Tiffani Amber Thiessen, a talented actress, was born on January 23, 1974, in Long Beach, California, to Robyn Ernest, a dedicated homemaker, and Frank Thiessen, a creative park designer. She grew up in Long Beach with her loving parents and her two brothers, Todd, a professional cyclist born on August 1, 1968, and Schyler, born on May 10, 1977.
When Tiffani was just 8 years old, her uncle, Roger Ernest, encouraged her to try her hand at acting and modeling. This suggestion led her to appear in her first TV commercial for Peaches and Cream Barbie. She then began competing in various beauty pageants and, in 1987, she won the prestigious Miss Junior America pageant.
Tiffani's big break came when she was cast as the popular cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on the NBC series Saved by the Bell (1989),which lasted for five successful years. However, this was not the end of her illustrious career. Coinciding with the cancellation of the short-lived Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993),she was cast as the cunning and manipulative Valerie Malone on Aaron Spelling's hit series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). Here, she played the constant rival of Kelly Taylor, portrayed by Jennie Garth, although in real life, the two actresses are actually close friends. Tiffani also lived with co-star Brian Austin Green for several years.
She stayed with the show until 1998 and then left to pursue her movie career. The result was two independent movies, followed by two comedies, and then Hollywood Ending (2002),in which she starred alongside the renowned Woody Allen.
Tiffani met actor Richard Ruccolo while guest starring as Marti in the hit sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998). The couple became engaged in 2001, but broke off their engagement in 2003. In 2005, she married actor Brady Smith, with whom she has two children, a daughter named Harper Smith (Harper Renn Smith) and a son named Holt Fisher Smith.
