Tiffani Thiessen
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (born
January 23,
1974) is an
American television and
film actress. After many years of going by her full name, she is now credited as simply
Tiffani Thiessen.
She was born in
Long Beach,
California, and her father, Frank, was a park designer and her mother, Robyn, was a homemaker. She is of
German,
Greek,
Turkish and
Welsh descent. She told
InStyle, "I'm a
mutt. I have so much of everything in me, and half of it I don't even know. German on one side; Greek, Turkish and Welsh on the other. My mom is very olive-skinned; I get my blue eyes from my dad." [
1] Her brother, Todd, was a really big inspiration to her, and her biggest role models were her mother and grandmother. [
2]
As a child, she competed in many
beauty pageants, and she won the Miss Junior America pageant in
1987. Her first big break in
show business was her role on the television program
Saved By The Bell, as nice girl
Kelly Kapowski, a role she continued playing in the short lived
Saved by the Bell: The College Years. This was very different from her next major role, as a duplicitous vixen, Valerie, on
Beverly Hills 90210.
She later starred in the
sitcom Two Guys and a Girl and the short-lived action show
Fastlane, as well as guest-starring on
Just Shoot Me!. Her transition to film has not gone well so far, as most of her movies, including
Love Stinks, have been critically panned. In 2002, she appeared in the film
Hollywood Ending by
Woody Allen. In 2005, she released a short (21 minute) film she had directed called
Just Pray. It placed at several film festivals and was the first major effort from her new production company, Tit 4 Tat Productions.
In March of 1999, her then-boyfriend, actor
David Strickland, committed
suicide and from October 2001 to April 2003, she was engaged to actor
Richard Ruccolo, whom she had met during the
Two Guys and a Girl run. On
July 9,
2005, she married actor
Brady Smith in the
gardens of a private estate in
Montecito, California.
Good Morning, Miami (
2003) (
TV series)
Fastlane (
2002) (
TV series)
Hollywood Ending (
2002)
Two Guys and a Girl (
1998) (
TV series) (
2000)
The Ladies Man (
2000)
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The 13th (
2000)
Love Stinks (
1999)
Beverly Hills 90210 (
1990) (
TV series) (
1994–
1998)
Son in Law (1993)
*Saved by the Bell'' (
1989) (
TV series)
*Recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign
*
Official Home Page*
tit 4 tat Productions - Tiffani Thiessen's own production company. Includes
profile of Thiessen.
*
Interview with Tiffani Thiessen*
Tiffani Thiessen biography*
Rave - Tiffani Thiessen fansite
