as a guest in an episode of "The Shield," "American Dreams" and "Everwood." She also had recurring appearances in "The O'Keefes" and HBO's drama "Deadwood." In 2004, Bell nabbed the significant role of Gracie, a 17-year-old teenager who raised her two half-siblings after their drug-addicted mother is sent to jail, in the TV movie Gracie's Choice. In the drama movie helmed by Peter Werner, Bell starred opposite Diane Ladd and Anne Heche. That same year, Bell snagged the divergent role of Laura Newton, the kidnapped daughter of a high-ranking government official, in writer-director David Mamet's spy movie Spartan (with Val Kilmer, Derek Luke and Tia Texada). After Spartan, Kristen Bell?s breakout role arrived in the TV series "Veronica Mars." In the crime drama series created by Rob Thomas, Bell portrayed the title character of a 17-year-old private investigator trying to uncover Neptune's darkest secrets (she actually 7 years older than her character). The show was launched in the fall of 2004 and originally started as an experiment for the cable. Fortunately, it earned positive reviews from television critics and UPN consequently renewed the show for a second season. "I loved Veronica right off the bat. She was so strong and I think it is so important because there are so few shows that portray women, especially young women as being strong and being able to stand up for themselves.? Kristen Bell (on why she liked the pilot script for "Veronica Mars"). 2005 saw Bell reprised her off-Broadway role in the Showtime version of the musical spoof Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, playing the girlfriend of Christian Campbell's character, Mary Lane. Directed by Andy Fickman, the TV movie is an outrageous tongue-in-cheek musical comedy adopted from the classic Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney's play. She also could be seen in David S. Marfield's adaptation of Matthew F. Jones' novel, the thriller Deepwater (starring Lucas Black and Peter Coyote) and Tim Garrick's 16-minute film, The Receipt (alongside Courtney Abbiati). Bell will add to her acting resume such films as Theo Avgerinos' comedy Fifty Pills (alongside Lou Taylor Pucci) and Angela Bettis' thriller Roman (starring Lucky McKee). She will also star as Emily, a girl who wants to stop her friend from suicide after receiving the supernatural-force e-mail, in the upcoming horror Pulse. The film is Jim Sonzero's English language adaptation of Kiyoshi Kurosawa?s ?Kairo? (Japan/2001). "I'm not in the business of becoming famous. And that's the advice I give to younger aspiring actors. Work onstage and do the little roles. In the end it's not important to be seen. It's important to do. There's a lot of disappointment in this business, but my family keeps me grounded." Kristen Bell. Credit: Superiorpics.com