Tiffani-Amber
Thiessen's Biography
Submitted
by Devon Kirkpatrick - December 1995
Tiffani-Amber
Thiessen was born on January 23, 1974 (1/23/74) in
Long Beach, California. She was the second child of Robin and Frank
Thiessen. Her brothers are Schuyler, 18 and Todd, 26. Schuyler is a
freshman at college. I believe that he is at Berkeley, which she envies.
On
herself going to college she says, "If I have to wait until I'm
forty, I'm
going." Her other brother, Todd is a professional cyclist. Her
father is a
parks landscaper and her mother is a homemaker.
Her
uncle Roger Ernest, a former actor and screenwriter had
suggested when she was eight that she try modeling. Soon after that
she
was doing commercials for the Peaches and Cream barbie doll. On that
experience, "They never let me hold the barbie. I only got to hold
Ken. I
guess I wasn't blond enough." After that she began competing in
beauty
pageants and won the Miss. Junior America Pageant in 1987. " I
would never
do another one, " says Tiffani, "but at the time they were
fun." After this
experience she wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school. She claims
to have had only a few close friends while in grade-school and that
kids
would, "Write horrible things on the wall about me, and I don't
know why."
Her best friend's name is Candice who says that she used to "Protect
her
from all the mean kids in school. Yeah, I beat um' up."
Next
she starred in her first TV movie, 1992's "A killer Among
Friends" in which she got tortured and killed by her two best friends.
I
remember watching this movie and almost throwing up. They pushed her
character around, pulled her hair and drowned her in a creek, pushing
her
head underneath the water then quickly up and down again. When they
were
finished they put a log on top of her so that she couldn't get up. She
comments, "We did the killing scene in one day-I was so drained
I got back
to the hotel and went- "MASSEUSE!"
While
guest-starring in Married...with Children she met her
boyfriend for 2 1/2 years, Brian Austin Green. They were best friends
for
about 4 years then all of a sudden "Saw each other in a completely
different
light." Although, sadly they ended their relationship, they say
that, "We
get along wonderfully, we're the best of friends and always will be,
even
before we started dating." Also their publicist claims, "It's
a
boyfriend/girlfriend relationship that still could be."
Her
big break came on Saved By The Bell where she played the
popular cheerleader, Kelly Kapowski. ON her Saved -buds, "I grew
up with
these kids. It was just like us at school having fun. We were best friends
for years." On the set her nickname, I know this is corny, was
"Tiffles."
She says the worst thing Kelly ever did on Saved, "She cheated
on Zack and
then broke up with him to date a college guy. That was probably the
worst
thing she ever did in her whole LIFE." When Saved By the Bell was
canceled,
she was cast in the Pauly Shore movie, "Son-in-Law". "The
cast was amazing.
We had a great time. We played around a lot. If we weren't working,
we were
out together doing something." She also filmed a Milk commercial.
You know
the one. Two girls. One girl says of her friend (who is Tiff) "At
12, my
friend was skinny, SCRAWNY, invisible to guys. Then she started drinking
milk." (You see some fifteen year old pretending to be Tiff, gulping
milk)
"And look at her now! So, what do you want now?" she asks
Tiff. Tiff
replies, "I want Kurt Davis." Other girl, "MY Kurt Davis???"
(Some guy
walks up behind other girl and puts arms around her) Tiff: "Well,
does he
have a brother??" Other girl: "Yes, he has a brother."
(Another guy walks
up and puts arms around Tiff) Tiff: "Hi!!" *Milk, does a body
good*
After
this she chopped off her long hair and became Kelly Kapowski
again in Saved By The Bell:The College Years which was canceled after
one
season only. During the summer that followed this, I'd guess was one
of the
best summer's of her life. She filmed Saved By The Bell: Wedding in
Las
Vegas and was hired to play Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210.
"After
all those years on Saved By the Bell I was worried that casting people
would see me only as a good girl. The fact that Valerie was a conniving
bitch really attracted me to the role."
She's
claims to have had to struggle with her weight since she were
seventeen and that its been an on-going battle. "There's a lot
of added
pressure because I work with so many beautiful, thin people, and I've
been
asked to lose weight before by producers (This was a while ago on Saved)
It
really hurts, but that's part of what this business is about. I work
out
four times a week with a trainer, and I try to get on the bike every
day. I
want to look good and be healthy." She also takes kick-boxing lessons.
Another way that Tiff keeps healthy is that she stays away from drugs.
"I've seen the effects of drugs too often. My brother had a big
problem
with them for five years. He's better now, but I've never needed or
wanted
to be involved with them."
Summer
of 95' was another exciting summer for her. She filmed the
two movies, "The Stranger Beside Me" with Eric Close and "She
Fought Alone"
with Brian Austin Green. In Stranger, she plays Jennifer Gallagher a
rape
victim who unwittingly marries a serial rapist. Since cops don't believe
that he is the rapist, she is forced to try to uncover the truth and
prove
his guilt.
In "She
Fought Alone" she plays Caitlin Rose a high school girl who
joins "the cool crowd" in school then gets raped by a classmate.
Brian
plays her boyfriend (not the rapist). Since the rapist is a football
player
hero he gets of scot-free and everyone scorns Caitlin as a slut. These
two
movies show that she has good acting ability. They were both played
during
the fall.
Now
she's back on 90210, having fun. Here are some fun facts that
you might not know about her.... Tiff is a vegetarian. Her favorite
colors
are black & white. She has two golden retrievers name Bonnie &
Clyde and two
cats named Sadie & Savannah. She and Jennie Garth, although they
play
enemies on 90210 are actually best friends in real life....
BY
DEVON KIRKPATRICK
Hawaii