Kirsten Vangsness

Kirsten Vangsness

Vangsness in 2007.
Born July 7, 1972
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress, writer
Years active 1998–present
Partner(s) Melanie Goldstein
(2006–2013)

Kirsten Simone Vangsness (born July 7, 1972)[1] is an American actress and writer. She currently stars as FBI Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama series Criminal Minds. She portrayed the same character on the spin-off series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.[2]

Early life

Vangsness was born in Pasadena, California, the daughter of Errol Leroy Vangsness (born 1938 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and his wife Barbara Mary (née Marconi; born 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). Her paternal great-grandparents were Norwegian,[3] with ancestry from Bergen, Gol, and Oslo.[4] She was raised in Porterville, California, and later moved to Cerritos, California. She graduated from Cerritos High School in June 1990 and attended Cypress College.[5] She later graduated from California State University, Fullerton.

Career

Acting

Vangsness got her first big break in the theatre, where she won several awards, including the 15 Minutes of Female Best Actress Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Emerging Comic Actress, and the Golden Betty Award.

Writing

Vangsness' work has been published in the Los Angeles Times.

Personal life

Vangsness says that she is "as queer as a purple unicorn singing Madonna".[6] She began dating film and television editor Melanie Goldstein in 2006.[7][8][9] They were engaged, but separated in 2013. In April 2015, she revealed on smashinginterviews.com that she had entered into a relationship with a new boyfriend and was examining that aspect of her sexuality.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Sometimes Santa's Gotta Get Whacked Tooth Fairy Short film
2006 A-List Blue
2008 Tranny McGuyver TV News Reporter Short film
2009 Scream of the Bikini Interior Decorator
2010 In My Sleep Madge
2011 Sarina's Song Party Guest Short film
2011 Chicago 8, TheThe Chicago 8 Sketch Artist
2012 Remember to Breathe Vocals for Young Alice Short film
2013 Kill Me, Deadly Mona Livingston

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Phil of the Future Veronica Episode: "Age Before Beauty"
2004 LAX Ticket Agent / Stephanie 3 episodes
2005–present Criminal Minds Penelope Garcia 230 episodes
2010 Vampire Mob Laura Anderson
2010–2012 Pretty the Series Meredith Champagne 14 episodes
2011 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Penelope Garcia
2011 Second City This Week Herself 1 episode
2011–2013 Good Job, Thanks! Therapist 2 episodes

References

  1. ↑ Vangsness, Kirsten (2007-07-24). "Kirstens Blog". CBS. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  2. ↑ "Criminal Minds' Kirsten Vangsness Joins Spin-Off as a Series Regular". TVGuide.com.
  3. ↑ Family tree by Vangsness' father
  4. ↑ "Kirsten Simone Vangsness ancestry profile". Geni.com.
  5. ↑ Cypress College Public Information Office (2012-05-04). "Cypress College @Cypress Newsletter" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Anderson-Minshall, Diane (November 2011). "The Purple Unicorn". The Advocate: 42.
  7. ↑ Melanie Goldstein at the Internet Movie Database
  8. ↑ "Untitled". Criminal Minds Fanatic. 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  9. ↑ Waldon, Dave (2008-09-23). "Kirsten Vangsness Thrives on "Criminal Minds"". AfterEllen.com. Retrieved 2008-10-10.

External links