Piper Perabo

Wisely uses her excellent acting skills and intelligence to differentiate herself from other striking actresses, Piper Lisa Perabo sure is an extraordinary figure to look at. A Dallas, Texas native of Portuguese and Norwegian ancestry, she was born on October 31, 1976 as the eldest of three children to George William Perabo and Mary Charlotte Ulland. Looking from her enthusiasm to make stage adaptations of her favorite books in her grandmother's living room during her childhood, it was clearly apparent that the little girl has developed an interest in performing characters at such a young age. This fondness extended to her teen years for she was eagerly involved in all yearly musicals of Toms River High School North where she studied at, followed by the decision to take theater major at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio after her graduation in 1994.

Successfully finished her study four years later with the title of summa cum laude in her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Piper afterwards headed for New York to polish her skills at the city's LaMamma Stage Theater before putting full concentration to establish a professional acting career. Already compiled theatrical experience through performances in "Arms and the Man", "Trinity", "Antigone", "Fool for Love", "Kindertransport", plus "Our Town", she then ventured into screen production through small-budget independent films, like "Single Spaced" (1998) and "Knuckleface Jones" (1999). Nevertheless, it appeared to her that the success was still beyond her reach as those short pictures went unnoticed, forcing her to work at a bar in order to support her life there.

Things started to get better for Piper when she landed a major part in Marc Levin's comedic drama flick of "Whiteboyz" (1999) for it consequently became her stepping-stone to secure a role in "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2000) alongside Rene Russo, Robert De Niro, and Jason Alexander. Moved on to play Violet Sanford in her next project entitled "Coyote Ugly" (2000), this mesmerizing brunette finally encountered the breakthrough she had aimed for as the picture managed to create a buzz among the moviegoers, even gained her an MTV Movie Award for Best Music Moment in 2001. Scored almost 114 million U.S. dollar in international market, the film's attainment undoubtedly brought her to wider attention along with growing popularity which both led her to more propitious film offers.

Intended to keep herself away from being typecast as a mere pretty girlfriend, Piper wisely chose to explore different characters in her following movies of "Followers" (2000), "Lost and Delirious" (2001), "Slap Her... She's French" (2002), and "The I Inside" (2003). To the beauty's delight, her career then received a huge boost when "Cheaper by the Dozen" (2003), in which she played Steve Martin's oldest daughter, turned out to be a box-office hit with the income of more than $138 million, enhancing her status in Hollywood film industry. Taking the female lead in both of her 2004 features, "A Piece of My Heart" and "George and the Dragon", this lovely actress subsequently undergone such a hectic schedule afterwards as she got involved in no less than three features of 2005 releases namely "The Cave", "Edison", and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2."

The busy period wonderfully extended to the next year when Piper managed to land roles in "Imagine Me & You", "10th & Wolf", and "The Prestige", the latter only had her appeared briefly, though. By 2008, the starlet has already had more high-profile big screen projects in her resume that included "The Heaven Project", and "South of the Border", the latter boasting starry voice cast consisting of Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia, Salma Hayek, and Jamie Lee Curtis among others.