Mayim Hoya Bialik (born December 12, 1975) is an American neuroscientist and actress. She is best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the early-1990s NBC sitcom Blossom.
Early life
Bialik was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Barbara, a nursery school director, and John Bialik, a high school drama teacher.[1] Her grandparents emigrated in the late 1930s from Poland and Czechoslovakia/Hungary. Bialik was raised in Reform Judaism.[2]
Career
Bialik started her career as a child actress in the late 1980s. Her early roles included the horror film Pumpkinhead, her first acting job;[3] and guest appearances on The Facts of Life and Beauty and the Beast. In 1988, she appeared in Beaches (1988), playing Bette Midler's character as a young girl. She was also featured in the video clip of Liberian Girl by Michael Jackson.
In 1990, Bialik was tied to two television pilots, Fox's Molloy and NBC's Blossom. Molloy at first produced six episodes for a tryout run, followed by the shooting of the pilot special for Blossom. The latter actually aired two weeks before Bialik's Fox series, and ultimately garnered higher ratings than it. When Molloy folded after its six episodes, Blossom was pursued as a regular series. The actress' greatest success to date came in 1991 when Blossom joined NBC's Monday night lineup following The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Both shows enjoyed popularity, especially among younger viewers, for the first couple of years of their respective runs. Blossom aired until 1995.
Between 1995 and 2005, Bialik mostly did voice work for cartoons, such as The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, and Recess.
She appeared in the feature film Kalamazoo? released in late 2005. She appeared in three episodes of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm as Jodi Funkhouser, the lesbian daughter of a friend of Larry David. Bialik also made guest appearances as a fictionalized version of herself in the series Fat Actress. Bialik had a guest appearance as a Hasidic Jew in an episode of Saving Grace.[4][5] She has a recurring role as the high school guidance counselor in ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager and also guest-starred as a potential girlfriend for the character Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons, in the 3rd season finale and the 4th season premiere of the hit CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory.[6] She also had an appearance on the Fox TV show 'Til Death in which she has a reunion of sorts with two of her Blossom costars- Jenna von Oÿ – who played Blossom’s quirky best-friend Six – and Michael Stoyanov – who played Blossom’s older brother Anthony.[7] She has optioned the Rashi's Daughters books.[8]
It was announced on July 14, 2010 that Mayim will be writing her first book, to be called Intuitive Parenting.
Personal life
At the end of Blossom, she chose to attend UCLA, despite having been accepted at both Harvard and Yale.[9][10] She stated that she wanted to stay close to her parents and did not want to move to the East Coast. She earned a bachelor's degree in 2000 in neuroscience, Hebrew, and Jewish studies, and went on to the PhD. program in neuroscience. A 2002 interview stated that Bialik is now involved in Conservadox Judaism.[2] She continues to study Judaism with the help of her Partners in Torah partner, Allison Josephs.[11]
She took a break from studies in 2005 to return to acting.[12] Bialik completed her PhD in 2008, but is not pursuing an academic career in the near future;[13] her dissertation was an investigation of Prader-Willi syndrome.[14][15]
She married Michael Stone on August 31, 2003, in a Victorian-themed ceremony with traditional Jewish customs.[16] They have two sons together; Miles Roosevelt Bialik Stone was born on October 10, 2005, and Frederick Heschel Bialik Stone was born on August 15, 2008.[17] She is a celebrity spokesperson for the Holistic Moms Network.[18]
Hayim Nahman Bialik, Israel's national poet, was Mayim Bialik's great-great-grandfather's uncle.[8]
She was featured in TLC's What Not to Wear in an episode which aired May 29, 2009. The actress Rachael Harris also appears in the episode, as one of Mayim's friends at the reveal party that show always closes with.
She is vegan.[19]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Beaches | young Cecilia 'CC' Carol Bloom | |
| Pumpkinhead | Wallace kid | ||
| 2005 | Kalamazoo? | Maggie Goldman | |
| Television - Live Action | |||
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | Beauty and the Beast | Ellie | Episode: "No Way Down" |
| 1988 | The Facts of Life | Jennifer Cole | Episodes: "The Beginning of the Beginning", "The Beginning of the End" |
| 1988–1989 | Webster | Frieda | eight episodes |
| 1989–1990 | Empty Nest | Laurie Kincaid | Episodes: "The R.N. Who Came to Dinner", "Harry Knows Bestro" |
| MacGyver | Lisa Woodman | Episodes: "Cease Fire", "Twenty Questions", "Hearts of Steel" | |
| 1990 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | Candace | Episode: "Ask Dr. Doogie" |
| Molloy | Molloy Martin | Episodes: "Pilot", "Surprise" | |
| Murphy Brown | Natalie | Episode: "I Want My FYI" | |
| 1990–1995 | Blossom | Blossom Russo | 114 episodes |
| 1993 | The Hidden Room | Jillie | Episode: "Jillie" |
| 1994 | Don't Drink the Water | Susan Hollander | Woody Allen's TV remake |
| 1994–1995 | The John Larroquette Show | Rachel | Episodes: "The Book of Rachel", "Rachel and Ton", ""Rachel Reduxy |
| 1998 | Welcome to Paradox | Rita | Episode: "Alien Jane" |
| 2005 | Fat Actress | Herself | Episodes: "The Koi Effect", "Holy Lesbo Batman" |
| 7th Heaven | Cathy | Episode: "Dick" | |
| 2005, 2007 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Jodi Funkhauser | Episodes: "The Bowtie", "The TiVo Guy", "The Ida Funkhouser Roadside Memorial" |
| 2009 | Saving Grace | Esther | Episode: "Mooooooooo" |
| What Not To Wear | Herself | Nominated by former "Blossom" co-star, Jenna von Oy. | |
| Bones | Genie Gormon | Episode: "The Cinderella in the Cardboard" | |
| 2010 | The Secret Life of the American Teenager | Dr. Wilameena Bink | Episodes: "You Don’t Know What You’ve Got...", "Just Say Me", "Let's Try That Again", "The Rhythm of Life" |
| 'Til Death | Herself | Episodes: "The Break-Up", "Merit Play", "Baby Steps" | |
| The Big Bang Theory | Amy Farrah Fowler | Episodes: "The Lunar Excitation", "The Robotic Manipulation", "The Zazzy Subsitution" | |
| Television - voice | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | The Kingdom Chums: Original Top Ten | Petey | |
| 1995, 1996 | The Adventures of Hyperman | Brittany Bright | Episodes: #1.1 and "Oceans a Leavin'" |
| 1996 | The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | Lucy | Episode: "The Alchemist" |
| Julia/French Woman | Episode: "Assault on Questworld: | ||
| 1996, 1999 | Hey Arnold! | Maria | Episodes: "6th Grade Girls/The Baseball", "Dinner for Four/Phoebe Skips" |
| 1997 | Johnny Bravo | Tour Guide | Episode: "Going Batty/Berry the Butler/Red Faced in the White House" |
| Extreme Ghostbusters | Girl in Future | Episode: "Ghost Apocalyptic Future" | |
| 1997, 1998, 2000 | Recess | Kirsten Kurst | Episodes: "The Break-In", "The Girl Was Trouble", "The Ratings Game" |
| 2003 | X2: Wolverine's Revenge | Bush Pilot, May Deuce | video game |
| 2003, 2004 | Kim Possible | Justine Flanner | Episodes: "The Secret Files", "Partners" |
| 2005 | Katbot | Paula | never aired |
References
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| This article uses bare URLs in its references. Please use proper citations containing each referenced work's title, author, date, and source, so that the article remains verifiable in the future. Help may be available. Several templates are available for formatting. (September 2010) |
- ↑ http://www.filmreference.com/film/39/Mayim-Bialik.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Goldman, Michele (2002-10-11). "Religion Blossoms for Bialik". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
- ↑ Pierce, Leonard (2009-01-28). "Mayim Bialik: Random Roles". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ↑ 'Mayim Bialik's Kosher Comeback!',The Chosen Blog, May 26, 2009
- ↑ 'Mayim Bialik Learns What Not to Wear', Celebrity Baby Blog
- ↑ Kroll, Justin (June 24, 2009). "Mayim Bialik". Variety.
- ↑ Fox News. March 31, 2010 http://entertainment.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/31/blossom-reunion-on-fox-whoa/. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 'Mayim Bialik: From 'Blossom' to Brachot', Matthue Roth, May 6, 2009
- ↑ Blossom Flowers: Mayim Bialik Grows into Adult Roles
- ↑ Mayim Bialik; Playing the Role Of an American in Paris Michael E. Hill; The Washington Post; Sep 19, 1993; Y.07;
- ↑ 'Mayim Bialik to Guest Star on a Very Special Jew in the City!', Jew in the City, May 20, 2009
- ↑ Alumni Stories - Notable Alumni
- ↑ http://celebrity-babies.com/2009/06/04/mayim-bialik-talks-attachment-parenting-with-cbb/
- ↑ Life After Child Stardom - Not by the Numbers
- ↑ Bialik, Mayim C. "Hypothalamic regulation in relation to maladaptive, obsessive-compulsive, affiliative, and satiety behaviors in Prader-Willi syndrome" (PhD Diss., UCLA , 2007).
- ↑ Mayim Bialik's Jewish Wedding, Jewish Wedding Network
- ↑ Mayim Bialik Welcomes Second Son, Frederick Heschel, CBB, November 11, 2008
- ↑ Meet Mayim Bialik: Actress and Holistic Mom
- ↑ Mayim Bialik Gets Her Eco On At The Go Green Expo In Los Angeles', Ecorazzi, January 20, 2010
External links
- Mayim Bialik at the Internet Movie Database
- REDIRECT Template:AllRovi person
- Mayim Bialik at TV.com
- UCLA famous alumni
cy:Mayim Bialik it:Mayim Bialik pt:Mayim Bialik sv:Mayim Bialik