Background:

"Someday I'd love to do Shakespeare. And to play a bitch." Christine Taylor

Blonde supporting and occasional lead actress Christine Taylor became famous for her portrayal, the desirable role, of Marcia Brady in the 1995's hit The Brady Bunch Movie, and its installment, the 1996's flop A Very Brady Sequel, where she received a nomination at the MTV Movie Award. She was also imposing as snotty cheerleader Laura Lizzie in The Craft (1996) and Drew Barrymore's best friend Holly Sullivan in the successful The Wedding Singer (1998). In the more recent films, Taylor is well-memorized by her fans as the love interest in her husband vehicles Zoolander (2001) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). Her admirers should look forward for Taylor's acting in the upcoming thriller Room 6 (2006) and comedy The Mirror (2006).

Off screen, Taylor, who was born on the same day as comedian/actor Tom Green, is known for being the wife of Ben Stiller, one of the most successful comedic actors in Hollywood, whom she married on May 13, 2000 in Kauai, Hawaii. The celebrity couple has two children, daughter Ella Olivia (born in 2002) and son Quinlin Dempsey (born in 2005). Before the marriage, 5' 6½ inch tall Taylor was romantically involved with Duke University basketball player Bill McCaffrey and actor Matthew Lillard (both dated in 1991), and director Jason Bloom (together in 1996).


Conservative Teen

Childhood and Family:

On July 30, 1971, Christine Joan Taylor was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Skip Taylor, who has a security company, and Joan Taylor, a homemaker. Brian Taylor is Christine's brother and actress Amy Stiller is her sister in law.
Christine found a knack for acting early on and started performing in local stage productions when she was three. She was educated at the Allentown Central Catholic High School and, consequently, was shaped into a very conventional youngster. By the time she finished high school, Christine had got her first chance to become a professional actress.

Christine met renowned comic actor Ben Stiller when he helmed her in the never aired pilot TV Heat Vision and Jack (1999). The couple quickly fell in love and became engaged in November that same year. On May, 2000, Christine and Stiller got married and she gave birth to their first child, daughter Ella Olivia, on April 10, 2002. The union has their second child, a son named Quinlin Dempsey, on July 10, 2005.


The Mirror

Career:

Allenton, PA native Christine Taylor initiated acting in local stage productions when she was only three and, fifteen years later, she made her professional debut in the Nickelodeon series "Hey Dude," in which she was cast as Melody Hanson, a lovable worker on a dude ranch. Arriving in Hollywood in 1991, Taylor coped with a string of guest starring performances in such shows as "Dallas," "Life Goes On," "Saved by the Bell" and "Blossom." In 1992, she had a victory in her hands with the LA stage production of "The Real Live Brady Bunch" at the Westwood Playhouse. She followed it up by making a leap into the wide-screen movie with the small role of Melissa Smock in the comedy Calendar Girl (1993), which starred Jason Priestley and Gabriel Olds. She also appeared as Julie the damsel in a low-budget version of The Karate Kid, Showdown (1993). Taylor stepped into the horror territory when she landed the part of Terri in Night of the Demons 2 (1994), but the film went straight to video.

Back to comedy, Taylor scored it big when director Betty Thomas cast Taylor in the coveted role of Marcia Brady in the box office smash hit The Brady Bunch Movie (1995). The success of the film made the actress popular and her career soon took flight. Also in 1995, she appeared as dim-bulb blonde Karen in two episodes of "Ellen," portrayed Marilyn Hyde in the little seen TV movie Here Come the Munsters (1995) and found herself acting opposite Jeremy London and Gina Philips in the drama film Breaking Free (1995). In 1996, Taylor returned to her Marcia Brady role for the sequel A Very Brady Sequel (1996). Thought it was a box-office failure, Taylor earned a nomination for Best Kiss (shared with Christopher Daniel Barnes) at the MTV Movie.
Sharing the screen with Neve Campbell and Fairuza Balk, Taylor was very impressive for her portrayal of Laura Lizzie, the snotty cheerleader who teased a juvenile witch and ended up losing her hair in the shower in The Craft (1996), before she had a feature role in the weirdly feminist Cat Swallows Parakeet and Speaks! (1996). On the small screen, after the made-for-TV movie To the Ends of Time (1996), she was recruited by Fox to star as a self-destructive rave party organizer in their new series "Party Girl" (1996).

Party Girl was axed after its fourth episode, but Taylor's career advanced rapidly after the cancellation. It was decorated by several guest performances in such popular shows as Seinfeld (1997) as Jerry's too perfect girlfriend and Friends (1997) played Phoebe's frank buddy. She also received many offers to play roles in the big-screen movie like appeared as Lauren in the horror Campfire Tales (1997), played a brutally bothered wife in Denial (1998) and was cast as Reese Witherspoon's rival in Overnight Delivery (1998). Taylor gave a memorable turn as Madonna-wannabe Holly Sullivan in the successful Drew Barrymore/Adam Sandler film The Wedding Singer (1998). The following year saw the actress work her way through a series of unremarkable and low budget movies, including Desperate But Not Serious (1999, opposite supermodel Claudia Schiffer) and Kiss Toledo Goodbye (1999).

After taking some time off to enjoy her off screen life with her new family, Taylor came back to the filmmaking in 2001 with a costarring role opposite her husband Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in Zoolander. In the comedy film, Taylor was seen as Matilda Jeffries, the love interest of Stiller's male model/super spy. It was followed by another hiatus until 2004 when starred as Kate Veatch, with Stiller and Vince Vaughn, in the wacky comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. The same year, Taylor appeared as herself during her husband 2004 stint on the hit HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Taylor continued to take on guest starring role in 2005 by playing a two-episode role of Sally Sitwell in "Arrested Development." In 2006, she is scheduled to portray the small role of Amy in the Michael Hurst-directed thriller Room 6 (2006) and play a role opposite her husband Stiller in the Scott Smith-scripted comedy The Mirror (2006).


Awards:
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