Kristin Bauer van Straten ( Neubauer) is an American film and television actress, notable for her roles as vampire Pamela Swynford De Beaufort on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

television series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels ...

'', Jerry's girlfriend Gillian ("man hands") on ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', and as Maleficent in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

series ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

''.

Personal life

Bauer van Straten was born Kristin Neubauer in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...

. She is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent. During childhood, she played sports, rode horses, and fired shotguns. She graduated from The Prairie School in Wind Point. Bauer van Straten studied

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

, as well as in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and at

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

’s

Parsons The New School for Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

in her youth, but decided to become an

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where she has been living since she began acting in 1994. She continues to draw and

paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...

. Her works include commissioned

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s. On August 1, 2009, she married musician Abri van Straten.

Acting career

In 1995, Bauer van Straten had her first regular role in a television series, as Maggie Reynolds on '' The Crew''. Other recurring roles include Geneva Renault in ''Total Security'', Candy Cooper in '' That's Life'', Rebecca Colfax in ''

Dirty Sexy Money ''Dirty Sexy Money'' is an American prime time drama television series created by Craig Wright that ran for two seasons on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wrig ...

'', and Belinda Slypich in ''

Hidden Hills ''Hidden Hills'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2002, to January 21, 2003, during the 2002 fall line-up. Based on the book ''Surviving Suburbia'', the series was created by Peter Segal and Ric Sw ...

''. Perhaps her best known film role was in ''

Dancing at the Blue Iguana ''Dancing at the Blue Iguana'' is a 2000 American erotic drama film, directed by Michael Radford, about the lives of strippers at a strip club in Los Angeles, California's San Fernando Valley. The film was based on an improvisational workshop in ...

'' in 2000. Bauer van Straten played a

porn star A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

appearing as the featured act at a

strip club and performed an extended nude dance. In 2001, she starred in the award-winning short film ''Room 302'', and in 2004 she had a minor role in the film ''

50 First Dates ''50 First Dates'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Blake Clark, and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the st ...

'', which starred

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

. In the

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

Justice League The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...

'', she supplied the voice of the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

Mera. She has also made a number of guest appearances in several television shows, including ''

LA Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series centers on the partners, assoc ...

'', ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'', '' Dark Angel'', ''

Two and a Half Men Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...

'', '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'', and ''

George Lopez George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is most known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom '' George Lopez''. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican ...

''. She famously appeared in a ''

'' episode (''

The Bizarro Jerry "The Bizarro Jerry" is the 137th episode of the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the third episode of the eighth season, originally airing on the NBC network on October 3, 1996. The title and plot extensively reference the cha ...

'') as Gillian, Jerry's girlfriend with "man hands", although the actual "man hands", seen only in close-ups, belonged to a member of the production crew. From 2008 to its conclusion in 2014, Bauer van Straten played the vampire Pamela Swynford De Beaufort on the

fantasy drama series, ''

''. On December 8, 2009, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' confirmed she had been promoted from recurring status to a series regular. In 2011, she was cast in the fantasy television series ''

'' as the evil fairy

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, ''Sleeping Beauty (1959 film), Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Dark lord, Mistress of All Evil" based on the Wic ...

(the

wicked fairy godmother The Wicked fairy is the antagonist of ''Sleeping Beauty''. In some adaptations, she is known as Carabosse. The most notable adaptation of the character is Maleficent, a Disney villain who has appeared in various Disney media, beginning with the ...

, using the name from Disney's ''Sleeping Beauty''), the rival of the Evil Queen of

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

Activism

Bauer van Straten carries out conservation work to improve the treatment of

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

s. In 2011, she teamed with the

Animal Legal Defense Fund The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an American animal law advocacy organization. Its stated mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes this by filing high-impact lawsuits to pr ...

in an unsuccessful fight to release Tony, a

Siberian Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states si ...

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

who has been kept as a roadside attraction at the Tiger Truck Stop in

Grosse Tête, Louisiana Grosse Tête (; ) is a village in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 647 at the 2010 census, and 731 at the 2019 American Community Survey. The village name is French for "Big Head". Grosse Tête is part of the Bato ...

since 2000. She worked with

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. According to Charity Navigator, the organization works for "compassionate and effective medical practice, res ...

to promote cosmetics that are not tested on animals. She is a vegan and has used her platform to support shelter animals by promoting adoption. Bauer van Straten also encourages people to live more sustainably and be more eco-friendly.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Podcasts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Straten, Kristin Bauer American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses People from Racine, Wisconsin Actresses from Wisconsin American people of German descent Living people Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)