Who is Laurie Holden? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Canadian Celebrities Born In December

Also Known As: Heather Laurie Holden

Age: 52 Years, 52 Year Old Females

Family:

father: Glen Corbett

mother: Adrianne Ellis

siblings: Christopher Holden, David Anderson, Michael Anderson Jr.

Born Country: United States

Actresses American Women

Height: 5'5" (165 cm), 5'5" Females

U.S. State: California

City: Los Angeles

More Facts

education: University Of California, Los Angeles, McGill University

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Childhood & Early Life

Laurie Holden was born Heather Laurie Holden, on December 17, 1969, in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, to Glen Corbett and Adrianne Ellis. Both her parents worked as actors. However, things were not right between them and they ended up getting divorced soon after Laurie was born.

Adrianne then married film director Michael Anderson, and Laurie thus split her time between Toronto and Los Angeles. As her mother was a Canadian citizen, Laurie held a dual American–Canadian citizenship since her birth.

She had become interested in acting ever since she was a child. Further, her stepfather being a film director, it was not difficult for Laurie to begin her acting career. While she lived and studied in Toronto, she participated in many beauty pageants and won quite a few of them. One of them was the ‘Look of the Year’ contest.

Despite appearing in a few projects as a child actor, Laurie was not professionally trained in acting. Following her graduation from the ‘Bishop Strachan School,’ she enrolled at the ‘McGill University,’ in Quebec, Canada, and studied political science and economics.

However, she ended up transferring to the ‘University of California, Los Angeles’ and earned a degree in theater and films. She also did theater during her college years. Also interested in doing humanitarian work, she joined ‘Columbia University’ to earn a master’s degree in human rights.

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Career

Laurie’s foray into acting as a child was by accident when she visited the sets of her father’s miniseries ‘The Martian Chronicles.’ The actor who was supposed to play the role of ‘Marie Wilder’ could not attend the shoot. Thus, Laurie got the chance to play her role instead.

However, Laurie did not act professionally until she was in her late teenage years. She made her film debut in 1986, starring in a sex comedy titled ‘Separate Vacations,’ which was directed by her stepfather. The film was a huge critical and commercial disaster.

Laurie then got a big chance to star opposite seasoned Hollywood star Burt Reynolds in the crime thriller ‘Physical Evidence.’ Although the film managed to create a “buzz,” it did not register success at the box office and was also panned by critics.

In 1988, Laurie appeared in a guest role in the series titled ‘Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.’ The reason she was getting few acting jobs was that she was still studying back then. She did not intend to start a full-fledged career in acting until she graduated.

In the early 1990s, she played guest roles in series such as ‘Young Catherine,’ ‘Father Dowling Mysteries,’ and ‘Scales of Justice.’

In 1993, the year she graduated college, Laurie appeared in the first season of a series named ‘Family Passions.’ She then appeared in the second season of the series ‘Destiny Ridge.’ However, both the projects were failures.

She then appeared in single-episode roles in series such as ‘TekWar’ and ‘Due South.’ Her film career had practically halted at that point, and she awaited a breakthrough.

In 1996, she achieved some success with the recurring role of ‘Marita Covarrubias,’ a mysterious government officer, in the science-fiction series ‘The X Files.’ The series was highly popular, and she appeared in it from its fourth to its ninth season, until 2004.

She then appeared in TV films such as ‘Echo’ and ‘Alibi.’ She had yet another breakthrough in 1998, when she earned a supporting role in the western TV series titled ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ She played ‘Mary Travis’ in 18 episodes of the series.

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In 2001, she had a major film break when she played the supporting role of ‘Adele Stanton’ in the Jim Carrey-starrer romantic period drama ‘The Majestic.’ The film received bad reviews from critics and was also a box-office disaster.

In 2005, Laurie played the first lead role of her career in the film ‘Bailey’s Billion$.’ The same year, she was seen playing a supporting role in the superhero film titled ‘Fantastic Four.’ The latter was a huge film. However, although it was a commercial success, it struggled critically.

In 2006, she played one of the lead roles in the psychological thriller–horror film ‘Silent Hill. The film was a huge success. She then appeared in ‘The Mist,’ which was a critical and commercial success.

Laurie turned an executive producer with the films ‘Honeytrap’ and ‘The Time of Their Lives.’ She also appeared as herself in the 2016 documentary film titled ‘The Abolitionists.’

Her appearance as ‘Andrea’ in the zombie horror series ‘The Walking Dead’ has been her most popular TV role in the recent years. She has also appeared in supporting roles in series such as ‘The Americans’ and ‘Proven Innocent.’

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Awards & Honours

Laurie Holden has won a ‘Saturn Award’ and a ‘Satellite Award’ for her performance in the ‘AMC’ series ‘The Walking Dead.’

She was included on the list of ‘100 Most Creative People in Hollywood’ compiled by the magazine ‘Entertainment Weekly.’

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Family & Personal Life

Laurie Holden has been working extensively against child sex trafficking and is a founding board member of the ‘Somaly Mam Foundation,’ a Canadian organization.

Laurie is not married. She is also quite private about her personal life and does not like to reveal a lot about her romantic life.

She is a tomboy. She likes spending time with her male friends, shooting guns, and drinking in bars.

Her biological brother, Christopher Holden, and her stepbrother, Michael Anderson Jr., are both actors.

Laurie Holden Biography