Elizabeth Banks Biography

Name : Elizabeth Banks
Birth name : Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell
Date of birth : February 10, 1974
Place of birth : Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States
Profession : Actor
Years active : 1998–present
Height : 5' 5" (1.65 m)
Spouse : Max Handelman (2003 – present)

Elizabeth Banks' natural talent, striking presence and undeniable energy are quickly earning her a reputation as one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood. Banks most recently appeared in Steven Spielberg's critically acclaimed Catch Me If You Can. Banks plays a bank teller who is unwittingly instrumental in teaching Frank some tricks of the con-artistry trade.

Banks appeared in two other major motion pictures in 2002: she co-starred with Madonna, Jeanne Tripplehom and Bruce Greenwood in Guy Ritchie's Swept Away, the story of a group of socialites whose boating trip goes awry; she also appeared as Betty Brant (a role director Sam Raimi created for her) in the box office hit Spider-Man. The film about the iconic web-spinning hero starred Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe and Kirsten Dunst. Banks' additional feature credits include roles in John Singleton's Shaft, with Samuel L. Jackson, and Wet Hot American Summer, starring Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce. She has also appeared in several independent features, including The Trade and Ordinary Sinner, which won the Best Film Award at the 2002 Slamdunk Film Festival in Sundance.

On the small screen, Banks has appeared in several guest-starring roles, including a highly acclaimed performance in Law & Order: SYU, HBO's Sex and the City and NBC's Third Watch. Her extensive theater credits include roles in American Conservatory Theater's productions of Hurly Burly, Bethlehem, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Woman of No Importance and Uncle Yanya, as well as the Guthrie Theater's production of Summer & Smoke, directed by David Esbjornson. Originally hailing from Massachusetts, Banks received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her graduate degree at the American Conservatory Theater. Banks currently resides in Los Angeles.



* Elizabeth Banks graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992.
* She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta. Was the first in her family to graduate from college.
* Banks graduated from American Conservatory Theater's Advanced Training Program in 1998.
* She enjoys "Fantasy Football" as a hobby.
* She was considered for the role of Susan Storm/Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four (2005), just like Fernanda Romero.
* She is wife of Max Handelman. She and her husband work as a production team (Brownstone Productions). They met at the University of Pennsylvania.
* College friends with Todd Lieberman.
* She is oldest of four children in a divided house (Her mom was for the Boston Red Sox and her dad was for the New York Yankees).
* She converted herself to Judaism after marrying her husband in 2003.
* She met President George W. Bush when Seabiscuit (2003) was screened at the White House. In Oliver Stone's W.(2008) she plays the role of Laura Bush, the president's wife.
* She was taking a course on flying the trapeze with a girlfriend (2008).
* Her father, Mark Mitchell, was a factory worker for General Electric and her mother, Ann Mitchell, worked, until recently, in a bank.
* As a young child, she was a contestant on the Nickelodeon game show, "Finders Keepers" (1987).
* Poltergeist (1982) was the scariest movie she has ever seen. She saw it, with her sister, when she was eleven.
* She is a major fan of David Letterman.
* Turned down a role in The Crazies (2009) because the role was too similar with her character in Slither (2006), and she didn't want to repeat herself.
* She got the role in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) after Rosario Dawson turned it down.
* Bad Santa (2003) is her favorite holiday movie.