Jenna Elfman Biography

Jenna Elfman, actress

Date of Birth: September 30, 1971

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California

Sign: Libra

Jenna Elfman, real name Jennifer Mary Batula, was born in Los Angeles, California. She began performing in high school and attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a dance major. After graduating in 1989, she began studying with acting teacher Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

In 1990, she made an appearance in Depeche Mode's promotional video for "Halo" as a dancer. She then toured with ZZ Top as a dancer before making the switch to acting, then appearing in the band Anthrax's music video "Black Lodge."

Her initial acting appearances began in commercials before she landed her first major acting gig. She began making guest appearances on Roseanne, NYPD Blue, The Monroes, Murder One and Almost Perfect. In 1996, she starred as a drug counselor in the NBC television movie Her Last Chance. She then landed a full time role in the Molly Ringwald sitcom, Townies, which brought her to the attention of ABC executives and landing her own sitcom deal as "Townies" ended.

Elfman then took on one of the lead roles in Dharma & Greg, which ran from 1997 to 2002 on ABC. The role landed her a Golden Globe Award and saw her nominated twice for an Emmy Award. She then co-hosted the Emmy Awards with David Hyde Pierce.

In 1995, she married actor Bodhi Elfman. The two met at a commercial audition for Sprite in February of 1991.

In 1999, Elfman headed to the big screen with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the movie EDtv, directed by Ron Howard. In 2000, she took on the role of Anna Riley in the comedy Keeping the Faith, marking Edward Norton's directorial debut.

In 2004, Elfman produced and starred in the feature film, Touched. Her other film credits include Krippendorf's Tribe, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and Town & Country.

Elfman will also be starring in the Tim Allen film "The Six Wives of Henry Lefay" to be tentatively released in late 2008.