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Tiffani Thiessen
Tiffani Thiessen (2007)
Born	Tiffani-Amber Thiessen January 23, 1974 (1974-01-23) (age 36) Long Beach, California, United States
Occupation	Actress, producer, director
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Brady Smith (2005-Present)

Tiffani Thiessen (born Tiffani-Amber Thiessen; January 23, 1974) is an American actress best known for her roles as Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell and as Valerie Malone in Beverly Hills, 90210. She is also known for her role on Fastlane as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers. As of 2009, she plays the role of Elizabeth Burke, in White Collar. After many years of going by her full name, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, she is now credited as simply Tiffani Thiessen.¹

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 5 Award nominations 6 Radio 7 References 8 External links

Early life

Thiessen was born in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Robyn, a homemaker, and Frank Thiessen, a park designer and landscape architect. She has two siblings; an older brother named Todd, an actor and avid professional cyclist, and a younger brother named Schuyler.² Her father is of German descent and her mother is of Turkish and Welsh descent. Thiessen told InStyle magazine: "I'm a mutt. I have so much of everything in me, and half of it I don't even know. German on one side, Turkish and Welsh on the other. My mom is very olive-skinned; I get my blue eyes from my dad."³. She credits her brother, Todd, as one of her most important sources of inspiration, and her mother and grandmother as role models.⁴ She attended Cubberley Elementary and Marshall Junior High School in Long Beach. In 1992, Thiessen graduated as valedictorian at Valley Professional High School in Studio City, Los Angeles, California. Her uncle, Roger Ernest, attended college with Steven Spielberg and co-wrote one of his student films called Slipstream. Her uncle also appeared in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Sugarland Express, playing a police officer in both films. Ernest was the first person to suggest that Thiessen enter show business.

Career

After a childhood of beauty pageants, Thiessen was crowned Miss Junior America in 1987 and a year later won Teen magazine's "Great Model Search" in 1988, by gracing the cover of that issue. At the age of fifteen, she auditioned for the role of Kelly Kapowski on the television show Saved by the Bell, which was highly publicized and received a great deal of fanfare from the same magazine that discovered her.⁵ In the end, Thiessen's publicity from that magazine had landed her the role. Her character was popular on the show and within the youth-oriented industry. As a result, she was nominated for, but did not win, the Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast. also being nominated in 1989, 1991, and 1992. The show was so successful that the six main cast members were immortalized in toy form of a 12 inch doll that was created individually for each character's likeness. She continued to play Kelly Kapowski, in the short-lived spin-off, Saved by the Bell: The College Years. To broaden her visibility on television, Thiessen began making television appearances with guest starring roles on several television shows and television movies, as well as in film. Including Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992), A Killer Among Friends (1992), Son in Law (1993), and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994). During her years while on Saved by the Bell, Thiessen was seen in guest roles on such shows as Charles in Charge (1990), Married... with Children (1990), The Hogan Family (1990), Step by Step (1992), and The Powers That Be (1992).

After her tenure on Saved by the Bell, ended in 1994, prolific producer Aaron Spelling then cast Thiessen in the hit teen-drama Beverly Hills, 90210 playing the bad girl vixen Valerie Malone (1994-1998). Thiessen then began to take on dramatic roles in several made-for-television movies, including The Stranger Beside Me (1995), She Fought Alone (1995), Sweet Dreams (1996), and Buried Secrets (1996). Thiessen later guest-starred on NewsRadio (1999) and the sitcom Two Guys and a Girl and starred in the short-lived action drama series Fastlane. She also guest-starred on Just Shoot Me! (2001) playing Amy Watson and the short-lived Good Morning, Miami (2003-2004) playing Victoria Hill. Unfortunately, her transition into film has not gone well thus far, as most of her movies have been universally panned by film critics. In 2002, she appeared in the film Hollywood Ending, directed by Hollywood veteran, Woody Allen.

In 2005, Thiessen directed a 21-minute short film entitled, Just Pray. It placed at several film festivals and was the first major effort from her latest production company, Tit 4 Tat Productions.

In January 2007, Thiessen joined the cast of ABC's drama What About Brian, playing the boss of Brian, and a potential love interest for Adam. However, in May 2007, ABC officially canceled the series.

Then on December 2, 2008, TV Guide reported that Thiessen was cast in White Collar, a new USA Network television pilot.⁶

Thiessen appeared as a celebrity client for Lonni Paul, one of the final three contestants on the season 4 HGTV interior designing reality series Design Star, on the September 6, 2009 episode. Interior designer Lonni Paul was given the task of redesigning Thiessen's guest bedroom with an eco-friendly theme. Her husband Brady Smith also appears in this episode.

Personal life

During the early and mid-1990s she dated Brian Austin Green.⁷

From October 2001 to March 2003, she was engaged to actor Richard Ruccolo, whom she had met during the Two Guys and a Girl run.⁸

She married actor Brady Smith on July 9, 2005. The couple announced on November 9, 2009 that they are expecting their first child in May 2010.⁹

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Saved by the Bell	Kelly Kapowski	TV series (1989-1993)
1990	Married... with Children	Heather McCoy	1 episode
	Charles in Charge	Jennifer	1 episode
	The Hogan Family	Brooke	2 episodes
1992	Step by Step	Tina Gordon	1 episode
	Blossom	Ricki
	Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style	Kelly Kapowski	TV movie
	The Powers That Be	Barbara
	A Killer Among Friends	Jenny Monroe	TV movie
1993	Son in Law	Tracy
1993	Saved by the Bell: The College Years	Kelly Kapowski	TV series (1993-1994)
1994	Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas	Kelly Kapowski	TV movie
	Beverly Hills, 90210	Valerie Malone	TV series (1994-1998)
1995	The Stranger Beside Me	Jennifer Gallagher	TV movie
	She Fought Alone	Caitlin Rose	TV movie
1996	Sweet Dreams	Alison Sullivan	TV movie
	Buried Secrets	Annalisse Vellum	TV movie (also co-producer)
1999	Speedway Junky	Wilma Price
	From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money	Pam
	Love Stinks	Rebecca Melini/Juliette
	NewsRadio	Foxy Jackson	TV series
2000	Ivans XTC	Marie Stein
	The Ladies Man	Honey DeLune
	Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth	Hagitha Utslay
2001	Everything But the Girl	Denise	TV movie
	A Christmas Adventure from a Book Called Wisely's Tales	Vixen (voice)
	Just Shoot Me!	Amy Watson	3 episodes
2002	Hollywood Ending	Sharon Bates
2002	Fastlane	Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers	TV series (2002-2003)
2005	Just Pray		Short film (director)
2006	Stroller Wars	Lainey	TV series
2007	Pandemic	Kayla Martin	TV movie
	What About Brian	Natasha Drew	TV series
2008	Cyborg Soldier	Lindsey Reardon
2009	White Collar	Elizabeth Burke	TV series (2009-present)

Award nominations

Teen Choice Awards

• 2003 - Choice TV Actress: Drama, "Fastlane"

Young Artist Awards

• 1989 - Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast, "Saved by the Bell"
• 1991 - Best Young Actress Starring in an Off-Prime Time or Cable Series, "Saved by the Bell"
• 1992 - Best Young Actress in an Off-Prime Time Series, "Saved by the Bell"

Radio

• Recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign
• She was featured in the following music videos:
  • "You're a God" by Vertical Horizon
  • "American Television" by Australian artist Ben Lee.

References

External links

• Official website
• Tiffani Thiessen at the Internet Movie Database
• Tiffani Thiessen at TV.com