Tiffani Thiessen Biography

Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born 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 starring in Fastlane as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers, as well as for her current role of Elizabeth Burke in the USA Network television series White Collar. After many years of going by her full name (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), she dropped her middle name and is now credited as simply Tiffani Thiessen.

Early life

Thiessen was born in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Robyn (née Ernest), a homemaker, and Frank Thiessen, a park designer and landscape architect. She has two siblings; an older brother named Todd, an actor and avid cyclist, and a younger brother named Schuyler. Her father is of German descent and her mother is a mix of Greek, Turkish and Welsh descent. She credits her brother, Todd, as one of her most important sources of inspiration, and her mother and grandmother as role models. 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. Her uncle, Roger Ernest, was the first person to suggest that Thiessen enter show business; he attended college with Steven Spielberg, co-writing and starring in one of his student films called Slipstream, and later appeared in Spielberg's The Sugarland Express and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Career

After a childhood of beauty pageants, Thiessen was crowned Miss Junior America in 1987, and the following year, she won Teen magazine's "Great Model Search", gracing the cover. In 1989, she was named Cover Girl magazine's "Model of the Year", and landed her first role of Kelly Kapowski on television sitcom Saved by the Bell, starring until its end in 1993. The success of the show gave her career a boost and Thiessen received Young Artist Award nominations for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in 1990 and Best Young Actress in an Off-Primetime Series in 1992 and 1993. Simultaneously, Thiessen guest starred on series such as Married... with Children, Charles in Charge and Step by Step. In 1992, she starred in her first television movies Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style and A Killer Among Friends, making her film debut in Son in Law in 1993. She then continued with starring in spin-off Saved by the Bell: The College Years in its single season (1993"94) and in television movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994), which marked the end of the original Saved by the Bell series.

In 1994, after her tenure on Saved by the Bell had ended, Thiessen landed the role of Valerie Malone in Aaron Spelling-produced hit teen-drama Beverly Hills, 90210, to fill the void after Shannen Doherty's departure. She was the first actress to join directly the main cast of the show and portrayed Valerie until 1998, when she left in the early episodes of her fifth season in the show. While starring in 90210, Thiessen began to take on continuous dramatic leading roles in television films: The Stranger Beside Me and She Fought Alone in 1995, Sweet Dreams and Buried Secrets in 1996. After her departure from the show, she appeared on a number of films, including Speedway Junky (1999), From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999), Love Stinks (1999) and The Ladies Man (2000); she also guest-starred on NewsRadio (1999), Two Guys and a Girl (2000), Just Shoot Me! (2001) and Good Morning, Miami (2003"04). In 2000, she was featured in the music video for "You're a God" by Vertical Horizon, portraying a beauty pageant contestant, in her first music video appearance. Thiessen was Spelling's first choice to replace Doherty in popular series Charmed in 2001, but she refused his offer.

Meanwhile, Thiessen starred in direct-to-video parody film Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000) and in television movie Everything But the Girl (2001), before appearing in Woody Allen-directed film Hollywood Ending (2002) and starring in action drama series Fastlane (2002"03) as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers, for which she received a Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice TV Actress in Drama/Action Adventure. In 2003, she launched her production company Tit 4 Tat Productions, producing and directing short film Just Pray in 2005, which earned distinctions is several film festivals. Later on, she starred in television movies Stroller Wars (2006) and Pandemic (2007), she joined the cast of ABC's drama What About Brian (2007) for its last five episodes and starred in science fiction film Cyborg Soldier (2008). In 2008, she made her second music video appearance, this time for Ben Lee's "American Television". Thiessen appeared with her husband Brady Smith on the September 6, 2009 episode of season four of the reality show HGTV 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. Since 2009, Thiessen stars in the USA Network crime series White Collar as Elizabeth Burke.

Personal life

In early 1993, Thiessen started dating Brian Austin Green, introduced by mutual friend David Faustino in 1988; they moved in together in July 1994, but they broke up in the fall of the next year. In 1999, she went through a difficult period in her personal life, when David Strickland, whom she had recently begun dating, committed suicide. From 2001 to the spring of 2003, she was engaged to actor Richard Ruccolo, whom she had met during the Two Guys and a Girl run. She married actor Brady Smith on July 9, 2005, and gave birth to their daughter, Harper Renn Smith, on June 15, 2010.

Thiessen served as maid of honor at 90210 co-star and best friend Jennie Garth's wedding to actor Peter Facinelli, with whom she co-starred on Fastlane, but their friendship has come to an end. Thiessen's friendship with fellow 90210 star Tori Spelling also broke up, after Spelling's split from her first husband.

In 2013, Thiessen participated in the One Bag party for April for Earth Month, in which Glad promoted "clean, green living".

Filmography

Film and television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989"93	Saved by the Bell	Kelly Kapowski	TV series
1990	Married... with Children	Heather McCoy	Episode: "What Goes Around Came Around"
	Charles in Charge	Jennifer	Episode: "There's a Girl in My Ficus"
1992	Step by Step	Tina Gordon	Episode: "Daddy's Girl"
	Blossom	Ricki
	Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style	Kelly Kapowski	TV movie; as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen
	The Powers That Be	Barbara
	A Killer Among Friends	Jenny Monroe	TV movie
1993	Son in Law	Tracy
1993"94	Saved by the Bell: The College Years	Kelly Kapowski	TV series; as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen
1994	Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas	Kelly Kapowski	TV movie; as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen
1994"98	Beverly Hills, 90210	Valerie Malone	TV series; as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen
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
	Cupid	Stephanie McGregor	Episode: "Children's Hour"
	From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money	Pam	Direct to video
	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	Direct to video
	Two Guys and a Girl	Marti	TV series
2001	Everything But the Girl	Denise	TV movie
	A Christmas Adventure ...from a Book Called Wisely's Tales	Vixen (voice)	Direct to video
	Just Shoot Me!	Amy Watson	3 episodes
2002	Hollywood Ending	Sharon Bates
2002"03	Fastlane	Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers	TV series
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" present	White Collar	Elizabeth Burke	TV series
2012" present	Jake and the Never Land Pirates	Misty the Wonderful Witch	TV series; Recurring voice role

Music videos

Year	Artist	Song
2000	Vertical Horizon	"You're a God"
2008	Ben Lee	"American Television"

Award nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1990	Young Artist Award	Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast	Saved by the Bell
1992	Young Artist Award	Best Young Actress Starring in an Off-Prime-time or Cable Series	Saved by the Bell
1993	Young Artist Award	Best Young Actress in an Off-Prime-time Series	Saved by the Bell
2003	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Actress " Drama/Action Adventure	Fastlane
2005	Jury Award	Best Live Action Over 15 Minutes (as producer and director)	Just Pray