Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar was born on April 14, 1977 in New York City. An only child, she held a straight-A average as a student and was also known as a competent figure skater. She was discovered by a casting agent at four years old, and was soon cast in the television movie An Invasion of Privacy, which aired in 1983. She later appeared in a controversial television commercial for Burger King, which let to a lawsuit that was eventually settled out of court. She received her big break in the short-lived syndicated teen soap Swans Crossing, where she played the lead, Sydney Rutledge. She was then cast as Kendall Hart, the long-lost daughter of television host Erica Kane (Susan Lucci), in the daytime soap All My Children; she won a Daytime Emmy for the role in 1995.
Gellar is, however, more known as vampire-fighting teenager Buffy Summers in the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She left All My Children amidst rumors of a strained working relationship with some of the cast, and auditioned 11 times for several characters in Buffy before eventually getting the lead. The program ran for seven years, from 1997, and was a huge success; Gellar consequently became both a cult figure and an archetype of empowered women around the world. Despite later dissatisfaction with some aspects of the show, she stayed on the role until the series ended in 2003.
Aiming to capitalize on her television fame, Gellar tried her hand at acting for films. During Buffy’s run, she appeared in several wide-known films, with varying commercial successes: her most successful include I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, Cruel Intentions and Scooby-Doo. After 2003, she concentrated her career on films. Her roles mostly centered on horror flicks, notably the runaway successes The Grudge and The Grudge 2, where she played the lead role. She’s also starred in more dramatic roles: films like Southland Tales, The Air I Breathe and Suburban Girl were exhibited in international film festivals, and critics acclaimed her performances.
Changed name to Sarah Michelle Prinze as a five year anniversary gift for Freddie Prinze Jr.
Had an allergic reaction to the Japanese water while filming THE GRUDGE (2004).
Her biological father (Arthur Gellar, 60) was found dead from in his Manhattan apartment. (October 9, 2001)
Guests at Sarah and Freddie's wedding included actors Dule Hill, Shannen Doherty, Eva La Rue and close friend and bridesmaid to Sarah, Lindsay Sloane.
In 1999, she signed a contract with Maybelline to become the company's first celebrity spokeswoman since Lynda Carter in the late 1970s.
Shares her birthday with Adrien Brody, and also with Brian Forster...who, like Gellar, is an only child.
Golden Satellite Award
Year : 2003
Category : Best Performance by an Actress in a Series
For : Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Nominated
Golden Globe
Year : 2001
Category : Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series
For : Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1997)
Nominated
Golden Slate
Year : 2000
Category : Best Actress in a Leading Role
For : Cruel Intentions(1999)
Nominated
MTV Movie Award
Year : 2000
Category : Best Female Performance, Best Kiss
For : Cruel Intentions (1999)
Won
Saturn Award
Year : 2000
Category : Best Actress
For : Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1997)
Nominated
Saturn Award
Year : 1999
Category : Best Actress
For : Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1997)
Won
Blockbuster Entertainment Award
Year : 1998
Category : Favorite Supporting Actress
For : I Know What You Did Last Summer(1997)
Won
Daytime Emmy
Year : 1995
Category : Outstanding Younger Leading Actress
For : All My Children
Won
Daytime Emmy
Year : 1994
Category : Outstanding Younger Leading Actress
For : All My Children
Nominated
This Side of the Looking Glass (2010)
Possession (2009)
Veronika Decides to Die (2009)
Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2009)
Suburban Girl (2007)
The Air I Breathe (2007)
TMNT (2007)
Southland Tales (2006)
The Grudge 2 (2006)
Happily N'Ever After (2006)
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
The Grudge (2004)
Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003)
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Harvard Man (2001)
X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001)
Simply Irresistible (1999)
She's All That (1999)
Cruel Intentions (1999)
Small Soldiers (1998)
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Scream 2 (1997)
High Stakes (1989)
Funny Farm (1988)
Over the Brooklyn Bridge (1984)
"Being a teen idol is what I've waited for my whole life."
"How can women be as thin as we are? We have personal trainers to work us out. We have specially prepared meals" On being skinny
"I am 28 this year but I've worked since I was four and in Hollywood 28 is like 70 everywhere else."
"I seduced my stepfather, and when he wouldn't sleep with me, I slept with the stable boy, cried rape, and my mother stabbed him with a letter opener. Then I went to jail for perjury, burned my parents's divorce papers, and locked up my little sister. I think that was all in the first week." On playing Kendall Hart in All My Children
"It's been hard to be a show in L.A. and be a trendsetting, because the fashions are in New York... Not to mention that most actresses are well, give or take, the same size, between five-two and five-five, and 95 to 125 pounds."
"Just because you donate sperm does not make you a father. I don't have a father. I would never give him the credit or acknowledge him as my father." On her father
"People tell me not to do a soap, but it was a great learning experience because I became familar with technial aspects of the business. Besides, look who came out of soaps- Julianne Moore, Demi Moore, Tommy Lee Jones, Parker Posey, Kathleen Turner. All amazing people."
Collecting rare books,Ice Skating,Tae Kwon Do,Surfing
Professional Children's School in New York (graduated two years early with a 4.0 GPA)
Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music, Art and the Performing Arts in New York
Freddie Prinze Jr. (actor; together since 1997; engaged on April 13; 2001; married on September 1, 2002 in Mexico)
Sarah Michelle Gellar gave birth to her first daughter, Charlotte Grace Prinze, on Saturday, September 19th 2009