Jenna Fischer
Jenna Fischer at The Heart Truth Fashion Show, February 2008
Born	Regina Marie Fischer (1974-03-07) March 7, 1974 (age 38) Fort Wayne, Indiana
Occupation	Actress, director
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	James Gunn (2000–2008) Lee Kirk (2010–present)
Children	1

Regina Marie "Jenna" Fischer (born March 7, 1974)^[1] is an American actress and director. She is most widely known for her Emmy-nominated^[2] portrayal of Pam Halpert (née Beesly) on the NBC situation comedy and mockumentary The Office, and has also appeared in several films, including Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Promotion and Hall Pass.

Early life[link]

Fischer was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but raised in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Jim, a plastics engineer, and Anne, a history teacher.^[3] Fischer has one younger sister, Emily, a third grade teacher.^[4] Fischer experienced her first taste of performing at age six, when she participated in an acting workshop taught by her mother at Henry School in St. Louis, a workshop also attended by actor Sean Gunn, with whom she grew up.^[3][5]

Fischer attended Pierremont Elementary School in Manchester, Missouri, and Nerinx Hall High School, a private all-girls Catholic school, in Webster Groves, Missouri.^[6] She holds a bachelor of arts in theatre, as well as a minor in journalism, from Truman State University, where she originally enrolled as a pre-law history major.^[7][8]

Career[link]

Career development[link]

Fischer first began her career working in professional theatre. While attending college in Missouri, she performed with a touring Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre group^[9] and, upon her move to Los Angeles, began performing Commedia dell'arte with the Zoo District Theatre. Her performance in the company's musical adaptation of the film Nosferatu led to her first agent.^[10] However, she struggled to break into film and television, telling NPR that her first paying film job was a "sex education video for [psychiatric] patients upon their release from UCLA Medical Center".^[11] In a Myspace blog written specifically to advise actors beginning their own career,^[12] she explained that it took three years before landing her first televised speaking role, a part on Spin City.^[12]

She continued to spend the next few years of her career appearing in bit parts in small indie films, such as Employee of the Month, Lucky 13, and The Specials, as well as guest spots on the television shows Six Feet Under, That '70s Show, Cold Case, Miss Match, Strong Medicine, Undeclared, What I Like About You, and Off Centre.