Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress.
She is best known for starring as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's sitcom Saved by the Bell, as Valerie Malone on Fox's Teen Drama Beverly Hills, 90210 and as Elizabeth Burke in USA Network's crime drama White Collar.
She's married to fellow actor Brady Smith and they have two children together.
Filmography
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Live-Action Films
- Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992) as Kelly Kapowski
- A Killer Among Friends (1992) as Jenny Monroe
- Son in Law (1993) as Tracy
- Saved by the Bell: Wedding In Las Vegas (1994) as Kelly Kapowski
- The Stranger Beside Me (1995) as Jennifer Gallagher
- She Fought Alone (1995) as Caitlin Rose
- Sweet Dreams (1996) as Alison Sullivan
- Buried Secrets (1996) as Annalisse Vellum
- Speedway Junky (1999) as Wilma Price
- From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) as Pam
- Love Stinks (1999) as Rebecca Melini / Juliette
- Ivans XTC (2000) as Marie Stein
- The Ladies Man (2000) as Honey DeLune
- Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th (2000) as Hagitha Utslay
- Everything But The Girl (2001) as Denise
- Hollywood Ending (2002) as Sharon Bates
- Pandemic (2007) as Kayla Martin
- Cyborg Soldier (2008) as Lindsey Reardon
- Northpole (2014) as Chelsea Hastings
Live-Action Series
- Live In (1989) as The Girl
- Saved by the Bell (1989 — 1993) as Kelly Kapowski
- Charles in Charge (1990) as Jennifer
- Married... with Children (1990) as Heather McCoy
- The Hogan Family (1990) as Brooke
- Step by Step (1992) as Tina Gordon
- Blossom (1992) as Ricki
- The Powers That Be (1992) (1992) as Barbara
- Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993 — 1994) as Kelly Kapowski
- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1994 — 2000) as Valerie Malone
- Cupid (1999) as Stephanie MacGregor
- NewsRadio (1999) as Foxy Jackson
- Two Guys and a Girl (2000) as Marti
- Just Shoot Me! (2001) as Amy Watson
- Fastlane (2002 — 2003) as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers
- Good Morning Miami (2003 — 2014) as Victoria Hill
- Stroller Wars (2006) as Lainey
- What About Brian (2007) as Natasha Drew
- White Collar (2009 — 2014) as Elizabeth Burke
- Hell's Kitchen (2015) as Herself
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2015) as Kelly Kapowski
- Dinner At Tiffanis (2015 — 2017) as Herself / Hostess
- American Housewife (2017) as Celeste
- Food Network Star (2017) as Herself
- Alexa & Katie (2018 — 2020) as Lori Mendoza
Voice Acting
- A Christmas Adventure From A Book Called Wiselys Tales (2001) as Vixen
- Jake And The Neverland Pirates (2012 — 2014) as Misty the Wonderful Witch / Mermaid
Tropes
- Actor Allusion:
- In Alexa & Katie, a party planner asks Thiessen's character if she's an event planner. Thiessen's previous role in White Collar, Elizabeth Burke, was an event player.
- Lori's first kiss was with a guy named Zack, an obvious nod to Saved by the Bell.
- Dawson Casting:
- Averted on Saved By The Bell, where she was fifteen when cast in the first season and only nineteen by the end, making her just around the same age as Kelly.
- She was twenty-one playing seventeen in the Lifetime movie She Fought Alone.
- Dye Hard: Normally brunette, she dyed her hair blonde in the 2000s and kept it that way for a long time. She has since reverted to brown.
- Dyeing for Your Art: She's said that she would lose weight for a part if it was right for the character, but not just for the sake of it.
- Friendship on the Set: She and Jennie Garth became good friends on 90210, although they drifted apart in the 2000s and are no longer close.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: In She Fought Alone, the doctor who examines her character Caitlin after her rape is played by John Mansfield, who played her father in Saved by the Bell.
- Playing Against Type: Known for her Girl Next Door roles in the early 90s, she got to play against type as a conniving Alpha Bitch in 90210. She's said she finds it more interesting to "play the bitch".
- Real Life Writes the Plot:
- The introduction of Tori in Season 4 of Saved By The Bell was influenced by Tiffani declining to re-sign (along with Elizabeth Berkley) when the network ordered more episodes after their contracts had run out.
- In White Collar, Thiessen’s character Elizabeth spends a significant portion of the second season working in San Francisco, partially to hide Thiessen’s pregnancy & partially to write her off the show during her maternity leave.
- Romance on the Set: Had a relationship with Brian Austin Green (David) in Beverly Hills, 90210.
- So My Kids Can Watch: She played Misty the Wonderful Witch on Jake And The Neverland Pirates so her then two-year-old daughter Harper could watch something she was in.
- What Could Have Been:
- Auditioned for the role of Rachel Green on Friends.
- She also auditioned for the role of Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough.
