Jennie Garth
Jennifer Eve Garth (born April 3, 1972) is an American actress, best known for starring as Kelly Taylor on Beverly Hills, 90210 and 90210 and for starring as Valerie Tyler in What I Like About You.
Early life
Jennifer Eve Garth was born in Illinois to John and Carolyn Garth, who each already had three children from different marriages. She grew up on a 25-acre horse ranch in Arcola, Illinois, with her six older half-siblings: Johnny, Chuck, Lisa, Cammie, Wendy and Lynn. Jennie also lived in Tuscola, Illinois, during her younger years. When Garth was 11, she and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. She took dancing lessons and did a little modeling while living there, at the time wanting to go to college and later start her own dance studio. At age 15, she was discovered and encouraged to pursue an acting career by a talent scout, who had seen her win a beauty/talent pagent.
She dropped out of Greenway High School during her junior year, and she and her mother moved to Los Angeles so she could become an actress. She later obtained her diploma in California. There, she started taking acting classes and went to auditions almost every day. After living in L.A. about four months, she landed the role of ‘Erica McCray’ on the NBC series A Brand New Life (1989).
Career
In 1990, Garth landed her most famous role to date, that of Kelly Taylor on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210. At various points in the series, Garth’s character was involved in a love triangle between Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) and Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley), became a diet pill abuser, was trapped in a fire, became involved in a cult, used cocaine, was raped, shot, had amnesia and had a miscarriage. She and former costar Tiffani Thiessen are best friends, a stark contrast to the show, where Garth’s Kelly and Thiessen’s Valerie Malone were bitter enemies. Garth appeared on the show for the full 10 seasons until its end in 2000, appearing in 292 of the show’s 296 episodes, the most of any cast member (along with Tori Spelling).
In 2002, Garth starred in the sitcom What I Like About You as Amanda Bynes’ sister Valerie Tyler. Along with Leslie Grossman and Amanda Bynes, she starred on the show for all four seasons. In other roles, she also played the lead in a 1993 television production of Danielle Steel’s Star and her story, “I Am Home,” was featured in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul.
In September 2008, Garth returned to the role of Kelly Taylor on the series premiere of the CW Network’s spin-off series, 90210 where she is reported making $40-50,000 per episode. In the new series, Garth’s character Kelly Taylor is now a guidance counselor at West Beverly High, where her half-sister Erin Silver also attends. The writers were eager to have her share scenes with Shannen Doherty who is also reprising her 90210 role of Brenda Walsh. It was reported that Garth and Doherty’s characters would both have a romantic interest in the character Ryan Matthews (Ryan Eggold), reminiscent of their old rivalry for former bad boy character Dylan McKay. Garth and Doherty later confirmed that the reports about the love triangle between their characters were false.
Dancing with the Stars
In 2007, Garth appeared on Season 5 of Dancing with the Stars and was paired with Derek Hough. Garth had consistently high scores throughout the entire competition and was one of the few contestants to maintain 8s and above after week 2. She was eliminated on the ninth week of competition finishing at a respectable fourth out of 12, after scoring her first perfect score of the competition with her Cha-Cha-Cha while Marie Osmond (who came in last place for three weeks up to that point) remained in the competition. The audience gave her a standing ovation (something very uncommon in the show). Judge Len Goodman stated that it “was not her time to go”. In her exiting montage video, Derek Hough stated how proud he was of her for going on an emotional journey and improving from three 7’s to three 10’s.
Popularity
- Garth was ranked #41 in VH1’s Top 100 Greatest Teen Stars
- She also ranked #59 on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2000, and #93 on the magazine’s 100 Sexiest Women of 2001.
Personal life
Garth is known to speak Italian fluently and is a vegetarian. She is a long-time sufferer of migraine headaches, for which she has done public service announcements on TV. On April 16, 1994, Garth married musician Daniel B. Clark. They separated in 1995 and Garth filed for divorce in 1996.
On January 20, 2001, she married actor Peter Facinelli; they met in 1995 while filming the movie An Unfinished Affair. They have three daughters: Luca Bella (born on June 22, 1997), Lola Ray (born on December 6, 2002), and Fiona Eve (born on September 30, 2006).
Filmography
Film
- Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
- Telling You (1998)
- My Brother’s War (1997)
- Power 98 (1996)
Television
- 90210 (2008)
Girl, Positive (2007)
American Dad! (2006)
What I Like About You (2002-2006)
Secret Santa (2003)
The Last Cowboy (2003)
Watching the Detectives (2001)
The $treet (2000-2001)
Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000)
Sin City Spectacular (1998)
A Loss of Innocence (1996)
An Unfinished Affair (1996)
“Biker Mice from Mars (1995)
Falling for You (1995)
Without Consent (1994)
Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg (1994)
Star (1993)
Melrose Place (1992)
A Brand New Life (1989-1990)
Just Perfect (1990)
Teen Angel Returns (1990)
Growing Pains (1989)