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 premium television network, 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 ba ...

television series ''

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

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

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'', and as Maleficent in the ABC 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 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in ...

''.

Personal life

Bauer van Straten was born Kristin Neubauer in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

. She is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

descent. During childhood, she played sports, rode horses, and fired shotguns. She graduated from

The Prairie School The Prairie School is a private pre K-12 school in Wind Point, Wisconsin, in the Racine metropolitan area. History The school first opened in 1965. It was co-founded by Imogene "Gene" Powers Johnson (died March 3, 2018), wife of Samuel Curtis ...

in Wind Point. Bauer van Straten studied

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwo ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...

, as well as in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

’s

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

in her youth, but decided to become an

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

and 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 wor ...

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

paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

. Her works include commissioned

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

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. It ran on ABC from September 26, 2007, to August 8, 2009. The series was produced by Berlanti Television and ABC Studios. Wright served as an ...

'', 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 Swart ...

''. 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, released September 14, 2000, directed by Michael Radford about the lives of strippers at a gentlemen's club. The film was based on an improvisational workshop involving the lea ...

'' in 2000. Bauer van Straten played a porn star 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 drama film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry, a womanizin ...

'', which starred Adam Sandler. In the

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

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'', she supplied the voice of the superhero 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 that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'', ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American sitcom television series 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 a ...

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

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

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

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera 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 to ...

'', and ''

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

''. 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 Bizarro Su ...

'') 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 company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' 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 appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions' List of Walt Disney Animation Studios films, 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty (1959 film), Slee ...

(the

wicked fairy godmother The Wicked Fairy is the antagonist of ''Sleeping Beauty''. In some adaptations she is known as Carabosse, and she is named Maleficent in Walt Disney media. Role in the tale In Charles Perrault's ''Sleeping Beauty'', published in 1697 in ''Histo ...

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

Evil Queen The Evil Queen, also called the Wicked Queen, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of "Snow White", a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm; similar stories exist worldwide. Other versions of the Queen appear in subsequen ...

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as ...

Activism

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

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

s. In 2011, she teamed with the

Animal Legal Defense Fund The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an 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 protect ani ...

in an unsuccessful fight to release Tony, a

Siberian Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

who has been kept as a roadside attraction at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tête, Louisiana 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., which promotes a plant-based diet, preventive medicine, and alternatives to animal research, and encourages ...

to promote cosmetics that are not tested on animals. She is a vegetarian 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)