Christine Joan Taylor (born July 30, 1971 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American actress.

After graduating from high school in Allentown, Taylor began her career in 1989 on the Nickelodeon Network children's television series Hey Dude, where she played the perky character Melody Hanson, a lifeguard. She continued in that role through 1991, while making various guest appearances on other programs.

Taylor's physical resemblance to the character of Marcia Brady, coupled with several successful comedic guest appearances on Ellen, led to her being cast in the 1995 film spoof of the television show The Brady Bunch called The Brady Bunch Movie. Her performance garnered her a sequel, A Very Brady Sequel, where she again played the role of Marcia.

In 1996, Taylor was awarded the lead role in the television series, Party Girl, in which she plays the role of a self-destructive rave party organizer, who indulges in drugs and all-night partying.

Following Party Girl, Taylor's career advanced rapidly, highlighted by guest television appearances on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and NBC's Friends and Seinfeld. She also played the best friend role in the successful Drew Barrymore/Adam Sandler film The Wedding Singer.

In the 1990s, Taylor dated actor Matthew Lillard. In May, 2000, she married actor and writer Ben Stiller. She has since appeared opposite Stiller in a number of films, including Zoolander (2001) and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). Like Stiller, Taylor is considered a gifted comedic actor whose success in television and film acting has been varied, but often heralded.

On April 10, 2002, Taylor bore Stiller and Taylor's first child, a daughter named Ella Olivia Stiller. She is pregnant with their second child, who is due in summer 2005.

Christine Taylor quote

"Someday I'd love to do Shakespeare. And to play a bitch." People magazine, March 13, 1995.

External link

• .
• Christine Taylor profile, Eonline.