![]() Contact Jenna Elfman |
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| Full Name: | Jenna Elfman |
| Birth Name: | Jennifer Mary Butala |
| Famous As: | Actress, producer |
| Date of Birth: | September 30, 1971 |
| Place of Birth: | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Height: | 5' 10 |
| Nationality: | American |
Get that fuzzy feeling inside...
![]() Contact Jenna Elfman |
|
| Full Name: | Jenna Elfman |
| Birth Name: | Jennifer Mary Butala |
| Famous As: | Actress, producer |
| Date of Birth: | September 30, 1971 |
| Place of Birth: | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Height: | 5' 10 |
| Nationality: | American |
Title: THE BLONDE TORNADO
Description: THE BLONDE TORNADO Dharma (Jenna Elfman) is the inspiration for her nerdy neighbor/admirers new comic book heroine, the Blonde Tornado, a sexy ...
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TVgasm Blog - Found Jun. 23, 2009 ... which is a list of Jenna Elfman's favorite foods like Easy Cheese, Pringles and Yoo Hoo... |
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IGN.com - Found Jun. 11, 2009 Mother, as Pamela Fryman, who directs ever episode of Mother, directed the pilot to the Jenna Elfman series. Elfman stars as Billie, a movie... |
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Examiner.com - Found Jun. 30, 2009 How I Met Your Mother returning to its original time slot of 8:00pm. It?s followed by the new Jenna Elfman comedy, Accidentally on Purpose. |
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Examiner.com - Found Jun. 30, 2009 ... in the film include Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin, Dan Aykroyd, Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria, Jeremy Piven, Ann Cusack, Jenna Elfman, and Bill Cusack. |
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Entertainment Weekly Online - Found Jun. 24, 2009 17. All of the Monday comedies, including the debut of Accidentally on Purpose starring Jenna Elfman, and CSI: Miami bow on Sept. NBC's Fall Premieres: Make Room for a Lotta Leno - EOnline.com CBS, NBC Announce Fall Skeds - Time NBC sets fall schedule dates - Hollywood Reporter NBC announces fall premiere dates - Los Angeles Times Explore All |
Cinema Blend |
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The Onion AV Club - Found Jun. 24, 2009 McConaughey?s jerk-off brother (Woody Harrelson) drunkenly humiliates his long-suffering girlfriend (Jenna Elfman) and his family by outing... |
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Monsters and Critics - Found Jun. 21, 2009 ... in Clearwater, and Amy Scobee, who helped create Scientology's celebrity network, which caters to Jenna Elfman, Katie Holmes, Ethan Suplee... |
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Press of Atlantic City - Found Jun. 20, 2009 On CBS' 'Accidentally on Purpose,' Jenna Elfman has a baby with a slacker she picked up for a one-night stand. |
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NWI Times - Found Jun. 20, 2009 Everything fits -- including that Jenna Elfman/ Ashley Jensen ('Extras') sitcom that looks like every joke was genetically engineered for CBS... |
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NewsOK.com - Found Jun. 30, 2009 ... m. ? Cold Case Sunday, Oct. 4 8 p.m. ? Three Rivers Pictured above: ?Accidentally on Purpose? stars Jenna Elfman as a single woman who... |
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Jenna Elfman
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| Jenna Elfman | |
Jenna Elfman, May 2008 |
|
| Born | Jennifer Mary Butala September 30, 1971 Los Angeles, CA, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1990 - Present |
| Spouse(s) | Bodhi Elfman |
| Official website | |
Jenna Elfman (born September 30, 1971) is an American television and film actress.
Contents |
Elfman was born Jennifer Mary Butala in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Sue (née Grace), a homemaker, and Richard Wayne Butala, a Hughes Aircraft executive.1 Elfman attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a dance major and graduated in 1989. Her uncle is Tony Butala of The Lettermen. She studied with acting teacher Milton Katselas and Richard Lawson at the Beverly Hills Playhouse before beginning her television career.
Elfman began as a professional dancer, making an appearance in UK electronic group Depeche Mode's promotional video for their 1990 song "Halo". She also toured as a dancer with the group ZZ Top. She made a switch to acting in the early 1990s, appearing in the 1993 music video "Black Lodge" by heavy metal band Anthrax. In 1995, she appeared in the Chris Isaak music video "Somebody's Crying".
Elfman did extensive commercial work before landing her first series jobs, making guest appearances in the 1995–1996 season on the ABC series Roseanne, NYPD Blue, The Monroes, and Murder One, and the CBS sitcom Almost Perfect. A role as a drug counselor in the NBC made-for-TV movie Her Last Chance came in 1996 as well, before she landed a regular role as the boy-crazy Shannon, one of three young working class waitresses in the Molly Ringwald sitcom vehicle Townies. Although short-lived, Townies proved a big break for Elfman, who impressed ABC executives with her scene-stealing turn and signed her own sitcom deal before the last Townies episode aired.
This deal led to Elfman's starring role in the sitcom Dharma & Greg, which ran on ABC from 1997 to 2002. She won a Golden Globe Award for this role, and was nominated twice for an Emmy Award. In 1999, she co-hosted the Emmy Awards presentation with David Hyde Pierce.
In November 2005, CBS announced that the Elfman vehicle Courting Alex would be a midseason replacement, premiering in January 2006. It was announced in May that the show did not get picked up, and was thus cancelled. However, CBS immediately inked a new development deal with Elfman to create a comedy vehicle, as reported in The Hollywood Reporter on June 2, 2006.
Elfman's other television appearances include guest starring roles in two episodes of Two and a Half Men in 2004 and one episode of Brothers and Sisters in 2007. She made a guest appearance in the sixth episode of season four of My Name Is Earl as a cheer team leader.2
Elfman is currently attached to a CBS comedy pilot, Accidentally on Purpose.3 The show was picked up by CBS and will air in the 2009-2010 season. 4
In 1999, Elfman appeared alongside Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in EDtv directed by Ron Howard. She then played the role of Anna Riley in the 2000 comedy Keeping the Faith, which marked Edward Norton's directorial debut. In 2004, Elfman produced and starred in a feature film called Touched.
Elfman's other film credits include Krippendorf's Tribe, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and Town & Country.
She is in two yet to be released films, one with Tim Allen entitled The Six Wives of Henry Lefay5 and the other Love Hurts.6
Jenna met her husband, actor Bodhi Elfman, at a Sprite commercial audition in February 1991. They married in 1995, making director Richard Elfman her father-in-law and noted composer Danny Elfman her uncle-in-law.
In May 2006, Elfman visited her high school alma mater to urge students to set career goals and encourage them to persist in their chosen professions.7
In January 2007, Elfman and her husband announced they were expecting their first child.8 On July 23, 2007, the couple gave birth to a son, Story Elias, in Los Angeles, weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces.9
In an April 2009 interview on Anytime with Bob Kushell, Elfman stated that she collects dictionaries.10
In 2005, she appeared at the Scientology-owned Citizens Commission on Human Rights' "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death"11 museum grand opening and she and husband Bodhi are listed on the organization's website as members of the board of advisors from the arts, entertainment and media community.12
In February 2006, Elfman donated an hour of her time to be auctioned off to the highest bidder on eBay as part of the "Lunch With A Leader" fundraiser, the proceeds of which benefit the work of Communities In Schools.13 She participated in the auction in both 200714 and 200815 as well.
On May 24, 2006, she was the keynote speaker at the Human Rights Hero Award event in participation with the Scientology-affiliated groups Youth for Human Rights International and Artists for Human Rights (AFHR), an organization formed with the purpose of bringing artists together with the common cause of raising awareness of human rights around the world. The event took place in Washington, D.C. and was attended by members of Congress and the general public. Awards were presented to individuals who through their actions have brought about greater human rights.16
Elfman donated her lip print for a limited edition U.S. postage stamp created by Zazzle to celebrate Valentine's Day in both 200717 and 2008.18 Proceeds for the "Kiss Stamps" went to support the programs of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
On March 27, 2008, she and Charlie Sheen co-hosted the Scientology-affiliated New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project Charity Event at Geisha House in Hollywood, California.19
As a criminal rehabilitation activist, Elfman has traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby for criminal reform. On April 5, 2007, she was awarded with the Goodwill Ambassador Award for her work in human rights and criminal rehabilitation at the Women Ambassadors Foundation 12th Annual Conference.20 On April 9, 2008, she was a guest 21 at the signing of a new bill by U.S. President George W. Bush that aims to reduce prisoner recidivism, entitled the Second Chance Act of 2007 (H.R. 1593).22
In September 2008, Elfman joined the Charity Water month-long "September Campaign," asking for donations in lieu of birthday gifts in order to raise money to build freshwater wells in Ethiopia.23
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank | Tanya | |
| 1998 | Dr. Dolittle | Owl | voice |
| Can't Hardly Wait | The Angel | uncredited | |
| Krippendorf's Tribe | Prof. Veronica Micelli | ||
| 1999 | EDtv | Shari | |
| Venus | Venus | ||
| 2000 | The Tangerine Bear | Lorelei | voice |
| Cyberworld | Phig | voice | |
| Keeping the Faith | Anna Riley | ||
| 2001 | Town & Country | Auburn | |
| 2002 | Obsessed | Ellena Roberts | TV film |
| 2003 | Looney Tunes: Back in Action | Kate | |
| 2004 | Clifford's Really Big Movie | Dorothy | voice |
| 2005 | Touched | Angela Martin | also Executive Producer |
| What's Hip, Doc? | Supermodel | voice | |
| 2008 | Struck | pregnant date | short film |
| 2009 | The Six Wives of Henry Lefay | Ophelia | post-production |
| Love Hurts | Darlene | post-production |