Jennie Garth - the Star from Beverly Hills 90210: Where is She Now?

We know her from the hit television series "Beverly Hills 90210", WB's sitcom "What I Like About You", and movies like "Star" (1993), "Without Consent" (1994), and "An Unfinished Affair" (1996). She made an appearance on "Growing Pains" in the late 1980s, her story "I Am Home" was featured in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul; she is not only a great actress but also a producer and a director. Yes, you guessed it - she is Jennifer Eve Garth.

Biography

Jennie was born on April 3, 1972 in Urbana, Illinois to parents John and Carolyn Garth who had three children each from former marriages. Her six older siblings are Johnny, Chuck, Lisa, Cammie, Wendy and Lynn. When she was 13 years old she and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where dance lessons and modeling were among her favorite activities. At the age of 15 the actress was approached by a talent scout at a Talent Competition so she and her mom decided to relocate to L.A. Dropping out of school in her junior year was a sacrifice she was ready to make in order to pursue her dream. Acting classes and auditions every day were a big part of this teenager's busy schedule.

After only 4 months in Los Angeles Jennie landed the role of Erica McCray on the NBC series "A Brand New Life" which incidentally was about a man and a woman marrying, each of them with three kids from previous marriages. The show didn't last long but soon the young star got another opportunity - she was cast for "Beverly Hills 90210" (1990-2000) which gave her instant exposure. For the next 10 years she played the role of Kelly Taylor, a troubled rich high school and later college student. Her co-stars like Luke Perry and Shannen Doherty also went on to become famous.

During that period, on April 16, 1994 Garth married musician Daniel Clark. Unfortunately their relationship didn't last long and they divorced just 2 years later. On January 20, 2001 she married actor Peter Facinelli whom she met on the set of the movie "Unfinished Affair". They have 3 daughters together - Luca Bella (born on June 22, 1997), Lola Ray (born on December 6, 2002) and Fiona Eve (born on September 30, 2006).

Meanwhile Jennie starred in quite a few made for television movies, some of which she produced and directed:

A Brand New Life (1989)
Just Perfect (1989)
Teen Angel (1989)
Teen Angel Returns (1990)
Star (1993)
Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg (1994)
Without Consent (1994)
Falling for You (1995)
A Loss of Innocence (1996)
An Unfinished Affair (1996)
Power 98 (1996)
My Brother's War (1997)
The Last Cowboy (2003)

Her most recent work was WB's "What I Like About You" (2002-2006), a funny sitcom about two sisters - Holly (Amanda Bynes) and Val Tyler (Jennie Garth) living together in New York City.

Interesting Facts

Jennie has a home in L.A. and a ranch near Santa Barbara where her parents live. She is a vegetarian and one of her 10 reasons is: "I never met a cow I didn't like." The actress enjoys horseback riding, gardening and housekeeping - such a down-to-earth person in spite of her fame. She dropped out of school but she received her High School diploma later. She is fluent in Italian.

Her wedding with Peter Facinelli took place at the mission-style church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Montecito, California, in south Santa Barbara. Their daughter Luca Bella who was 3 at the time was a flower girl. Jennie actually converted to the Roman Catholic faith so that she and her husband could have a Roman Catholic Nuptial Mass.

Her real life best friend is her "Beverly Hills 90210" co-star Tiffani Thiessen who was picked for the role of Kelly Kapowski on "Saved By The Bell" (1989) over Jennie. Nevertheless, competition between the two actresses didn't interfere with their friendship.

Garth was ranked #41 in VH1 Top 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
On her life as a wife and a mom she says, "Marriages aren't easy, and we're just like any other couple. We have our roadblocks but we get around them, and our family prevails. We are so happy we have a normal, grounded life to keep us centered."

In 2005 Jennie became a spokesperson for the Angel Soft Angels in Action Program. The campaign serves to honor children and teenagers with extraordinary acts of community service. She has also done Public Service Announcements for migraine headaches from which she suffers.

Right now she has nothing planned for the big screen but hopefully the near future will bring many new projects for this wonderful actress, great person and outstanding mom.