Name: Kristen Bell
Profession: Actress
Birth Date: July 18, 1980
Height: 5' 1"
Kristen Anne Bell was born in Detroit, Mich. to a Polish-American family. She was raised in suburban Huntington Woods and attended Shrine Catholic High School in nearby Royal Oak. There she took the starring role in the school's 1997 production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale. She also appeared in Fiddler on the Roof (1995), Lady Be Good (1996), and Li'l Abner (1998). In 1998, the year of her graduation, she appeared in "Polish Wedding," a movie that was being filmed locally.
Shortly after her high school graduation, Bell moved to New York and attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, majoring in musical theater. In 2001, during her senior year at NYU, Bell left a few credits shy of graduating to take a role in the Broadway musical of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. That same year, she made her credited film debut in "Pootie Tang." However, her one line in the film was cut and her appearance exists only as a scene shown during the credit sequence.
In 2002, Bell appeared in the Broadway revival of The Crucible with Liam Neeson, Angela Bettis and Laura Linney. She then moved to Los Angeles, Calif. to further pursue her acting career.
Two years later, Bell appeared in the Lifetime television movie "Gracie's Choice." She also made her official feature film debut in David Mamet's "Spartan," starring alongside Val Kilmer as Laura Newton, the kidnapped daughter of a high-ranking U.S. government official.
Later that same year, Bell landed her breakout role as the title character in the UPN cult-favorite drama "Veronica Mars."
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