Kristen Bell

Kristen Bell was born July 18, 1980 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

For some actors, success just seems to come naturally. In the case of talented stage and screen beauty Kristen Bell, it wasn't so much a matter of if she was going to be a star after realizing her dream during an early performance as a banana in Rahhedy Ann and Andy at the tender age of 12 -- but when she would finally make the big time. Paralyzed with stage fright as she waited for her cue off-stage, Bell was offered a word of encouragement by her supportive mother that would ultimately give her the drive to realize her life's calling.

Kristen graduated from New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied musical theater. She made her Broadway debut in 2001, originating the role of Becky Thatcher in the short-lived "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." In 2002, Kristen was in the revival of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" on Broadway, starring Laura Linney and Liam Neeson.

In 2003, Bell impressed television viewers with a solid performance in the made-for-television drama The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay? before moving on to essay the unforgettable role of a young girl struggling to raise her three stepbrothers after their drug-addicted mother is sent to jail in Gracie’s Choice.