catherine bell

For the Canadian politician, see Catherine J. Bell

Catherine Lisa Bell (born August 14, 1968 in London) is a British-born American actress who was the co-star of the hit television show JAG from 1997 to 2005.

Biography

Bell is the daughter of a Scottish father and Iranian mother. ^[1] Her parents divorced and she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California when she was three years old. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States at age 12. She acted in various television advertisements as a child. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with an interest in becoming a biomedical engineer or doctor but dropped out to become a model. One of her first modelling jobs was an extended assignment in Japan.

Her first appearance in a film was as a body double for Isabella Rossellini in Death Becomes Her (1992). In 2003, Bell played a supporting role in the comedy Bruce Almighty, which starred Jim Carrey. Up until April 29, 2005, Bell also played Marine Lt Colonel Sarah McKenzie on the television show JAG.

Bell is fluent in Farsi (Persian) and English.

Bell married Adam Beason on 1994-05-08.^[2] They have a daughter, Gemma, who was born on 2003-04-16.

Bell is a survivor of thyroid cancer and had to have her thyroid removed in her 20s. She has a surgical scar on her neck.

On September 14, 2006, Reuters/Hollywood Reporter announced that Catherine Bell had joined the cast of Lifetime's ensemble drama pilot "Army Wives". In the projected series, Sally Pressman stars as a sassy woman from the wrong side of the tracks who marries a soldier, moves her kids to a military base and becomes friends with a diverse group of Army wives, three of them played by Bell, Kim Delaney and Brigid Brannagh.

In a departure from the headstrong Lt. Col. Sarah Mackenzie she portrayed on CBS' "JAG," on "Army Wives" Bell will play the wife of a major -- a devoted homemaker who is enduring physical abuse at the hands of her teenage son.

Scientology

Bell has been affiliated with Scientology/Dianetics since 1990 and has achieved what they call "the state of Clear". ^[3] She has supported Scientology's Hollywood Education and Literacy Project ^[4] In December 2005, Bell helped promote the gala opening of Scientology's controversial "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" Museum, which puts forth a conspiracy theory connecting Adolf Hitler to the psychiatric profession.^[5]

In February 2006, Bell appeared in a Scientology music video called "United". Fox News reporter Roger Friedman said of the video, Bell and other celebrities such as Jenna Elfman and Isaac Hayes were "all sort of nodding in a trance and clapping".^[6]

Facts & Stats

• Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
• Eyes: Brown
• Hair: Brown
• Ethnicity: Iranian/Scottish
• FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World -- 2003 (#81), 2004 (#47), & 2005 (#100)
• FHM U.S.'s 100 Sexiest Women -- 2001 (#84), 2002 (#38), 2003(#22) & 2004 (#20)
• Named #75 on the Maxim magazine "Hot 100 of 2005" list.
• Her navel is pierced
• Has a surgical scar running across the lower part of her neck
• Has a tattoo of a heart on her right ankle with the word "love" in the middle of it
• She is a natural 34C-24-35
• Studies acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas.
• Before the 2001 NFL season began, in a survey of 70 celebrities who had nothing to do with football conducted by The Sporting News, she correctly predicted that the New England Patriots would eventually beat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI by the score of 20-17. This amazing prediction was made despite the fact that the vast majority of "football experts" didn't think the Patriots would even make the playoffs. As a result, Bell is the only person to have ever correctly predicted the participants in, winner of, and the final score of a Super Bowl before a season began, whose prediction appeared in a published article in a major sports periodical or book.

Quotes

• "This huge life-changing moment of going from zero to ninety in two seconds!" (Catherine on her reaction to getting a lead role on JAG) ^[2]

• "Almost every Marine I've met says I portray a Marine dead-on, which is really, really flattering." ^[7]

• "Women in the military thank me for portraying a character who's feminine and attractive and sexual and yet still strong and intelligent and in the military. I think people have this perception that to be strong and a military woman you have to look a certain way or not be feminine." ^[7]

• "I don't mind nudity when it's done tasteful and not just gratuitous T and A. They showed my butt! It was fine, though. I think the female body is beautiful." [1]

• "I love beer. There's nothing like having an ice-cold beer. Wine is good, too. My wild partying days of college are behind me, I think. Now if I get wild I seem to remember everything in the morning. It can be scary. For sure." [2]

References

External links

• Official Homepage
• Catherine Bell at the Internet Movie Database
• Catherine Bell at the Notable Names Database
• Catherine Bell 1999 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment
• Catherine Bell Links [[3]]