Tiffani Thiessen

Tiffani Amber Thiessen is an American actress born on January 23, 1974, in Long Beach, California. The daughter of homemaker Robyn and park designer Frank Thiessen, she participated in beauty pageants during her childhood. She was crowned Miss Junior America in 1987, won Teen magazine's Great Model Search in 1988, and was named Cover Girl's Model of the Year in 1989.

In 1989, Thiessen landed her breakthrough role as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's sitcom Saved by the Bell, starring until 1993 and receiving multiple Young Artist Award nominations. During this period, she guest-starred on series such as Married... with Children, Charles in Charge, and Step by Step. She also starred in television movies like Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992) and A Killer Among Friends (1992), made her feature film debut in Son in Law (1993), and continued her role in Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993–1994) and Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas (1994).

Thiessen further established herself as a 1990s teen idol when she joined Fox's Beverly Hills, 90210 as Valerie Malone, starring from 1994 to 1998. While on the series, she led several television drama films, including The Stranger Beside Me (1995), She Fought Alone (1995), Sweet Dreams (1996), and Buried Secrets (1996). Dropping her middle name professionally in 2000, she expanded into film roles, appearing in projects like Speedway Junky (1999), From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999), Love Stinks (1999), Ivans Xtc (2000), Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th (2000), and The Ladies Man (2000).

In 2002, Thiessen appeared in Woody Allen's film Hollywood Ending and starred as Wilhemina 'Billie' Chambers in the Fox action-drama Fastlane (2002–2003), which earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination. She formed Tit 4 Tat Productions in 2003 and directed the 2005 short film Just Pray, receiving a nomination for Best Narrative Short from the Tribeca Festival. Her subsequent work included television movies Stroller Wars (2006) and Pandemic (2007), a guest arc on What About Brian (2007), and the film Cyborg Soldier (2008).

From 2009 to 2014, Thiessen played Elizabeth Burke on USA Network's crime series White Collar. She later hosted the Cooking Channel show Dinner at Tiffani's (2015–2017) and starred as Lori Mendoza on Netflix's Alexa & Katie (2018–2020), receiving a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her performance. Her recent work includes hosting MTV's comedy clip show Deliciousness (2020–2022) and reprising Kelly Kapowski in Peacock's Saved by the Bell sequel series in 2020.

Outside of performing, Thiessen co-created the PetitNest nursery furniture line with interior designer Lonni Paul and participated in Earth Month charity events. On July 9, 2005, she married actor Brady Smith, with whom she has two children, a daughter born in 2010 and a son born in 2015.