KATIE HOLMES

Biography

Katherine Noelle Holmes was born on December 18, 1978, in Toledo, Ohio. The youngest of five children -- she has three older sisters and an older brother -- Katie had no intention of becoming an actress while growing up in Toledo.

Her mother, Kathy Holmes, enrolled her long-legged daughter into Margaret O'Brien's Modeling School in Toledo, which ultimately led Katie to her present career path. During her summer vacation from Notre Dame Academy (an all-girls Catholic high school), 17-year-old Katie attended a modeling convention in New York City.

At the convention, a talent scout from Los Angeles approached Katie and encouraged her to spend the rest of the summer in California auditioning. Katie was off to Hollywood with her mother to try her luck at acting, despite her father's original skepticism.

katie holmes in ice storm
Luck was definitely on her side, since Katie Holmes' feature film debut took no more than one audition. Inexperienced and tinged with a drop of navet, she was cast in 1997's The Ice Storm as Tobey Maguire's girlfriend.

After filming The Ice Storm, Katie returned to Toledo in order to complete high school. She was apparently offered the role of "Buffy" in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but luckily for Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie declined in order to graduate from high school. With a film credit and a newfound passion, she dedicated her summer to starring in a local theater production of Damn Yankees. That's when Katie heard a rumor that Kevin Williamson of Scream fame was casting actors for his television teenage drama.

katie holmes is joey in dawson's creek
With nothing to lose, Katie sent in her home video audition and hoped for the best. And that's what the Dawson's Creek screenwriter/producer saw when he watched her tape: the best. Fully impressed by what he saw, Williamson immediately invited Katie to go to the West Coast for a callback, but due to her commitment to Damn Yankees, she asked Williamson whether the offer could be postponed to a later date.

Obviously worth the wait, he rescheduled so that Katie could attend. Williamson didn't need acting experience credits to convince him that Katie was right for the part of "Joey Potter" in Dawson's Creek. She was immediately cast as the girl from the wrong side of the creek in the series that was garnering rave reviews even before its premiere.

Viewers tuned in to Katie Holmes and the high school (and then college) drama from 1998 to 2003, watching the cast of angst-ridden teens (which also included pouty-lipped Michelle Williams) deal with teenage life in a small coastal town.

katie holmes in disturbing behavior
Based on the success of Dawson's Creek and its popularity among teens, Katie Holmes was cast in the thriller Disturbing Behavior in 1998. The following summer, Katie could be seen in theaters in two feature films: Go, and as the heroine in Teaching Mrs. Tingle (which was directed by Kevin Williamson).

In 2000, while still roaming the halls of high school in Dawson's Creek, Katie appeared in Wonder Boys, starring Michael Douglas and her Ice Storm co-star, Tobey Maguire, as well as in The Gift.

Winner of the 1999 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Female Performance, Katie was also voted one of Teen People magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21" and Sweden's Expressen Fredag's "Babe of the Year" in 1998.

katie holmes in batman begins
Katie then appeared in a string of moderately successful movies, including Phone Booth (2002), Abandon (2002), The Singing Detective (2003), and Pieces of April (2003).

In 2003, Katie got engaged to actor Chris Klein and Dawson's Creek saw its final season come to an end. The following year, she appeared in the movie First Daughter, while in 2005 she added Batman Begins to her resume. Around this time she also started dating Tom Cruise.

In 2006 she starred in Thank You for Smoking. She also gave birth to Suri, she and Tom's baby girl.

katie holmes in mad money
In 2008 Katie Holmes appeared in the movie Mad Money.

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