MAIN Art &... Pop Culture TV Stars Jennifer Garner

The Alias star and movie actress was born Jennifer Anne Garner on April 17, 1972 in Houston, Texas, and later moved with her family to Charleston, West Virginia where she grew up.

With an early interest in ballet, Garner's attention later turned to drama, in which she later majored at Granville, Ohio's Denison University. Following graduation, Garner moved to New York to audition for stage roles, winning an understudy role in the Broadway production of A Month in the Country only weeks after her arrival in the Big Apple.

Her next move was to Los Angeles, where she auditioned for TV bit parts. She landed roles in Spin City and Law and Order, and also won small roles in feature films such as Deconstructing Harry and In Harm's Way.

Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck on the set of Daredevil, 2003.

Garner's big break finally came in 1998 with her critically acclaimed recurring role as Hannah on Felicity, where she also met and married her co-star, Scott Foley (the couple divorced in 2003). Her role on Felicity also proved fortunate when the show's producer was looking to cast the role of Sydney Bristow on Alias in 2000, and recalled the young actress's star turn in the former show.

Today, Garner's role as the 'butt-kicking' spy in Alias has provided a springboard for similar roles on the big screen, most recently appearing as Elektra in the 2003 comic-book adaptation of Daredevil opposite Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell.

In 2005, Garner reprised her Daredevil the role in the feature film Elektra and took home a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in Alias, for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the 2005 Emmy Awards.

Offstage, the expectant arrival of Garner's new baby girl was announced with the birth of Violet, born November 30, 2005 the first child for both Garner and husand Ben Affleck. Meanwhile, in November ABC announced that Garner's TV star vehicle, Alias, had been cancelled due to a drop in ratings during the 2005 season.

Garner's next film appearance was in Catch and Release in 2006, followed by a role in the action thriller, The Kingdom, co-starring Jamie Foxx.

Following her 2007 live performance on Broadway, portraying Roxanne in the classic love triangle, Cyrano de Bergerac, Garner returned to the big screen in the comedy drama Juno.

In 2009, she stars in the film comedy, The Invention of Lying, opposite British actor Ricky Gervais.

More about Jennifer Garner around the Web:

Wikipedia - Jennifer Garner - Complete biography, career highlight, quotes, photos, related resources.

Jennifer Garner.net - Major fan site including recent news and appearances, films, TV credits, photos and video clips.

garner - Featured video clip of the actress as recruitement pitch-person for none other than the CIA...

Alias Media - Huge site devoted to the hit TV show with the actress prominently featured in photo galleries, downloadable video clips, episode recaps.