Christina Ricci Biography

NAME: Christina Ricci

OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Television Actress

BIRTH DATE: February 12, 1980 (Age: 31)

EDUCATION: Professional Children's School

PLACE OF BIRTH: Santa Monica, California

Actress. Born February 12, 1980 in Santa Monica, California. The youngest of four children of a lawyer father and realtor mother, Ricci attended Glenfield Middle School in Montclair, New Jersey, before enrolling at the Professional Children's School in New York City. The precocious, outspoken young actress made her feature debut as Cher's youngest daughter in Mermaids in 1990. The role proved to be a stepping stone, and Ricci landed the part of Wednesday Addams in the film adaptation of The Addams Family the following year; she reprised the role for the sequel in 1993.

Unlike many child stars, Ricci deftly handled the transition to adult roles, evidenced in her nuanced performance in 1997's The Ice Storm, in which she skillfully seduces two brothers. Subsequent roles included an abductee-turned-girlfriend in Buffalo '66 and the dark, treacherous Dedee in The Opposite of Sex, for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination.

In 2002, Ricci again produced and starred in a pet project; this time, the film "Pumpkin," a controversial dark comedy about a sorority girl who falls for a disabled man. After detouring through a slate of questionable thrillers like "Miranda" and "The Gathering," Ricci took a highly publicized stint on the final season of TV's "Ally McBeal" (Fox, 1997-2002) as the provocative young attorney, Liza Bump. She returned to the big screen as a neurotic actress who intentionally or unintentionally tortures smitten writer Jason Biggs in Woody Allen's weak "Anything Else" (2003). After a turn in "I Love Your Work" (2003), the directorial debut of her then-beau, actor Adam Goldberg, Ricci seemed back on her game, earning praise for her turn in the harrowing "Monster" (2003). Based on the life of drifter and female serial killer Aileen Wournos (Charlize Theron), the film resonated with moviegoers, and Ricci as Selby, the young lover who may or may not have turned a blind eye to Wournos' string of murders, had one of her most effective dramatic roles to date.

After a brief, almost inconsequential appearance in "Home of the Brave" (2006), a heart-wrenching tale about a National Guard unit in Iraq sent on a humanitarian mission, Ricci gave a strong performance in "Black Snake Moan" (2007), a bold, if controversial, film about a promiscuous woman trying to be rehabilitated by a God-fearing blues singer (Samuel L. Jackson) who chains her to the radiator.

Ricci's first 2008 release, the Reese Witherspoon-produced "Penelope" was a disappointing attempt at fantastical comedy that missed the mark of masters of the genre like Tim Burton. Forced to wear a pig snout through the majority of the film, it did little for Ricci's image, as it marked yet another outcast teen role for the nearly 30-year-old actress.