Kristen Bell was born on 18 July 1980.

Kristen graduated from New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied musical theater.

A native of Detroit whose early stage experiences eventually led her to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Bell saw her early dreams of on-stage success begin to come true when she was chosen to portray Becky Thatcher in a Broadway production of +The Adventures of Tom Sawyer shortly after arriving in the Big Apple.

She made her Broadway debut in 2001, originating the role of Becky Thatcher in the short-lived "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Kristen Bell returned briefly to Broadway for a role in the 2002 revival of +The Crucible, playing alongside well-known stage and screen actors Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.

She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of the supermodel Gia Carangi who died of AIDS. She received an Emmy nomination as well as a Cable Ace nomination for her work in the TNT movie GEORGE WALLACE (co-starring Gary Sinise.)

If television had offered Bell her most successful roles to this point in her career, the magnetic young screen presence still had feature aspirations, as evidenced by her involvement in David Mamet's 2004 thriller Spartan.