Kaylee Anne DeFer (born September 23, 1986) is a former American actress. She was known for her portrayals of Hillary Gold in '' The War at Home'', and of Ivy Dickens in ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

''.

Early life

DeFer was born in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. In 2003, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue a career in acting.

Career

DeFer made her acting debut in a March 2004 episode of the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. Its ...

sitcom ''

Drake & Josh ''Drake & Josh'' is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. The series follows two teenage stepbrothers Drake Parker (Drake Bell) and Josh Nichols (Josh Peck) as they live together despite opposite personalities. The ser ...

''. She has since made a number of guest appearances on television shows such as ''

Quintuplets ''Quintuplets'' is an American sitcom that aired 22 episodes on Fox from June 16, 2004 to January 12, 2005. The program starred Andy Richter and Rebecca Creskoff and shared some of their experiences parenting teenage quintuplets. Synopsis T ...

'', ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'', '' CSI: Miami'', and ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

''. DeFer appears on the cover of Reeve Oliver's second album, '' Touchtone Inferno'' (2007). In May 2004, DeFer was cast as Scarlett on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

's drama series ''

The Mountain The Mountain (french: La Montagne) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. They were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. Th ...

''. The series follows the personal lives of the staff and friends at a remote ski resort. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, but was cancelled after four months. In April 2005, DeFer landed a role on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

sitcom '' The War at Home''. The series centers on the day-to-day life of Gold family whom reside in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

. DeFer portrayed teenager Hillary Gold, the eldest child who frequently misbehaves. The series premiered on September 11, 2005, to 7.2 million viewers, but received generally negative reviews from critics. The series ran for two seasons. DeFer starred in her theatrical film debut ''

Flicka ''Flicka'' is a 2006 American family adventure drama film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel ''My Friend Flicka'' by Mary O'Hara. The film is directed by Michael Mayer and written by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner. The novel had pr ...

'', released in October 2006. DeFer portrayed the film's antagonist, Miranda Koop. In 2011, DeFer starred in the low-budget

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film ''Mattie'', which was released on DVD under the title ''Renegade''. In April 2011,

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

announced DeFer would have a major recurring arc in both the fourth and fifth seasons of ''

''. DeFer had previously auditioned for the role of Raina Thorpe, but she did not receive the part. DeFer portrayed the role of Ivy Dickens, a

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

who pretends to be Charlotte "Charlie" Rhodes in order to get access to the latter's trust fund. DeFer was reunited with ''The Mountain'' castmate

Penn Badgley Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series '' You'' (201 ...

. She reprised her role of Ivy in the series' sixth and final season and was listed as a main cast member. In May 2013, DeFer announced plans to take a break from acting after the birth of her first son.

Personal life

In January 2012, DeFer called off her engagement to jewelry designer Michael Raymond Pereira, whom she had been dating on and off since 2002. DeFer subsequently began dating Michael Fitzpatrick, lead vocalist for the band

Fitz and the Tantrums Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. The band consists of Michael Fitzpatrick (lead vocals), Noelle Scaggs (co-lead vocals and percussion), James King (saxophone, ...

, and in May 2013, she announced that they were expecting a child together. Their first son was born on September 20, 2013. The couple got married on July 25, 2015. On April 11, 2017, they welcomed their second son, followed by their third son on May 26, 2019.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
PopGurls Interview: Kaylee Defer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Defer, Kaylee 1986 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Tucson, Arizona American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Living people