Catherine Bell (actress)

Catherine Bell
Bell speaking at the second annual National Capital Region Joint Services motorcycle safety event at the Pentagon, May 2, 2008
Born	Catherine Lisa Bell (1968-08-14) August 14, 1968 London, England, UK
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	Adam Beason (1994–2012) (divorced) 2 children
Website
www.catherinebell.com

Catherine Lisa Bell (born August 14, 1968) is a British-American actress known for her role of Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie of the television series JAG from 1997 to 2005 and as Denise Sherwood of the series Army Wives from 2007 to 2013.

Early life

Bell was born in London, England, the daughter of Mina, a personal assistant and nurse, and Peter Bell, an architect.^[1] Her mother is Iranian^[2] and her father is Scottish.^[3] She moved with her mother to the United States when she was two years old. She originally wanted to become a doctor and studied biology at UCLA.^[4] Explaining her journey to become an actress, she said: "I had a creative side, as well as a scientific/mathematical side and the arts won out. I started doing some modeling and went to Japan and when I came back, I took an acting class, fell in love with that and never went back to school."^[4]

Career

One of Bell's first modeling jobs was an extended assignment in Japan. When she returned to California, she studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas. She was a freelance masseuse whose clientele included singer Peter Gabriel. As a member of one of the teams of challengers on an edition of the game show To Tell the Truth in 1990, she mentioned that she was a massage therapist. Her first television acting role was one line on the sitcom Sugar and Spice (1990).^[5]

In 1996, Bell began her role as Marine Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie of the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Office in the series JAG. She continued in this role until 2005. Prior to being cast as Sarah, Bell had appeared as a murder victim in a season 1 episode titled "Skeleton Crew", which was never aired (or, as it was intended as the first part of a two-part episode, properly concluded) during the original run due to the show's cancellation by NBC (it was shown in the US by the USA Network in 1999, and the season 3 episode "Death Watch" used much footage from the episode). ^{[citation needed]}

Beginning in 2007, Bell starred in Lifetime's ensemble drama series Army Wives as Denise Sherwood, the wife of a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, who endured domestic violence at the hands of her teenage son during the show's first season.^[6]

Bell also recently played the role of Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale, the main character of Hallmark's The Good Witch (2008), and its sequels The Good Witch's Garden (2009), The Good Witch's Gift (2010),The Good Witch's Family (2011), The Good Witch's Charm (2012) and The Good Witch's Destiny (2013); she was also an executive producer of all of the movies.^[7] She also starred in another Hallmark movie titled Last Man Standing.^[4]

Personal life

Bell is fluent in Persian and English. She is fond of motorcycling, skiing, snowboarding and kick-boxing, which she has been practicing for over 10 years. Her hobbies include cross-stitching and making model cars, which she has done since age 8.^[8]

When she was in her 20s, she had thyroid cancer and had to have her thyroid removed. She does not cover the scar on her neck because she "thinks it's kind of cool".^[9]

In a survey of 70 celebrities by The Sporting News just before the 2002 Super Bowl, she correctly predicted that the New England Patriots would beat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI 20 to 17.^[10] In actuality the article was written after the NFC and AFC championship games; Bell correctly guessed the score, but the teams were already decided.^[11]

She met actor/production assistant, Adam Beason, on the set of Death Becomes Her in 1992 (where she was the body-double for Isabella Rossellini), and they were married on May 8, 1994.^[12] They have a daughter, Gemma, who was born on April 16, 2003, and a son, Ronan, born on August 21, 2010.^[13] The couple separated in October 2011^[14] and later divorced.

Bell was the grand marshal of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway on June 3, 2007.^[15]

During the Hollywood writers strike, Bell took flying lessons in a Cirrus SR22.^[16]

Scientology

Although Bell was raised Roman Catholic and attended an all-girls Catholic school (Our Lady of Corvallis High School in Los Angeles), she is now a practicing Scientologist.^[17] Bell has attested to attaining the Scientology state of Clear.^[18] She has supported Scientology's Hollywood Education and Literacy Project.^[19] In December 2005 Bell helped promote the gala opening of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" museum.^[20]

In February 2006 Bell appeared in a Scientology music video called "United". The film includes cameo performances by Isaac Hayes, Erika Christensen, Jenna Elfman, and Lynsey Bartilson, and promotes human rights with a rap song.^[21]

Filmography

Actress

Self

Awards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Catherine Bell.

• Official website
• Catherine Bell at the Internet Movie Database
• Catherine Bell at AllRovi
• Catherine Bell at the Notable Names Database