Keri Russell - 80th Annual Academy Awards

Keri Russell Profile

Name: Keri Russell

Birth Name: Keri Lynn Russell

Height: 5' 4''

Sex: F

Nationality: American

Birth Date: March 23, 1976

Birth Place: Fountain Valley, California, USA

Profession: actress, dancer

Education: Kino Junior High School
Highlands Ranch High School outside Denver, Colorado
Mesa Stars Dance and Drill Team
Mickey Mouse Club

Husband/Wife: Shane Deary (contractor; engaged in 2006; married on February 14, 2007)

Relationship: Scott Speedman (actor; born on September 1, 1975), Tony Lucca (actor, singer; born 1976; met when both appeared in the New Mickey Mouse Club; together 1991-1999)

Father: David Russell (Nissan executive)

Mother: Stephanie Stephens

Sister: Julie Russell (younger)

Brother: Todd Russell (older)

Son: River Russell Deary (born on June 9, 2007)

Claim to fame: as Felicity Porter in TV Series Felicity

Keri Russell Biography

Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is a Golden Globe-winning American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002. Russell has since appeared in several films, including We Were Soldiers, The Upside of Anger, Mission: Impossible III, Waitress, and August Rush.

Russell was born in Fountain Valley, California, the daughter of Stephanie (née Stephens), a homemaker, and David Russell, a Nissan Motors executive. She has an older brother, Todd, and a younger sister, Julie. Russell grew up in Dallas, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; and Denver, Colorado, moving frequently because of her father's job.

Russell first appeared on television as a cast member of the New Mickey Mouse Club variety show on the Disney Channel. She was on the show from 1991 to 1993 and co-starred with future pop stars Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, JC Chasez, and Justin Timberlake. In 1992, she appeared in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid alongside Rick Moranis and in 1993 had a role on the sitcom Boy Meets World as Mr. Feeny's niece. Russell subsequently starred in several film and television roles, including the 1996 made-for-television film The Babysitter's Seduction. She also had a role on the short-lived soap opera series Malibu Shores the same year. In 1994, she appeared in Bon Jovi's music video "Always" with Jack Noseworthy and on Married with Children.

From 1998 to 2002, Russell starred as the title character on the successful WB Network series Felicity; she won a Golden Globe for the role in 1999. Russell's long and curly hair was one of her character's defining characteristics, and a drastic hairstyle change at the beginning of the show's second season was considered to be the cause of a significant drop in the show's ratings. As a result, new policies were enacted at the network requiring hairstyle changes by cast to be approved by the network's executives. Felicity 's ratings drop also coincided with the show's move to a Sunday night time slot, so it is unclear exactly how much effect the hairstyle change actually had. During the show's run, Russell appeared in the films Eight Days a Week, The Curve and Mad About Mambo, all of which received only limited releases in North America. Her next role was in the Mel Gibson-starring film We Were Soldiers, playing the wife of an American serviceman. The film was released in March 2002, two months before the end of Felicity 's run.