| Justine Bateman | |
|---|---|
Justine Bateman in NYC, 2011 |
|
| Born | Justine Tanya Bateman February 19, 1966 Rye, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, writer, producer, singer |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | Mark Fluent (m. 2001–present) |
Justine Tanya Bateman (born February 19, 1966) is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her regular role as Mallory Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties (from 1982 until 1989). She currently runs a production and consulting company, SECTION 5.
Contents |
Bateman was born in Rye, New York, to Victoria Elizabeth, a former flight attendant for Pan Am and Kent Bateman, an acting coach, film and television writer/director, and founder of a repertory stage in Hollywood.[1][2] Her younger brother is actor Jason Bateman. She attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, and graduated in 1984.
Bateman played the role of superficial Mallory Keaton on the television sitcom Family Ties from 1982 to 1989, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Mallory was sister to Alex (Michael J. Fox). In 1984, Bateman starred on the Tales from the Darkside television series in the episode "Mookie and Pookie". Bateman hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live during its 13th season in 1988. That same year, she starred in the lead role in the motion picture Satisfaction. The film, about an all-girl musical band, also featured Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson. Bateman starred as the lead vocalist and also performed the vocals on the soundtrack.
In the 1996–97 NBC sitcom version of the British TV comedy Men Behaving Badly with Rob Schneider and Ron Eldard, she starred as the "Sarah", Eldard's girlfriend. She has appeared in several made-for-TV movies and independent films. Her theater experience includes Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" (Roundabout Theater, Mamet's "Speed the Plow" (WIlliamstown Theater Fest), and Wedekin's "Lulu" (Berkley Rep), among others.
Taking a break from the entertainment business, Bateman established a clothing design company, Justine Bateman Designs, and ran it from 2000 until 2003. She was known for her unique one-of-a-kind hand knits and sold to BendelsNY, Saks, and Fred Segal.[3]
Justine returned to TV with the Showtime series, "Out of Order" alongside Eric Stoltz, Felicity Huffman, and Bill Macy. In the third season Arrested Development episode, "Family Ties", her character is initially believed to be Michael Bluth's sister, but she turns out to be a prostitute taken advantage of by his father and pimped by his brother. Michael Bluth was played by Justine Bateman's real-life brother, Jason Bateman.
In 2006, she guest starred in the tenth episode of Men in Trees as Lynn Barstow; this turned into a recurring role for the following eight episodes. She also starred as Terry in Still Standing. Additionally, in 2006 she starred in a made-for-television movie To Have and to Hold with Sebastian Spence. In 2008, she portrayed a drug dealer who rents a room from Carlos and Gabrielle Solis, in a guest role on Desperate Housewives. That same year, Bateman appeared on an episode of Showtime's Californication. In 2009, she took on the role of Lassiter's ex-wife in USA Network's Psych. Also she was in the third episode of Criminal Minds Suspect Behavior.
The actress made her first script sale to Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place[4] and adapted "The Clique" book series for Warner Bros.
In the Fall of 2007, Justine helped produce the very successful Speechless campaign in support of the Writers Guild of America strike. Justine began a digital production company, FM78.tv, at this time and her digital future was secured. To accommodate demand, she soon after replaced FM78 with the production and consulting company SECTION 5.
Since then she has been sought after as an authority in the space for various panels including The Cannes Lion Int’l Ad Festival, Digital Hollywood, NATPE, and The Branded Content Summit and has been involved creatively in a multitude of digital projects. She acted in John August’s (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) web-series Remnants, Illeana Douglas’ (Cape Fear, Good Fellas) IKEA-sponsored web-series Easy to Assemble[5] (for which she won the 2010 Streamy Award for "Best Ensemble Cast" and was nominated for a 2010 Streamy Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Web-Series[6], and Anthony Zuiker’s (CSI creator) digi-novel series Level 26: Dark Prophecy.
Bateman served as a producer on Easy to Assemble, created Digital Components for Level 26, is currently writing an adaptation of The Clique for a Warner Bros web-series, producing a film short, and is in talks with various Brands to produce a selection of her scripts. Justine also Co-Produces and Co-stars with fashion maven, Kelly Cutrone, in their internet talk show, Wake Up and Get Real.[7]
Bateman married Mark Fluent in 2001. The couple have a son, Duke, and a daughter, Olivia.
She served on the National Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild,[8] until July 2009, when she resigned just prior to the end of her initial 3-year term.[9]
In 2008, Bateman testified before the United States Senate Commerce Committee in support of net neutrality.[10] A dedicated advocate for Net Neutrality, Justine serves as an Advisor to FreePress.net
Justine is a licensed pilot of single-engine planes and a certified scuba diver. She is currently attending computer science classes at UCLA.