Gretchen Mol was born on November 8, 1972, in Deep River, Connecticut, to James Mol, a school principal, and his artist wife Janet. Deep River is a small community located on the Chester Bowles Highway (Rt. 9),nine miles northwest of Old Saybrook, within commuting distance of New York City.
The young Gretchen was bitten by the acting bug and participated in high school theatrics. She then moved to New York City as a teenager to study acting and musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and at the William Esper Studio.
Although only 5'6" tall, her unique beauty brought her modeling jobs as she pursued her dream of becoming a professional actress. She began appearing in magazines in 1994, working at various Manhattan jobs, including a restaurant hat-check girl. It was while working that gig she was discovered by a talent agent.
The agent landed her her first acting job, a TV commercial for Coca-Cola. She continued to hone her acting skills in summer stock, appearing in such productions as "Bus Stop," "No Exit," and "Godspell."
Gretchen made her film debut in Spike Lee's Girl 6 (1996),a small role that came to her after she had gone for an audition for the soap opera Guiding Light (1952). Her career began to take off, and she appeared in small parts, mostly "girlfriend" roles, in such films as Rounders (1998) and Celebrity (1998).
Gretchen was touted as the "Next Big Thing" after appearing on the cover of the September 1998 issue of "Vanity Fair." Her most memorable role up to that time was as a mobster's moll in the minor cult classic Donnie Brasco (1997).
During the seven years that followed the "Vanity Fair" cover story, Mol continued to appear in films and on the stage, including the part of Jennie in the London and New York productions of Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things" in 2001.
She worked steadily, appearing in another small role in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999),and eventually won the lead in David E. Kelley TV series Girls Club (2002). The series bombed, however, and was canceled after only two episodes.
In 2004 the blonde beauty finally had the role that proved to be her acting breakthrough: brunette 1950s "stag queen" Bettie Page in The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). Many brunettes have gone blonde, but Mol--the blonde who went brunette--rocked the screen with her presence.
Mol married film director Tod Williams on June 1, 2004, and they became parents a little over three years later, when a son, Ptolemy John Williams, was born on October 10, 2007.
