Ed Girl

Background:

“Carol is the girl who has always been idolized. But now she needs to be more than just a male fantasy. She’s at a point where she wants to decide who she really is.” Julie Bowen.

American actress Julie Bowen rose to popularity for portraying Carol Vessey, the beautiful, clever and humorous high school teacher and the title character’s dream girl on NBC's hit drama comedy series “Ed”. The actress who debuted in the independent feature Five Spot Jewel (1992), credited to such big screen films as Happy Gilmore (1996, opposite Adam Sandler), Multiplicity (1996, with Michael Keaton) and An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), as well as the independent romantic comedy Venus & Mars (2001, alongside Lynn Redgrave). She recently appeared in the 2005 film Kids in America and the upcoming film Partners.

5' 6 inches tall Julie Bowen was listed as one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People (2002) and became a spokeswoman for Neutrogena. On more personal front, she was involved with British filmmaker David Brooks.


Renaissance Artist

Childhood and Family:

"Ever since I was a kid, we were putting on plays in the backyard, though I had gone through usual teenage insecurities about putting myself out there." Julie Bowen.

The middle child of parents Jack (commercial real estate) and Susie Luetkemeyer, Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer was born on March 3, 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland. She has two sisters, older sister Molly (an interior designer in Los Angeles), and younger sister Annie (a doctor in San Francisco). Since her childhood, Julie has developed her interest in acting and begun putting on plays with her sisters in their backyard.

Julie was a bright student and was the head of the drama club in her high school. After finishing her high school, she enrolled at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Julie, who spent her junior year in Florence, Italy and became fluent in Italian, received a B.A degree in Italian Renaissance Studies. During her university years, she has also appeared in several student theater productions.

Off screen, Julie, now resides in Los Angeles and New York, is an avid sportswoman who loves skiing, swimming and skydiving. She also helps tutor high school students while not busy filming.


Three Spy

Career:

"I read books more than I go out. As a matter of fact, I get a little concerned about some of my anti-social habits. I will choose a night with Somerset Maugham or Russell Banks over a crowded bar any day." Julie Bowen.

Julie Bowen started acting with starring roles in several university student plays like “Guys and Dolls,” “Stage Door” and “Lemon Sky,” as well as appeared in Edward Burns (The Brothers Mc Mullen) directional debut, No Visible Bruises. In her senior year, she got her first film role, playing a lead in the independent feature Five Spot Jewel (1992), which landed her an agent.

After graduating from her college, Bowen packed to New York to sharpen her acting skills at the Actor's Institute, Shakespeare and Company, and Will Geer's Theatricum. She took the acting lessons for three years and spent the summers at Shakespeare festivals in Oxford, England and Lowell, Massachusetts. She then found herself on television, working in TV commercials and finally scored a recurring role on the daytime drama series “Loving” in 1992, as well as was spotted as a guest in an episode of the Fox’s dramatic series “Class of ’96” in October 1993.

Realizing that Hollywood would provide a better opportunity to her acting career, Bowen uprooted to Los Angeles. Within weeks of her arrival, she won the leading part of Angie in the Showtime drama helmed by Joe Dante, Runaway Daughters (1994, opposite Paul Rudd) and as Kirstie in the ABC’s Where Are My Children?. In the next years, she nabbed the regular role of Andie McDermott on the ABC’s brief-lived adventure series, Extreme (1995, opposite James Brolin) and guest starred on the Fox’s series "Party of Five" and "Strange Luck".

Four years after her first appearance on the silver screen, Bowen returned with the comedy film Happy Gilmore (1996), playing Virginia Venit, Adam Sandler’s girlfriend and in Harold Ramis comedy Multiplicity (1996, with Michael Keaton). She was also cast as Amy Finch in the horror-comedy An American Werewolf in Paris (1997). On working in the film, she revealed, "They had this big puppet - the big stuffed werewolf - and there was one point where I had my eyes closed, and I opened my eyes and there was this big monster over me. I got the willies! But when I saw the film, I got the giggles more than anything, because I remember having all the fun while shooting it."

In 1998 Bowen returned on the small screen, starring as an ex-con employed by a covert government organization, the martial arts master Amanda Webb, in The WB’s short-running spy series "Three" (alongside David Warner). Commenting on her role in the film, she said, "I had the most fun with Amanda when she goes undercover, which she does a fair amount, and she gets to wear wigs and funny hats," says Bowen gleefully. "It was great to get to do those different things, branch out a little, because Amanda herself, as much as I love her, is a pain in the butt! She's not the nicest person. Sometimes you get a little exhausted continually being the snotty one."

Still on television, Bowen was widely noticed for playing the recurring role of Roxanne Please (1998-1999), the insurance saleswoman and Dr. Carter’s (Noah Wyle) love admiration, on the NBC’s hit medical drama series E.R. Meanwhile, she starred as Hope Chayse in the UPN sci-fi movie The Last Man on Planet Earth (1999).

The regular role of Carol Vessey, a high school teacher and the dream girl of the title character Ed (Tom Cavanagh), in the NBC’s drama comedy series “Ed”, was probably Bowen’s most recognized role so far. The series was the winner of The People's Choice Award for Best New Comedy and it helped Bowen to catapult her name towards the spotlight. She subsequently nabbed roles in such 2001 films as You're Killing Me, Amy's Orgasm, the independent romantic comedy Venus and Mars (with Lynn Redgrave), and Tim Allen’s Joe Somebody.

More recent, Bowen appeared in the 2005 film Kids in America (as Principal Weller) and is currently busy finishing her forthcoming film, Partners (will play character Katherine). On television, she recently played the recurring role of Brooke in several episodes of the sitcom "Jake in Progress". She also reportedly will join the second season of the ABC’s "Boston Legal”, playing the new role of Eileen Northrop.

"I have an overabundance of energy, and I have to learn to settle down - the older actors have the ability to be still." Julie Bowen.


Awards:
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