Early life

Garth was born in Urbana, Illinois, to John and Carolyn Garth. The youngest of seven children (though the only child of both), Garth spent much of her youth on a 25-acre horse ranch between Sadorus, Illinois and Arcola, Illinois. For a time the family stayed in Tuscola, Illinois; but eventually they settled in Glendale, Arizona, when Garth was around thirteen years old. She studied dance and modeled, and was soon discovered at a local talent competition by Hollywood scout and manager, Randy James. She attended Greenway High School as a freshman and transferred to Apollo High School in her sophomore year. Determined to become an actress, Garth would receive audition materials from Los Angeles that she would work on with local acting coach, Jean Fowler. She left school during her junior year to work with James in Los Angeles and would later obtain her high school diploma in California. She continued taking acting classes and going to auditions almost daily and soon landed a role as "Erica McCray" in the NBC television series Brand New Life (1989-90).

Career

Garth landed her first role in the television sitcom Growing Pains. In 1989, she and Tiffani Thiessen both auditioned for the role of Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell; the latter gained the role, and later joined Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1990, she landed the role of Kelly Taylor in the series Beverly Hills, 90210. Throughout the series, Garth's character faces several trials and tribulations, along with difficult issues regarding family and her romantic life. Garth displayed an exceptional understanding of the character's struggles and triumphs, portraying Kelly in a relatable way which made her one of the most developed and popular characters on the show. Garth appears in all ten seasons of the show. She also directed two episodes (the second most of any cast member). She won a Young Artist Award and was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for the role. She was also instrumental in launching the spin-offs Melrose Place and 90210, with the character of Kelly becoming a continuity icon by appearing in the most franchise episodes.

Her successful role on Beverly Hills, 90210 opened the door to several lead roles in made-for-TV films in the 1990s, including Danielle Steel's Star (1993), Without Consent (1994), Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg (1994), Falling for You (1995), and An Unfinished Affair (1996). She also had minor and supporting roles in the theatrical films Telling You (1998), My Brother's War (1997), and Power 98 (1996).

Garth ranked No. 59 on the FHM 100 Sexiest Women of 2000, and #93 on the magazine's 100 Sexiest Women of 2001.

In 2002, Garth starred in the sitcom What I Like About You as Valerie Tyler. Along with co-star Amanda Bynes, she appeared on the show for all four seasons. The show centered around the relationship of the Tyler sisters, along with their friendships and romances. In 2003, she starred in the television movies The Last Cowboy and the Christmas family drama Secret Santa, playing a journalist. She and the cast of Secret Santa won the 2004 CAMIE Award.

In 2005, she voiced her Beverly Hills, 90210 character Kelly Taylor, as well as an additional role in the DVD Film Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. The ensemble cast included Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, and Drew Barrymore. Garth also starred in the TV teen drama film Girl, Positive (2007), playing a teacher who was HIV positive. She and co-star Andrea Bowen (known for the series Desperate Housewives) each won a Prism Award for their performances.

In 2007, Garth appeared on Dancing with the Stars: season five and was paired with Derek Hough. They reached the semi-finals in the competition.

In September 2008, Garth returned to the role of Kelly Taylor on the series premiere of The CW's spin-off series 90210. In the new series, Garth's character, Kelly Taylor, is now a Guidance Counselor at the fictional West Beverly High, where her half-sister Erin Silver also attends. Kelly was reintroduced with a four-year-old son, whose father is ex-boyfriend Dylan McKay. The writers were eager to have her share scenes with former Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star Shannen Doherty, who reprised her role of Brenda Walsh. Tori Spelling, who played Donna Martin in the original series, later joined the spinoff in a recurring role as well. Garth also reprised the role in season two.

On November 21, 2008, Garth appeared on the game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. She won $100,000 for her charity, the American Heart Association, for which she is spokeswoman for its "Go Red for Women" campaign. This TV show also noted that Garth owns a horse ranch in Santa Barbara, California.

In 2009, she played the role of Natasha in Candace Bushnell's Web series of The Boardroom. She also appeared in a cameo role on the December 7 episode of the children's television show Sesame Street, entitled "Mary Mary Quite Contrary".

In January 2010, Garth starred in an iVillage web series created by NBC Universal, Garden Party, about farm life, fresh produce and healthy eating.

On February 18, 2014, it was announced that production had started on The Jennie Garth Project, a ten-episode reality television series that will air on HGTV. It chronicles Garth as she renovates a home Hollywood Hills, California for herself and her three children.

Personal life

Garth married Daniel Clark in 1994, and they divorced in 1996.

In 1995, Garth met her second husband, actor Peter Facinelli, while filming the movie An Unfinished Affair. Garth and Facinelli married on January 20, 2001, in a traditional Roman Catholic ceremony. They have three daughters: Luca Bella (born 1997), Lola Ray (born 2002), and Fiona Eve (born 2006). In March 2012, Facinelli filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in June 2013. Although there was no requirement to do so, Garth had converted to Catholicism when she married Facinelli.

Garth subsequently began dating actor David Abrams in the fall of 2014 after they met on a blind date, and they became engaged in April 2015. They married on July 11, 2015.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Growing Pains	Denise	Episode: "Ben and Mike's Excellent Adventure"
1989-90	Brand New Life	Ericka McCray	6 episodes
1990	Teen Angel Returns	Karrie Donato	Series
1990	Just Perfect		Movie
1990- 2000	Beverly Hills, 90210	Kelly Taylor	Main Cast, 292 episodes
1992	Melrose Place	Kelly Taylor	3 episodes
1993	Danielle Steel's Star	Crystal Wyatt	Movie
1994	Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg	Laurie Kellogg	Movie
1994	Without Consent	Laura Mills	Movie
1995	Falling for You	Meg Crane	Movie
1995	Larry Sanders Show, TheThe Larry Sanders Show	Jennie Garth	Episode: "Larry's Sitcom"
1995	Biker Mice from Mars	Angel Revson (voice)	Episode: "Hit the Road, Jack"
1996	Unfinished Affair, AnAn Unfinished Affair	Sheila Hart	Movie
1996	Loss of Innocence, AA Loss of Innocence	Chelnicia 'Chel' Bowen	Movie
2000-01	$treet, TheThe $treet	Gillian Sherman	8 episodes
2001	Watching the Detectives	Celeste	Movie
2002-06	What I Like About You	Valerie "Val" Tyler	Main Cast, 86 episodes
2003	Last Cowboy, TheThe Last Cowboy	Jacqueline 'Jake' Cooper	Movie
2003	Secret Santa	Rebecca Chandler	Movie
2005	Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story	Kelly Taylor (voice)	Video
2006	American Dad!	Trudy Lawrence (voice)	Episode: "Roger n' Me"
2007	Girl, Positive	Sarah Bennett	Movie
2008-10	90210	Kelly Taylor	20 episodes
2011	Accidentally in Love	Annie Benchley	Movie
2011	Christmas Wedding Tail, AA Christmas Wedding Tail	Susan	Movie
2012	Village People	Alexa	Movie
2012	Jennie Garth: A Little Bit Country	Herself	Reality series
2012	The Eleventh Victim	Hailey Dean	Movie
2013	Community	Ensign	Episode: "Conventions of Space and Time"
2013	Holidaze	Melody	Movie
2014	Mystery Girls	Charlie Contour	Main role (all 10 episodes)
2014	The Jennie Garth Project	Herself	Reality series
2016	A Time To Dance	Abby Reynolds	Movie

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Power 98	Sharon Penn
1997	My Brother's War	Mary Fagan Bailey
1998	Telling You	Amber (uncredited)

Dancing with the Stars performances

In 2007, Garth appeared on season five of Dancing with the Stars and was paired with Derek Hough. They reached the semi-finals in the competition.

Week #	Dance / Song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Cha-cha-cha / "Uptown Girl"	7	7	7	Safe
2	Quickstep / "Suddenly I See"	7	7	7	Safe
3	Tango/"Cite Tango"	9	8	9	Safe
4	Paso doble / "Because We Can"	8	10	9	Safe
5	Samba / "Cosmic Girl"	8	9	8	Safe
6	Mambo / "Mambo Baby" Rock N' Roll/"Rockin' Robin"	9 No	9 scores	9 given	Safe
7	Viennese Waltz / "Runaway" Rumba/ "Fallen"	8 9	8 9	9 10	Last to be called safe
8	Jive / "It Takes Two" Foxtrot/ "I've Got You Under My Skin"	8 9	8 9	8 8	Last to be called safe
9	Tango/"The Take Over, The Breaks Over" Cha-cha-cha / "Mustang Sally"	9 10	10 10	9 10	Eliminated

Accolades

List of awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
1991	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actress Supporting or Re-Occurring Role for a TV Series	Beverly Hills, 90210	Nominated
1992		Best Young Actress Co-starring in a Television Series		Won
2008	Prism Awards	Outstanding Performance in a Miniseries	Girl, Positive	Won

Charities

Jennie Garth supports the following charitable causes: Children, Animals.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]