JENNIFER GARNER
Date of Birth: April 17, 1972
The middle of three girls, Jennifer Garner discovered through nine years of studying ballet in Charleston, West Virginia, that she had developed a love of performing. After high school, she enrolled at Ohio's Denison University to study chemistry, but switched her major to drama after realizing that performing arts were in her blood. She graduated with degree in theater in 1994 and moved to New York, where she soon landed a role in the TV movie Zoya (1995), starring Melissa Gilbert as her mother.
From there, Garner moved on to guest roles on hit television series such as Law & Order and Spin City. Finding herself increasingly in demand, roles in several TV movies followed, including Harvest of Fire (1996), in which she played an Amish bride, and the Canadian-filmed Hallmark Hall of Fame western Rose Hill. In 1997, she made her motion picture debut with a small role in a Woody Allen film, Deconstructing Harry. Garner then made the move to Los Angeles, where both her career and personal life took a huge step forward with a regular role in the TV series Significant Others, as well as a recurring role as Noel's musician girlfriend on the hit TV series, Felicity. She fell in love with Scott Foley, the actor playing Noel, and on October 19, 2000, they were married.
Although Significant Others didn't last the season, Garner landed a role on the Party of Five spin-off, The Time of Your Life, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. Once again, the show didn't last, but in the meantime, Garner began getting larger roles in features, including playing the fed-up girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher's character in Dude, Where's My Car (2000) and a military nurse in the blockbuster Pearl Harbor (2001).
In 2001, Garner landed her biggest role to date, the one that would make her a household name. For her starring role as Agent Sydney Bristow in ABC's sci-fi action series Alias, Garner won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama." In addition to her hit series, Garner continues to work in films, including Catch Me If You Can (2002) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Daredevil (2003), opposite Ben Affleck.
Divorced in 2004 from Foley, Garner, who lives in the Los Angeles area, has two daughters, Violet and Serafina, with second husband, Ben Affleck. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, gardening and hiking. She was named one of People Magazine's Breakthrough Stars of 2001, as well as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in People Magazine's May 2002 issue.