Mayim Bialik Biography

Mayim Hoya Bialik (born December 12, 1975) is an American actress widely known for her roles as Blossom Russo on NBC's Blossom (1990"1995), and currently as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory, for which she was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Early life and education

Bialik was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Barry Bialik and Beverly (née Winkelman). Her grandparents emigrated from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary in the late 1930s. Hayim Nahman Bialik, Israel's national poet, was Mayim Bialik's great-great-grandfather's uncle. Bialik was raised in Reform Judaism. Her given name means "water" in Hebrew.

Bialik attended Walter Reed Junior High School in North Hollywood, California. At the end of Blossom, she chose to attend UCLA, although she also had been accepted to both Harvard and Yale. She stated that she wanted to stay close to her parents and did not want to move to the East Coast. She earned degrees in neuroscience, Hebrew and Jewish studies, and went on to the PhD program in neuroscience.

She took a break from studies in 2005 to return to acting. Bialik completed her PhD in 2007. Her dissertation was an investigation of hypothalamic activity in patients with Prader"Willi syndrome.

Career

Bialik started her career as a child actress in the late 1980s. Her early roles included the horror film Pumpkinhead (1988), her first acting job, and guest appearances on The Facts of Life and Beauty and the Beast. She appeared in three episodes of MacGyver as Lisa Woodman. She appeared in Beaches (1988), playing Bette Midler's character as a young girl. She also appeared in the video for the song "Liberian Girl" by Michael Jackson.

In 1990, Bialik was tied to two television pilots, Fox's Molloy and NBC's Blossom. Molloy at first produced six episodes for a tryout run, followed by the shooting of the pilot special for Blossom. The latter actually aired two weeks before Bialik's Fox series and ultimately garnered higher ratings than it. When Molloy folded after its six episodes, Blossom was pursued as a regular series, airing until 1995.

Between 1995 and 2005, Bialik mostly did voice-over work for cartoons, such as The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Recess.

She appeared in the feature film Kalamazoo? (2005) and appeared in three episodes of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm as Jodi Funkhouser, the lesbian daughter of a friend of Larry David. Bialik also made guest appearances as a fictionalized version of herself in the series Fat Actress, and made a guest appearance as a Hasidic Jew in an episode of Saving Grace. She had a recurring role as the high school guidance counselor in ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She also made an appearance on the Fox TV show 'Til Death in which she has a reunion of sorts with two of her Blossom co-stars " Jenna von Oÿ, who played Blossom's quirky best friend Six, and Michael Stoyanov, who played Blossom's older brother Anthony.

In 2009, Bialik was nominated by Clinton Kelly for a makeover on TLC's What Not To Wear.

In Season 3 (2009"2010), she joined the cast of The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler. Her first appearance was in the season finale as a potential love interest for the character of Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). In Season 4, she began as a recurring character playing Sheldon's "friend that's a girl, but not a girlfriend." Beginning with Season 4, Episode 8, she became part of the main cast. Bialik's character is a neurobiologist, or neuroscientist, which corresponds to Bialik's real-life educational pursuits. Bialik's performance in The Big Bang Theory earned her Emmy Award nominations in 2012 and 2013 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Prior to her joining the cast, in the episode "The Bat Jar Conjecture", Raj suggests recruiting the real-life Bialik to their Physics Bowl team, saying "You know who's apparently very smart, is the girl who played TV's Blossom. She got a Ph.D. in Neuroscience or something."

On March 6, 2012, her book, Beyond the Sling: A Real-Life Guide to Raising Confident, Loving Children the Attachment Parenting Way, was released.

Personal life

Bialik married Michael Stone on August 31, 2003, in a Victorian-themed ceremony with traditional Jewish customs. Stone, born into a Mormon family, converted to Judaism; several years later, his mother converted to Judaism as well. Bialik and Stone have two sons together: Miles, born in 2005, and Frederick, born in 2008. In November 2012, Bialik and Stone announced that they were divorcing, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in May 2013.

In a 2012 interview, Bialik stated that she would call herself "aspiring Modern Orthodox". She has appeared in several YouTube cameos as Blossom and Amy Farrah Fowler asking questions about Jewish beliefs. The videos are produced by Allison Josephs, Bialik's Judaism study partner, whom she met with the help of Partners in Torah.

Bialik is a celebrity spokesperson for the Holistic Moms Network.

Bialik is a vegan and a founding member of the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute.

Bialik spoke at the 2011 Penn State Lehigh Valley graduation in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Beaches	Young Cecilia "CC" Carol Bloom	Won " Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Fantasy
1988	Pumpkinhead	Wallace kid
1994	Don't Drink the Water	Susan Hollander
2005	Kalamazoo?	Maggie Goldman
2011	'	Nancy Kurshan
2011	The Dog Who Saved Halloween	Medusa	Voice only
2012	Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire	Maria	Voice only

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Beauty and the Beast	Ellie	Episode: "No Way Down"
1988	'	Jennifer Cole	Episodes "The Beginning of the Beginning" "The Beginning of the End"
1988"1989	Webster	Frieda	Eight episodes
1989"1990	Empty Nest	Laurie Kincaid
1989"1990	MacGyver	Lisa Woodman
1990	Doogie Howser, M.D.	Candace	Episode: "Ask Dr. Doogie"
1990	Molloy	Molloy Martin	Canceled after seven episodes
1990	Murphy Brown	Natalie	Episode: "I Want My FYI"
1990"1995	Blossom	Blossom Russo
1991	Sea World's Mother Earth Celebration (on Nickelodeon)	Herself
1992	'	Petey
1993	The Hidden Room	Jillie	Episode: "Jillie"
1994	Don't Drink the Water	Susan Hollander
1994"1995	'	Rachel
1995"1996	'	Brittany Bright
1996"1999	Hey Arnold!	Maria
1996	'	Lucy
1996	'	Julia/French Woman
1997"2000	Recess	Kirsten Kurst
1997	Johnny Bravo	Tour Guide
1997	Extreme Ghostbusters	Girl in Future
1998	Welcome to Paradox	Rita	Episode: "Alien Jane"
2003"2004	Kim Possible	Justine Flanner
2005	Katbot	Paula	Voice only
2005	Fat Actress	Herself
2005	7th Heaven	Cathy	Episode: "Dick"
2005"2007	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Jodi Funkhauser
2009	Saving Grace	Esther	Episode: "Mooooooooo"
2009	What Not To Wear	Herself
2009	Bones	Genie Gormon	Episode: "The Cinderella in the Cardboard"
2010	The Secret Life of the American Teenager	Dr. Wilameena Bink
2009	'Til Death	Herself
2010"present	'	Amy Farrah Fowler	Nominated " Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominated " Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated " Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film }}

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	'	Bush Pilot, May Deuce	Voice only