Look up Lauren in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Lauren may be a name or surname. The name's meaning may be "Laurel tree", "sweet of honor" or "victory of wisdom".

Given name[link]

• Lauren Alaina (born 1994), American singer and former 'American Idol' 10 contestant
• Lauren Albanese (born 1989), American professional tennis player
• Lauren Anderson (born 1980), American model and Playboy Playmate
• Lauren Bacall (born 1924), American actress
• Lauren Barlow, member of Christian rock band Barlow Girl
• Lauren Boquette (born 1992), current singer for the band SiX
• Lauren Bosworth (born 1986), also known as Lo Bosworth, American appearing in the reality TV shows Laguna Beach and The Hills
• Lauren Boyle (born 1987), New Zealand swimmer
• Lauren Brooke, author
• Lauren Bush-Lauren (born 1984), American model, niece to former President George W. Bush, daughter-in-law to fashion designer Ralph Lauren
• Lauren Cheney (born 1987), American soccer player
• Lauren Child (born 1965), British author and illustrator
• Lauren Christy, English-born singer and songwriter
• Lauren Cohan (born 1982), American actress
• Lauren Cohn, newsreader
• Lauren Collins (born 1986), Canadian actress best known for her role on Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Lauren Colthorpe (born 1985), Australian Association Football player
• Lauren Conrad (born 1986), (, American reality television star known for her role on The Hills
• Lauren Crace (born 1986), British actress
• Lauren Embree (born 1991), American tennis player
• Lauren Etame Mayer (born 1977), footballer
• Lauren Faust (born 1974), Emmy-nominated American animator and creator of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
• Lauren Gale (1917–1996), American basketball player
• Lauren German (born 1978), actress
• Lauren Gold (born 1980), English fashion model and actress
• Lauren Graham (born 1967), American actress
• Lauren Greenfield (born 1966), American artist / documentary photographer
• Lauren Harries (born 1978), child actor
• Lauren Hewitt (born 1978), Australian track and field
• Lauren Hill (disambiguation), Playboy playmate
• Lauren Hoffman (born 1977), American singer
• Lauren Holly (born 1963), American actress
• Lauren Hutton (born 1943), former model
• Lauren Jackson (born 1981), Australian basketball player
• Lauren Jones (born 1982), American actress
• Lauren Koslow (born 1953), actress
• Lauren Lanning (born 1983), Miss Texas 2006
• Lauren Lappin (born 1984), American softball player
• Lauren Laverne (born 1978), British disc jockey
• Lauren London (born 1984), American actress known for her role in ATL
• Lauren Luke (born 1981), English makeup artist and Internet Mogul
• Lauren McAvoy (born 1987), British fashion model and winner of cycle 3 of Britain's Next Top Model
• Lauren MacMullan (born 1971), animation director best known for her work on King of the Hill
• Lauren Maltby (born 1984), American actress
• Lauren Mitchell (born 1991), gymnast
• Lauren Myracle (born 1969), author
• Lauren Nelson (born 1986), Miss American 2007
• Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born 1993), American actress
• Lauren Phoenix (born 1979), Canadian female porn star
• Lauren Samuels (born 1988), British actress & singer
• Lauren Sánchez (born 1969), American news anchor
• Lauren Shuler Donner (born 1949), American producer
• Lauren Slater (born 1963), Writer and psychologist
• Lauren Socha (born 1990), British actress
• Lauren Lee Smith (born 1980), Canadian actress
• Lauren Stamile (born 1976), American actress
• Lauren Tewes (born 1954), American actress best known for her role in TV's The Love Boat
• Lauren Tom (born 1961), American actress best known for her role in The Joy Luck Club
• Lauren Vélez (born 1964), Puerto Rican actress
• Lauren Wenger (born 1984), water polo player
• Lauren Weinstein (activist), activist concerned with matters involving technology
• Lauren Weinstein (comics) (born 1975), American comic book artist
• Lauren Wood, American singer
• Lauren Woodland (born 1977), American actress
• Lauren Young (born 1993), actress

Fictional characters[link]

• Lauren Andrews, in Waterloo Road
• Lauren Fenmore Baldwin, in 'The Young and the Restless
• Lauren Branning, in EastEnders
• Lauren Cooper, in The Catherine Tate Show
• Lauren Frost (born 1985), heroine in the series Bloom
• Lauren Reed, in the television show Alias
• Lauren "Lo" Ridgemount, in the Canadian animated series Stoked
• Lauren Valentine, in Hollyoaks
• Lauren Waters, in Britannia High
• Lauren Zizes, in Glee
• Lauren Lewis, in the Canadian television series Lost Girl

Other uses[link]

• Penn, North Dakota, also known as Lauren, an unincorporated community
• Lauren (perfume), a Ralph Lauren fragrance

See also[link]

• Laura (given name)
• Laurin (disambiguation)
• Laureano (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Troian Avery Bellisario (born October 28, 1985) is an American actress. She currently stars as Spencer Hastings in the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars.

Career[link]

Bellisario made her acting debut in the 1988 film Last Rites at the age of three.^[1] From 1990 to 2007, she guest starred on Quantum Leap, Tequila and Bonetti, JAG, First Monday and NCIS, television series that were produced by her father Donald Bellisario. In 1998, she co-starred with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in the film Billboard Dad. Beginning in 2006, Bellisario began appearing in a number of independent short films namely, Unspoken, Archer House and Intersect. In November 2009, Bellisario was cast as Spencer Hastings in the TV series Pretty Little Liars based on the book series of the same name by Sara Shepard.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Bellisario graduated from the University of Southern California.^[3] She is of African, English, French, Italian Danish and Serbian descent^[4][5] Bellisario is in a relationship with actor Patrick J. Adams.^[6]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Troian Bellisario at the Internet Movie Database
• Troian Bellisario on Twitter

Jennifer Beals
Beals at a fan convention for The L Word in November 2008
Born	(1963-12-19) December 19, 1963 (age 48) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation	Actress Model (former)
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Alexandre Rockwell (m. 1986–1996; divorced) Ken Dixon (m. 1998–present; 1 child)

Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former. She has appeared in more than 50 films.

Early life[link]

Beals was born on the southside of Chicago,^[1] the daughter of Jeanne (née Anderson), an elementary school teacher, and Alfred Beals, who owned grocery stores.^[2][3] She is biracial,^[4] as her father was African American and her mother is Irish American.^[5] She has two brothers, Bobby and Gregory.^[6] Her father died when Beals was nine years old,^[7] and her mother married Edward Cohen in 1981.^[8] Beals has said her biracial heritage had some effect on her, as she "always lived sort of on the outside", with an idea "of being the other in society".^[5] She got her first job at age 13 at an ice cream store, using her height at the time (she is now nearly 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)), to convince her boss she was 16.^[7]

Beals was inspired to become an actress by two events: doing a high school production of Fiddler on the Roof and seeing Balm in Gilead with Joan Allen while volunteer-ushering at the Steppenwolf Theatre.^[9]

She graduated from the progressive Francis W. Parker School.^[10] Beals also was chosen to attend the elite Goodman Theatre Young People's Drama Workshop.^[11] Beals attended Yale University, receiving a B.A. in American literature in 1987;^[12] she deferred a term so she could film Flashdance.^[10] While at Yale, Beals was a resident of Morse College.^[12]

Career[link]

Film[link]

Beals in Sweden, July 1983

Beals had a minor role in the 1980 film My Bodyguard,^[13] then came to fame with her starring part in Flashdance. The third-highest grossing U.S. film of 1983, Flashdance is the story of 18-year-old Alex, a welder by day and exotic dancer by night, whose dream is to be accepted someday at an illustrious school of dance. Beals was cast for this key role while still a student at Yale. She was nominated for a Golden Globe and the film received an Academy Award for Best Song. Many of Beals' elaborate dance moves were actually performed by stunt double Marine Jahan.^[14]

After she filmed Flashdance, she resumed her studies, making only one film during that time: playing the titular character The Bride with singer-actor Sting, a gothic horror film loosely based on the 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein^[15] shot during her summer break,^[16] and also appearing in the Cinderella episode of Faerie Tale Theatre.^[13] She was asked by Joel Schumacher to do St. Elmo's Fire but turned it down preferring to stay at Yale.^[17]

Starring opposite Nicolas Cage, the actress portrays a lusty and thirsty vampire in 1989's Vampire's Kiss.

In 1995, Beals and Denzel Washington co-starred in Devil in a Blue Dress, a period film based on a Walter Mosley novel featuring L.A. private detective, Easy Rawlins. Beals plays a biracial woman passing for white. That same year she appeared with Tim Roth in two segments of the four-story anthology Four Rooms, one of which was directed by her then-husband, Alexandre Rockwell.

Rockwell had previously directed her in the 1992 independent film In the Soup, which was a Grand Prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival.^[18] In 2003, she played one of the sequestered jury members in the film adaptation of Runaway Jury.

She had a leading role in 2006's The Grudge 2, sequel to the hit horror film of two years earlier. In 2010, Beals reunited with Denzel Washington in the post-Apocalyptic action drama, The Book of Eli, where she played a blind woman who is the mother of Mila Kunis' character and a servant of Gary Oldman's.^[19]

Television[link]

In 1992, she appeared in 2000 Malibu Road as attorney Perry Quinn. It was her first ongoing television series; she said she had been leery as she previously had not "found a character I wanted to live with for several years".^[11]

Beals made a brief cameo in the final episode of Frasier. In 2007, she appeared in the small TV drama My Name Is Sarah, in which she plays Sarah Winston, a sober woman who joins Alcoholics Anonymous to conduct research for her book but finds herself falling in love with a recovering alcoholic and - as a result - having to deal with her original deception in joining the group.^{[citation needed]}

Beals starred in Showtime Network's The L Word, where she played Bette Porter, an Ivy League educated lesbian. At Beals' request, Bette was made biracial, enabling Pam Grier's Kit Porter character to become Bette's half-sister.^[20] She initially researched the part more in that the woman is the director of an art museum rather than a lesbian;^[21] "I was much more obsessed by the work that Bette did, because she was so obsessed by the work that she did."^[22] The series ran for six seasons and ended in March 2009.

She also appears alongside Tim Roth in Lie To Me, as Cal Lightman's ex-wife, Zoe Landau.

Beals is the female lead in Fox's TV drama The Chicago Code. Her character Teresa Colvin is Chicago's first female police superintendent.^[23] The series was canceled after its first season.^[24]

Beals turned down an offer to appear on Dancing with the Stars, saying: "I am not a dancer. They asked me and I said 'no.' You could back up a truck to my door filled with cash and I wouldn't do it."^[25]

Personal life[link]

Beals was married to Alexandre Rockwell from 1986 to 1996.^[5] In 1998, she married Ken Dixon, a Canadian entrepreneur.^[26] On October 18, 2005, Beals gave birth to their daughter. She is also stepmother to Dixon's two children from a previous marriage.^[27]

Beals has described herself as a "spiritual person".^[28] She has expressed interest in the Holy Bible, Roman Catholicism, and is a practicing Buddhist.^[29][30]

She has been a vocal advocate for gay rights saying "I think after playing Bette Porter on The L Word for six years I felt like an honorary member of the community."^[31] Beals was a Celebrity Grand Marshal at the 2006 San Francisco Pride Parade.^[32]

She is a photographer, who has had shows of her work under her married name, Dixon.^[33] She has a book about her time on The L Word featuring her own photographs.^[34] In 1989, she spent some time in Haiti photographing the elections.^[35]

In 2010, Beals served as the Grand Marshal of the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago.^[36] Beals spoke about two charities that she holds dear in her heart, the Matthew Shepard Foundation and Pablove.^[37]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jennifer Beals

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jennifer Beals

• Jennifer Beals
• Jennifer Beals at the Internet Movie Database
• Jennifer Beals at AllRovi
• Bette Porter L-word Wiki

Lauren Graham
Lauren Graham, 2008
Born	Lauren Helen Graham (1967-03-16) March 16, 1967 (age 45) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, producer
Years active	1995–present

Lauren Helen Graham (born March 16, 1967) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on the WB Network dramedy series Gilmore Girls and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.

Early life[link]

Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Donna Grant, a fashion buyer, and Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist^[1] who is the current president for National Confectioners Association. Graham is Irish Catholic.^[2] Graham's parents were divorced when she was only five years old, and Graham moved to Washington, D.C., where her father became a congressional staffer.^{[citation needed]} As a girl, Graham rode horses competitively, but soon switched to acting,^[3] honing her talent at Langley High School, where she took part in the drill team.^[4] She earned her actor's equity card in 1988 after two years in summer stock at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.^{[citation needed]} Graham graduated from Barnard College in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.^{[citation needed]} After moving to Texas in 1992, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting Performance from Southern Methodist University.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

After completing her education, Graham moved back to New York City where she became a waitress and aspiring actress, including her first paid work doing publicity appearances wearing the costume of Striker, the dog mascot of the US-based 1994 FIFA World Cup.^[5] In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood, California. She appeared in various commercials for products such as Dimetapp and Lean Cuisine and hosted free preview weekends on The Movie Channel.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to her many guest starring and co-starring roles on prime-time television, Graham starred in three failed sitcoms, including Townies (with Molly Ringwald and Jenna Elfman) and the short-lived sitcom Lush Life (with Lori Petty and Karyn Parsons).^{[citation needed]} Between 1996 and 1997, Graham became a regular guest star on several hit NBC shows. She played a graduate student who caught the eye of Dick on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Richard's dim-witted girlfriend on Caroline in the City, and Jerry's speed-dial ranking girlfriend on Seinfeld. She played a Hollywood producer who had a love interest in Rey Curtis in a three-part episode of Law & Order, where she acted opposite Scott Cohen, who would later play one of Graham's love interests, Max Medina, on Gilmore Girls. She also portrayed a villainous efficiency expert on Newsradio.

In 2000, Graham landed her breakthrough role as Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. For her work she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Television Series (Drama) at the 2001 Golden Globe Awards. Beginning with Season 7 episode "To Whom It May Concern" and continuing throughout the rest of the season, Graham served as a producer on Gilmore Girls. TV Guide reported that she received the position in an attempt to persuade her to sign for an eighth season.^[6][7]

Graham returned to her guest-starring roots when she portrayed herself in two episodes of NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Graham has also appeared on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, co-hosted by Dave Foley of Newsradio. After winning her preliminary match, she came in second to another former Newsradio star, Maura Tierney, in the championship game.^{[citation needed]}

Graham's film roles encompass several NYU student films and multiple major studio releases, including Sweet November, Bad Santa, The Pacifier, Because I Said So, and Evan Almighty.

Graham has said that she enjoys playing in short films, and acting in the Williamstown Theatre Festival.^[8] She has performed in numerous short films, including the 15-minute long Gnome. In 2007, Graham signed a seven-figure development deal with NBC in one of the year's richest TV talent pacts.^[9]

Graham has also worked as the voice-over announcer in national advertising for Kellogg's various Special K products, and in American Express ads introducing the Plum Card, which is targeted towards small and growing businesses.^[10]

Graham made her Broadway debut as Miss Adelaide in the revival of Guys and Dolls, which began preview performances at the Nederlander Theatre on February 5, 2009 and opened on March 1, 2009. Initial reviews for this performance have been mixed, but generally regard her fresh take on the character as a success. The production closed June 14, playing 113 shows and 28 previews.^[11][12]

It was announced in January 2009 that Graham would star in the comedy pilot, The Bridget Show (previously Let It Go) for ABC playing a talk show host and self-help guru who fails to follow her own advice during a breakup. However, the pilot was not given a series order.^[13][14]

On October 9, 2009, it was announced that Graham would replace Maura Tierney in the television series Parenthood as single mother Sarah Braverman. Tierney left the show to seek treatment for cancer.^[15] The series debuted on NBC the following year, and was later renewed for a second season.^[16]

In June 2010, it was confirmed that Graham would star in the upcoming Scream 4,^[17] but she left the project on June 30, 2010.^[18]

Personal Life[link]

Graham is currently dating her Parenthood co-star Peter Krause.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lauren Graham

• Lauren Graham at the Internet Movie Database
• Lauren Graham cast bio on The CW Official Site

Mae Whitman
Whitman at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010.
Born	Mae Margaret Whitman (1988-06-09) June 9, 1988 (age 24) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Voice Actress
Years active	1994–present

Mae Margaret Whitman (born June 9, 1988)^[1] is an American television, movie and voice actress. She is known for her role as Ann Veal in the TV series Arrested Development, her role as Amber on the TV series Parenthood, her role as Roxy Richter in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and for her voice work as Katara in the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, Rose/Huntsgirl in American Dragon: Jake Long, and Tinker Bell in the Tinker Bell movies.

Personal life[link]

Whitman was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the only child of Pat Musick, a voice artist, and Jeff Whitman, a personal manager and set construction co-ordinator.^[1] Whitman started her career with a voice over for a Tyson Chicken commercial, a role her mother had also auditioned for.^{[citation needed]} During this time, Whitman attended Ribét Academy, a private preparatory school, in Los Angeles. She later transferred to Whitefish Bay High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.^[2]

Career[link]

At the age of six, Whitman made her film debut, acting alongside Meg Ryan in When a Man Loves a Woman. She played Ryan's youngest daughter, Casey, in the movie.

In the movie Independence Day she played the President's daughter; she also played George Clooney's daughter Maggie in One Fine Day and Sandra Bullock's daughter Bernice in Hope Floats.

She guest starred in the episode "The One Where Rachel Quits" of the sitcom Friends in 1996.

During several guest appearances from 1998 until 2001, Whitman played the role of Chloe Madison on JAG. Chloe was Sarah 'Mac' Mackenzie's (Catherine Bell) Little Sister, through the Big Sister, Little Sister program. In 2001 and 2002, Whitman starred in the Fox Family series State of Grace.

Whitman was the voice of Navajo Wynonna "Winnie" Whitefeather for Focus on the Family's The Last Chance Detectives audio cases (2004).

Whitman appeared in the 2006 series Thief for FX Networks, playing the stepdaughter of Nick Atwater (Andre Braugher). She was also featured in several video games, playing the role of Yuffie Kisaragi in the Square-Enix/Disney video game Kingdom Hearts II as well as an appearance in the third-person shooter role-playing video game Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-.

Whitman made several high profile guest appearances in 2006 and 2007, including a stint on ABC's Grey's Anatomy as Heather. She also appeared on Desperate Housewives as an unscrupulous friend of Julie.

Whitman was initially cast in the 2007 series remake of The Bionic Woman, playing the deaf younger sister of the title character. On June 27, 2007, TV Guide reported that Whitman was being replaced in the role of Jaime's sister, and Lucy Hale was cast as Whitman's replacement the following July.^[3] An NBC spokesperson confirmed this, stating, "The decision was purely creatively driven. It is very common to change storylines, characters, actors after the initial pilot is shot." The sister character's hearing was restored after this recasting at the request of an NBC executive.^[4] She also appeared in the season nine episode "Streetwise" of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, as an on-the-street-mother who adopts street children forming a homeless family.

Whitman played the voice of Katara of the Water Tribe in the animated show Avatar: The Last Airbender, and previously Rose in American Dragon: Jake Long. She has appeared most recently in the HBO series In Treatment as Rosie.

She is also Cynder in The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night.

As part of a deal to promote the Disney production of Tinker Bell, at 0100GMT on 26 October 2008, the UK's speaking clock started to use her voice.^[5]

Whitman is currently costarring in NBC's version of the Ron Howard classic Parenthood. She plays Amber Holt, "a rebellious and willful teen whose only interest at present is her wannabe rock star boyfriend" according to nbc.com.

Whitman played evil ex Roxy Richter in Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a film adaptation of the Bryan Lee O'Malley indie comic series Scott Pilgrim. The film starred her former Arrested Development co-star, Michael Cera, in the title role.

Whitman appeared on Family Guy in 2010. In the season 8 episode "Go Stewie Go" she voiced the character of Julie on the show within a show Jolly Farm Revue.

Music[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2010)

Whitman has recorded "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" and "You Make Christmas Feel So Good" for School's Out! Christmas.

Whitman has also sung guest vocals on a number of tracks from indie-punk band Fake Problems newest album Real Ghosts Caught on Tape.^[6]

Whitman has also been featured on her show Parenthood in the song "Gardenia" on the season 2 episode "The Booth Job" along with current boyfriend, Landon Pigg.

Filmography[link]