Laurel McGoff

Laurel McGoff

Laurel McGoff (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Laurel McGoff (born January 12, 1995) is an actress and singer, most widely known for her appearance in the CBS reality series Kid Nation in 2007. She has been in multiple local and regional stage productions prior to being selected for Kid Nation, where she figured prominently in every episode, as well as appearing in many publicity interviews for the show after filming.

Background

Laurel was born in Medford, Massachusetts; at the time of filming for Kid Nation, she was 12 years old. She has blue-green eyes and red hair. She has singing experience and was offered a singing contract when she was eight years old, though her parents turned it down. In sixth grade, Laurel made her school's honor roll.

Stage performances

In 2003, Laurel portrayed Belinda Cratchit, second of the Cratchit daughters, in a stage production of A Christmas Carol at the non-profit North Shore Music Theatre. Prior to that, she played the title character in the Charlestown Working Theater's production of Annie as well as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Theatre, Music and More in Saugus.

Television appearances

Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman

In 2006, she appeared in two episodes of Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman where her brother, Brian, competed.

Kid Nation

Laurel was a participant in the CBS reality series Kid Nation in 2007, where she appeared prominently in every episode. She was introduced in the first episode as a town council member and remained on the council through the first election series where she was unchallenged. Laurel chose green for her district color. However, at the second election, Laurel lost to Michael. At the end of Day 31, Laurel was awarded the gold star, at the first town hall meeting after the election. She calls her time on Kid Nation the best experience of her life and was hailed by some for having "consistently demonstrated thoughtfulness under pressure and deservedly [winning] a gold star worth $20,000" and her "single-minded selflessness."