Amy Acker was born Amy Louise Acker on December 5, 1976 in Dallas Texas and is the eldest among four siblings. Acker started out as a dancer and excelled in ballet, jazz and modern dance but had to give it all up following knee surgery in high school. She switched her creative pursuits to acting when she attended the Southern Methodist University from 1996-1999. She became a J. Crew model for their 1998 spring catalogue in her junior year and also modeled in Japan in three previous summers. After graduating with a BFA in Acting, Acker became part of the American Players Theatre in Wisconsin before moving to New York to appear in the movies The Accident and The Energy Specialist. She then proceeded to Los Angeles where she soon got cast in the role of Winifred “Fred” Burkle on Angel.

Winifred “Fred” Burkle, played by Amy Acker on Angel, was a brilliant mathematician and physicist who accidentally got sucked into a dimensional portal and ended up stranded and enslaved for five years on the strange world of Pylea. She was rescued by Angel and his team when they visited Pylea to retrieve their comrade, Cordelia, who also managed to get trapped there. Upon their return to Los Angeles, Fred stayed with Angel Investigations, initially to recover from her traumatic experience as well as to regain her social skills and mental health, which suffered as a result of her ordeal. She eventually became a permanent and indispensable part of the team until she was taken over by the powerful, ancient demon Illyria.


(Photo courtesy of The WB)