Tiffani Thiessen | |
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.jpg) Thiessen in 2018 | |
| Born | Tiffani Amber Thiessen (1974-01-23)January 23, 1974 (age 51) Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | tiffanithiessen |
Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974)[1] is an American actress. Her roles asKelly Kapowski onNBC'sSaved by the Bell (1989–1993) and itsspin-off media, and asValerie Malone onFox'sBeverly Hills, 90210 (1994–98) established her as ateen idol of the 1990s. As an adult, she has played Wilhemina 'Billie' Chambers in Fox'sFastlane (2002–2003), Natasha Drew inABC'sWhat About Brian (2007),Elizabeth Burke inUSA Network'sWhite Collar (2009–2014), and Lori Mendoza inNetflix'sAlexa & Katie (2018–2020). For the latter, she earned aDaytime Emmy Award nomination.
Thiessen has appeared in several films, such asSon in Law (1993),Speedway Junky (1999),From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999),Love Stinks (1999),Ivans Xtc (2000),Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th (2000),The Ladies Man (2000),Hollywood Ending (2002) andCyborg Soldier (2008). She directed theshort filmJust Pray (2005), for which she earned a nomination from theTribeca Festival for Best Narrative Short. She hosted theCooking Channel seriesDinner at Tiffani's (2015–2017) and theMTV comedyclip showDeliciousness (2020–2022).
Thiessen was born inLong Beach, California,[2][3] the daughter of Robyn (née Ernest), ahomemaker, and Frank Thiessen, a park designer andlandscape architect.[4][5] She has credited her brother, Todd, as one of her most important sources of inspiration, and her mother and grandmother as role models.[6] Thiessen toldInStyle 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, Greek, Turkish and Welsh on the other. My mom is very olive-skinned; I get my blue eyes from my dad."[7][8]
Thiessen participated in beauty pageants during her childhood and was crowned Miss Junior America in 1987. The following year, she appeared on the cover ofTeen magazine, having won the magazine's "Great Model Search". In 1989, she was namedCover Girl's "Model of the Year", and landed her first role ofKelly Kapowski onNBC's television sitcomSaved by the Bell, starring until its end in 1993. The success of the show gave her career a boost and Thiessen receivedYoung Artist Award nominations forOutstanding Young Ensemble Cast in 1990 andBest Young Actress Starring in an Off-Primetime Series in 1991 and 1993.[9][10][11] Simultaneously, Thiessen guest-starred on series such asMarried... with Children,Charles in Charge andStep by Step. In 1992, she starred in her first television moviesSaved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style andA Killer Among Friends, making her film debut inSon in Law in 1993. She then continued with starring in spin-offSaved by the Bell: The College Years in its single season (1993–94) and in television movieSaved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994), which marked the end of the originalSaved by the Bell series.
In 1994, after her tenure onSaved by the Bell had ended, Thiessen landed the role ofValerie Malone inFox'sAaron Spelling-produced hit teen-dramaBeverly Hills, 90210, to fill the void afterShannen Doherty's departure. She was the first actress to directly join the main cast of the show and portrayed Valerie until 1998, when she left in the early episodes of the ninth season of the show. While starring in90210, Thiessen began to take on continuous dramatic leading roles in television films:The Stranger Beside Me (1995) andShe Fought Alone (1995),Sweet Dreams andBuried Secrets in 1996. After her departure from the show, she appeared in a number of films, includingSpeedway Junky (1999),From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999),Love Stinks (1999) andThe Ladies Man (2000); she also guest-starred onNewsRadio (1999),Two Guys and a Girl (2000),Just Shoot Me! (2001) andGood Morning, Miami (2003–04). In 2000, she was featured in themusic video for "You're a God" byVertical Horizon, portraying a beauty pageant contestant, in her first music video appearance. That year she also dropped her middle name which she had been including professionally for many years and is now credited as simply Tiffani Thiessen.[12] Thiessen was Spelling's first choice to replace Doherty in the seriesCharmed in 2001, but she refused his offer because she was hoping the NBC pilot forEverything But the Girl would be picked up.[13] The role eventually went toRose McGowan.
Meanwhile, Thiessen starred in direct-to-video parody filmShriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000) and in television movieEverything But the Girl (2001), before appearing in theWoody Allen-directed filmHollywood Ending (2002) and starring in action-drama seriesFastlane (2002–03) as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers, for which she received aTeen Choice Award nomination forChoice TV Actress – Drama/Action Adventure.[14] In 2003, she launched her production company Tit 4 Tat Productions, producing and directing the short filmJust Pray in 2005,[15] which earned distinctions at several film festivals,[16] including winning Best Score at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, an Academy Award qualifying festival. The original motion picture soundtrack album, co-produced by Thiessen and Al Gomes of Big Noise, was placed on the Official Ballot for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards by The Recording Academy in several categories including Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.[17]
Later on, she starred in television moviesStroller Wars (2006) andPandemic (2007), she joined the cast ofABC's dramaWhat About Brian (2007) for its last five episodes and starred in the science fiction filmCyborg Soldier (2008). In 2008, she made her second music video appearance, this time forBen Lee's "American Television". Thiessen appeared with her husbandBrady Smith on the September 6, 2009 episode of season four of the reality showHGTV Design Star. Interior designer Lonni Paul, one of the final three contestants of the season, was given the task of redesigning Thiessen's guest bedroom with an eco-friendly theme; Thiessen and Paul now have a nursery furniture line called PetitNest.[18] From 2009 through 2014, Thiessen appeared in theUSA Network crime seriesWhite Collar asElizabeth Burke.
On February 4, 2015, Thiessen reunited withSaved By the Bell co-starsMark-Paul Gosselaar,Elizabeth Berkley,Dennis Haskins andMario Lopez onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in which they appeared in aSaved by the Bell sketch with hostJimmy Fallon.[19][20][21] In the same year, Thiessen started hosting her own show onCooking Channel calledDinner at Tiffani's, which ran until 2017.
On June 7, 2017, Thiessen was cast as Lori Mendoza, mother of the Mendoza family on the multi cameraNetflix sitcomAlexa & Katie, which premiered its first two seasons on March 23 and December 26, 2018.[22] In 2021, at the48th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, she was nominated in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Daytime Fiction Program.[23]
In March 2020, it was announced that Thiessen would join the cast of theSaved by the Bell sequel series, reprising her role as Kelly Kapowski. She guest-starred in three episodes.[24] The show premiered onNBCUniversal's streaming networkPeacock beginning November 2020.[25] In November, it was announced that Thiessen would host theMTVcomedyclip showDeliciousness, a spinoff of that network's previous program,Ridiculousness.[26]
In April 2013, she participated in the One Bag party as part of Earth Month, in which theGlad company promoted "clean,green living".[27]
Thiessen was a teen idol during the 1990s, starting from her role as cheerleaderKelly Kapowski onSaved by the Bell and then playing bad girlValerie Malone onBeverly Hills, 90210. In a much-discussed moment,Justin Bieber appeared wearing a T-shirt with a photo of Thiessen in herSaved by the Bell days at the2011 MuchMusic Video Awards,[28] admitting his admiration for her. Basketball playerChris Paul also revealed publicly that he was a fan of Thiessen back then, when she sent him an autographedSaved by the Bell-era photograph of herself for his 29th birthday in 2014.[29]
Thiessen dated herSaved by the Bell co-starsMark-Paul Gosselaar andMario Lopez.[30][31][32][33]
In early 1992, Thiessen started dating her future90210 co-starBrian Austin Green, introduced by mutual friendDavid Faustino.[34][35] In 1999, she datedDavid Strickland, who died by suicide that year.[36] From 2001 to the spring of 2003, she was engaged to actorRichard Ruccolo, whom she had met during theTwo Guys and a Girl run.[37] She married actorBrady Smith on July 9, 2005,[37] and they have two children: a daughter born in 2010,[38] and a son born in 2015.[39]
Thiessen served asmaid of honor at90210 co-star and best friendJennie Garth's 2001 wedding to actorPeter Facinelli, with whom she co-starred onFastlane. Garth and Thiessen's friendship has since come to an end.[40] Her friendship with fellow90210 starTori Spelling also ended after Spelling's marriage to her first husband ended.[41]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Son in Law | Tracy | |
| 1999 | Speedway Junky | Wilma Price | |
| From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money | Pam | Direct to video film | |
| Love Stinks | Rebecca Melini / Juliette | ||
| 2000 | Ivans XTC | Marie Stein | |
| The Ladies Man | Honey DeLune | ||
| Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth | Hagitha Utslay | Direct to video film | |
| 2001 | A Christmas Adventure ...from a Book Called Wisely's Tales | Vixen (voice) | |
| 2002 | Hollywood Ending | Sharon Bates | |
| 2005 | Just Pray | Short; director | |
| 2008 | Cyborg Soldier | Lindsey Reardon |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Live-In | Girl | Episode: "Mommy and Me and Au Pair Make Three" |
| 1989–1993 | Saved by the Bell | Kelly Kapowski | Main role |
| 1990 | Charles in Charge | Jennifer | Episode: "There's a Girl in My Ficus" |
| Married... with Children | Heather McCoy | Episode: "What Goes Around Came Around" | |
| The Hogan Family | Brooke | Episodes: "California Dreamin' Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1992 | Step by Step | Tina Gordon | Episode: "Daddy's Girl" |
| Blossom | Ricki | Episode: "Driver's Education" | |
| Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style | Kelly Kapowski | Television movie | |
| The Powers That Be | Barbara | Episode: "The Intern" | |
| A Killer Among Friends | Jenny Monroe | Television movie | |
| 1993–1994 | Saved by the Bell: The College Years | Kelly Kapowski | Main role |
| 1994 | Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas | Television movie | |
| Burke's Law | Andrea Pierce | Episode: "Who Killed Romeo?" | |
| 1994–1998 & 2000 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Valerie Malone | Main role (seasons 5-9); guest (season 10) |
| 1995 | The Stranger Beside Me | Jennifer Gallagher | Television movie |
| She Fought Alone | Caitlin Rose | ||
| 1996 | Sweet Dreams | Alison Sullivan | |
| Buried Secrets | Annalisse Vellum | Television movie; also co-producer | |
| 1999 | Cupid | Stephanie MacGregor | Episode: "Children's Hour" |
| NewsRadio | Foxy Jackson | Episode: "Assistant" | |
| 2000 | Two Guys and a Girl | Marti | Recurring role |
| 2001 | Everything But the Girl | Denise | Pilot movie |
| Just Shoot Me! | Amy Watson | 3 episodes | |
| 2002–2003 | Fastlane | Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers | Main role |
| 2003–2004 | Good Morning, Miami | Victoria Hill | Recurring role |
| 2006 | Stroller Wars | Lainey | Television movie |
| 2007 | Pandemic | Kayla Martin | Miniseries |
| What About Brian | Natasha Drew | Recurring role | |
| 2009–2014 | White Collar | Elizabeth Burke | Main role |
| 2012–2016 | Jake and the Never Land Pirates | Misty the Wonderful Witch / Mermaid | Recurring role; voice |
| 2014 | Northpole | Chelsea Hastings | Television movie |
| 2015 | Hell's Kitchen | Herself | Episode: "Winner Chosen" |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Kelly Kapowski | Saved by the Bell sketch | |
| 2015–2017 | Dinner at Tiffani's | Herself / Hostess | Executive producer |
| 2017 | American Housewife | Celeste | Episode: "Dude, Where's My Napkin" |
| Food Network Star | Herself | Episode: "Summer Party Playoffs" | |
| 2018–2020 | Alexa & Katie | Lori Mendoza | Main role |
| 2019 | Sugar Rush Christmas | Herself | Episode: "Here Comes Santa Claus" |
| 2020–2021 | Saved by the Bell | Kelly Kapowski Morris | Recurring role |
| 2020–2022 | Deliciousness | Herself | Clip show; host |
| Year | Song | Artist | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "You're a God" | Vertical Horizon | Herself | |
| 2008 | "American Television" | Ben Lee | ||
| 2020 | "Pick Her Up" | Hot Country Knights | Dierks Bentley's alter ego |
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Young Artist Awards | Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast | Saved by the Bell | Nominated | [9] |
| 1991 | Best Young Actress Starring in an Off-Primetime Series | [10] | |||
| 1993 | Best Young Actress Starring in an Off-Primetime Series | [11] | |||
| 2003 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress – Drama/Action Adventure | Fastlane | [14] | |
| 2005 | Tribeca Festival Awards | Best Narrative Short | Just Pray | [16] | |
| 2021 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Daytime Fiction Program | Alexa & Katie | [23] |
| International | |
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| National | |