Actress Kellie Martin’s Biography – Age, Husband, Net Worth

Kellie Martin is an American actress and entrepreneur, born on 16 October 1975, in Riverside, California USA. She’s known for her roles in TV series such as “Life Goes On” and “ER”.

Early Life

Kellie Noelle Martin was born the first of three daughters to Doug and Debbie Martin; her father was a retail executive and her mother a kindergarten teacher. Her younger sisters are named Heather who was born on 1978, and Clara born in 1990. Heather died in 1998 of Lupus. Marti’s parents divorced in 1992.

There’s not much information about Kellie’s early education and childhood, however, she graduated from Yale University with a degree in Art History in 2001.

About her studies she said: ‘Show business is such a roller-coaster life. I’d like to have my degree and a lot of options’.

Career

Debut as an Actress and Firsts Appearances: 1982 – 1989

Kellie made her debut as an actress in 1982, when at only seven years old she was cast as Flossie in the episode “Sweet Sixteen” of the TV series “Father Murphy”. It’s said that her aunt Rhonda worked as a nanny for Michael Landon, the writer of the series, and showed a photo of Kellie to him, who told her that Kellie should audition.

Two years after her debut, Kellie appeared as Lisa Ratchett in the TV series “Highway to Heaven”, in the episode “Another Song for Christmas”. The next year she appeared in the TV movie “The Canterville Ghost”.

In 1986 she appeared in two episodes of the TV series “Disneyland” as Linda, in the episode entitled “Help Wanted”, then as Veronica in the episode “The Richest Cat in the World”. In the same year, she appeared as Brenda Crane in the episode “J.R. Rising” of the TV series “Dallas”, and then made her film debut as Kristi Carlson in the film “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, then as Missy Roberts in “Body Slam”. She was also heard as a voice actor in the TV series “Potato Head Kids”, before appeared in two episodes of the TV series “Life With Lucy” as Patty.

The next year, she acted in two series: as Rebecca in “My Two Dads” and as Tracy Nash in “Valerie”.

1988 also brought Kellie the opportunity to work in several TV series, such as “Thirtysomething”, “The Tracey Ullman Show”, “ABC Weekend Specials” and “Superman”. She also acted in two movies: “Secret Witness” and “Doin’ Time on Planet Earth”.

1989 also brought several other roles for Kellie: she appeared in the TV movie “Baywatch: Panic at Malibu Pier”, and in the film “Troop Beverly Hills”, as well as in TV series such as “Charles in Charge”, “Mr. Belvedere” and “The Flamingo Kid”, and well as giving her voice to “Fantastic Max” and “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo”.

Life Goes On and Other Roles

Despite her participation in other productions, what made the year 1989 truly outstanding for Kellie’s career was the fact that she was cast in the role of Becca Thatcher in the series “Life Goes On”, the role that would make her being remembered for years to come. The series portrays the story of an American family and its member’s life struggles. The series lasted four years until 1993, and Kellie’s role saw her the winner of an American Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series, and a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards.

Beside her role in “Life Goes On”, she also made several appearances in other productions, such as “Taz-Mania” in 1991, the movie “Matinee” and the TV series’ “Seaquest” and “ABC Afterschool Specials” in 1993. In 1994 she appeared in the TV movie “A Friend To Die For”, and starred the TV movie and series “Christy”. In 1995 she appeared in “If Someone Had Known”, “The Face on the Milk Carton”, “Her Hidden Truth”, and gave her voice to “A Goofy Movie”.

With the year 1996, she acted in the TV movies “Breaking Through”, “Her Last Chance” and “Hidden in Silence”, then in 1997 appeared in another TV-Series entitled “Crisis Center”, and two TV movies: “On the Edge Of Innocence” and “About Sarah” in 1998.

ER: 1998

In 1998 Kellie was cast in the drama and hospital-centered series “ER” in the role of Lucy Knight, a third year medical student under Dr. John Carter’s tutoring, who is also her love interest. She appeared in 36 episodes of the series from 1998 to 2000, leaving the series because she wanted to finish her degree at Yale University, though her role in “ER” would remain as one of the most memorable of her career.

Mystery Woman and Other Projects: 2001 – 2010

After graduating, she came back to her acting career and made appearances in several productions. In 2001 she appeared in the film “All You Need” and “Man in the Kitchen”; in 2002 she was Detective Fiona Fitzgerald in the TV movie “Fiona”; and in 2003 appeared as Melinda Granville in an episode of the series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, and in the movies “Malibu’s Most Wanted” and “Open House” in 2004.

She also appeared in a starring role of 2003’s TV movie “Mystery Woman” as Samantha Kinsey, an amateur detective. She continued starring in the saga for the next three years, appearing in all of its 10 sequels from “Mystery Woman: Mystery Weekend”, to finally “Mystery Woman: In the Shadows” in 2007.

Other movies she appeared were “Live Once, Die Twice”, “Lethal Obsession” and “The Jensen Project”. She appeared in an episode of the 2007’s series “The Batman” as Oracle, had the role of Cally O’Keefe in the 2009 series “Ghost Whisperer”, and acted in “Grey’s Anatomy” as Zulie Zelman in an episode. In 2009 she was Michelle Larsen in “Private Practice”.

2010 – Present

Kellie has been present in the 2010s with her appearance in varying projects.

In 2010 she was cast to appear in an episode of the TV series “Drop Dead Diva”, and in the same year she was Claire Thompson in the TV-Movie “The Jensen Project”, followed by her role in 2011’s TV movie “Smooch”.

In 2012 she appeared in eight episodes of the series “Army Wives”, as Army Captain Nicole Galassini, and as Jordan Grady in the TV movie “I Married Who?”. In 2014 she acted as Katie Minor in the TV movie “Dear Viola”. She was cast in several TV series that year too, such as “Math Bites”, “Mad Men” and “Satisfaction”.

In 2016 she was cast as Hailey Dean, the starring role of the TV movie saga “Hailey Dean Mystery”, a total; of nine movies through 2019.

Concurrently Kellie appeared in other roles – from 2017 to 2018 she was Officer Kimberly Leahy in eight episodes of the series “The Guest Book”, and in two TV movies “Death of a Cheerleader”, and “Christmas in Montana”.

Entrepreneur – Toys Shop

Besides her acting career, Kellie Martin has made an incursion into another business. When in the search for secure toys for her daughter, she became enamored by the toy shop Romp, which sells old-fashioned and eco-friendly toys. However, when in 2011 the owner advised her costumers about closing the shop, Kellie felt it on herself to prevent the shop from disappearing. She called her husband and told him that she wanted to buy the shop: ‘I didn’t even know if she wanted to sell, but I said to my husband ‘You’ve got to call her!’’.

About the business that Kellie now manages alongside her husband, he has said: ‘We skipped the pure startup phase by purchasing a company that was operating profitably and had strong brand identification’. It seems that it was a good decision, and they have maintained its profitability.

Personal Life

Kellie is married to Keith Christian, who was a Columbia Law Student. Keith proposed to her at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the two were touring. Kellie described the moment: ‘He pulled out this little box and I said ‘yes’ before he could ask the question.’ The couple has remained married ever since their wedding on 15 May 1999, and has welcomed two daughters named Maggie on 4 November 2006, and their second Olivia James on 13 February 2016.

Net Worth

Kellie Martin’s net worth is estimated at $3 million, which is a result of her work as a successful actress, and for being a toy shop CEO.

Appearance

Kellie is a woman of white ethnicity, who has a slender build and is 5ft 2ins (1.57 m) tall. Her eyes are green while her natural hair is brown, however, nowadays she stylizes her hair blonde with curls.

Interesting Facts

  • As her sister Heather died in 1998 of lupus, Kellie became the national spokesperson for said deceased.
  • Kellie loves ballet.
  • Kellie has said that her major interests are photography and art.
  • In 1999 she said that her dream job was to work at MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
  • Her husband Keith owns a ranch in Colorado.
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