Catherine Lisa Bell, born on August 14, 1968, popularly known as Catherine Bell, is a British-American actress and model. She is known for her role as Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie in the television series JAG from 1997 to 2005.
Wiki Profile
| Full Name: | Catherine Lisa Bell |
| Date of Birth: | August 14, 1968 |
| Place of Birth: | London |
| Father: | Peter Bell |
| Mother: | Mina Ezzati |
| Net Worth: | $2 millions |
| Nationality: | American |
| Husband: | Adam Beason |
Early Life and Education
Catherine Lisa Bell was born on August 14, 1968 in London to a Scottish father, Peter Bell, and an Iranian mother, Mina Ezzati.
Peter was working as an architect under contract to an oil company in Iran; Mina had travelled to London to study nursing.
Bell’s parents divorced when Catherine was two years old. She was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents.Â
The family eventually moved to California’s San Fernando Valley where Bell was exposed to diverse influences.
The family spoke Persian at home. Her grandparents were Muslim, but Catherine was also exposed to Catholicism and attended a Baptist summer camp.Â
In her teenage years, Catherine came under the influence of her California surroundings: “I am definitely a Valley Girl. I was a tomboy. I liked to skateboard, play football, and push the envelope a little bit”.
Catherine enrolled at UCLA, where she considered a career in medicine or research. However, when she was offered a modelling job in Japan, where advertisers value “American beauty”, she dropped out during her second year.
Career
When Bell returned to the United States, she decided to try acting. She studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas.
She also worked as a massage therapist for eight years at the Peninsula Hotel, and her clients included singer Peter Gabriel.
Bell’s first television acting role was one line spoken to Gabriel on the short-lived 1990 sitcom Sugar and Spice.
Among her first parts was serving as Isabella Rossellini’s nude body double for the 1992 film Death Becomes Her.
In 1994, Bell starred in the Dolph Lundgren film Men of War. While filming the movie in Thailand, Bell and her co-star Trevor Goddard bonded over contracting amoebic dysentery.
Goddard would play Bell’s off-and-on love interest Mic Brumby the following year on JAG. They remained friends until Goddard’s death from a drug overdose in June 2003, an event that the bereaved Bell described as “horrible”.
In 1995, she obtained a three-line role in one episode of the NBC TV series JAG, which centers on the work of the United States Department of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General office.
NBC canceled the show after which it was picked up by CBS, which restructured the series, incorporating a female Marine Corps lawyer character, Sarah MacKenzie.
Bell auditioned for that role and won it. One episode of the show established that MacKenzie is an Iranian-American, and featured Bell speaking Persian. She continued in this role until the series ended in 2005.
Beginning in 2007, Bell starred in Lifetime’s ensemble drama series Army Wives as Denise Sherwood, the wife of a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, who endures domestic violence at the hands of her teenage son during the show’s first season.
Catherine Bell played the role of Cassandra “Cassie” Nightingale, the main character of Hallmark’s The Good Witch (2008) and its sequels The Good Witch’s Garden (2009), The Good Witch’s Gift (2010), The Good Witch’s Family (2011), The Good Witch’s Charm (2012), The Good Witch’s Destiny (2013), and The Good Witch’s Wonder (2014).
She was also a co-executive producer of all of the movies. She also starred in the Lifetime movie titled Last Man Standing (2011).
In 2015, it was reported that Bell would star in the movie Love Finds Its Way, which would begin filming in 2016. Production began on the film in March 2017, with Vancouver as the filming location, and 9 July 2017 as the date for the film’s premiere on the Hallmark Channel.
On 2 April 2019, CBS announced that Bell would be reprising her JAG role of Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie alongside former co-star David James Elliott for a multi-episode arc in the tenth season of NCIS: Los Angeles.
In 2022, Bell starred in the Lifetime film Jailbreak Lovers as part of its “Ripped from the Headlines” feature film which tells the story of how Toby Dorr snuck inmate John Manard out of prison in a dog crate which sparked a manhunt.
Net Worth
Catherine Bell is a popular actress and model who has a net worth of around $2 million. She makes money through acting and modeling for top brands.
Personal Life
Catherine Bell got married to Adam Beason on May 8, 1994. The couple met on the set of the 1992 film, Death Becomes Her, which Adam Beason was an assistant production manager.
The marriage was blessed with two kids Gemma Beason and Ronan Beason, but it was short-lived as they separated in 2011.
She is currently a practicing Scientologist and has attested to attaining the state of clear.
Social Media
- Instagram: @therealcatherinebell
- Twitter: @realcatherinebell
