Valerie Malone might have been the
new girl in town, but by the time
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen made her
90210 debut at age 20, she was
already familiar with the cast—Thiessen
had been in a long-term relationship
with actor Brian Austin Green (David)
and had spent plenty of time hanging
out with her future costars. “It made it
easier on the cast not to have to meet a
stranger,” producer Aaron Spelling told
People in 1994. Getting the ensemble
comfortable quickly was important
after years of reported behind-the-
scenes tumult courtesy of star Shannen
Doherty; once she left the series, the
producers were excited to bring in
someone less, well, dramatic.
A former beauty queen who was
crowned Miss Junior America in 1987,
Thiessen had found fame as good girl
Kelly Kapowski on high school sitcom
Saved by the Bell, and the Long Beach,
Calif.-native beat out some stiff
competition (including Drew
Barry more) to play Valerie, who was
the closest thing to a straight-up soap
opera villain that series had yet had.
“We wanted a baaad girl,” 90210
executive producer Charles Rosin said
in 2000. “There was really an edge
with Tiffani because she was so sexual.”
Offscreen, though, Thiessen (who
dropped Amber from her first name
and now goes by Tiffani) was the
quiet type. After her relationship with
Green ended, she eventually found
love with artist and actor Brady
Smith; the couple wed in 2005 andhave two children, daughter Harper
Renn and son Holt Fisher.
Thiessen has continued working in
film and TV, most notably on the
crime series White Collar, playing the
wife of a special agent, and on the
Netflix comedy Alexa & Katie, as a
woman whose daughter is
undergoing treatment for cancer.
The actress has also found success
in the kitchen, hosting her own
Cooking Channel series, Dinner at
Tiffani’s, and publishing a cookbook
Pull Up a Chair: Recipes from My
Family to Yours in 2018. She and Smith
recently collaborated on an illustrated
children’s book, You’re Missing It!, that
urges parents to put down their
devices and enjoy time with their kids.
Although living and working together
can be taxing for some couples,
Thiessen recently told USA Today,
she and Smith share “great
communication and a lot of laughter.”LOOK WHO’S
COOKING
TIFFANI THIESSEN
HAS SCORED ROLES
ON PRIME TIME—AND
IN THE KITCHEN
67
TOP CHEF
Thiessen showed
off her culinary
chops preparing
fall recipes on
the Today show
in 2018.