Algebra Exposed. Her Fourth Book, Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape, Was Released in 2012
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‘WEDDING BELLS’ Cast Bios DANICA McKELLAR (Molly) - Danica McKellar, recently seen competing on the ABC juggernaut “Dancing with the Stars,” is best known as Winnie Cooper on “The Wonder Years” and Elsie Snuffin on “The West Wing.” She is also a three-time New York Times bestselling author, having written the groundbreaking books Math Doesn’t Suck, Kiss My Math and Hot X: Algebra Exposed. Her fourth book, Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape, was released in 2012. Tackling math education and simultaneously breaking the stereotype of the “math nerd,” McKellar was named “Person of the Week” by “ABC World News with Charles Gibson.” This honor came on the heels of her debut as author of this highly entertaining and illuminating math book series. Using fun topics like popularity and jewelry-making – as well as stories from her own life - McKellar shows girls and their parents how to master the tough mathematical concepts introduced in middle school and high school, the time when young girls begin to shy away from math. McKellar’s message to girls? Smart is sexy! A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, McKellar earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics while also contributing original research. She co-authored a paper in the field of statistical mechanics entitled “Percolation and Gibbs States Multiplicity for Ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller Models on Z2,” which she presented at the 87th biannual Statistical Mechanics conference at Rutgers University. Her theorem, since dubbed “The Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem,” was published in Britain’s esteemed Journal of Physics and has been featured on the front page of the Science section of The New York Times. In addition to continuing her acting career with such roles as a recurring spot on CBS’s hit show “How I Met Your Mother” and a guest appearance on “The Big Bang Theory,” McKellar voiced the regular role of Miss Martian on Cartoon Network’s “Young Justice.” She also recurred as a voice on “Phineas and Ferb” and “Generator Rex,” which reunited her with her “The Wonder Years” co-star Fred Savage. McKellar starred in SyFy Network’s futuristic TV movie “Tasmanian Devils” and in the 2012 Lifetime movie “Love at the Christmas Table.” In 2013, she starred in “The Wrong Woman,” another Lifetime feature, which garnered some of the highest ratings in the network’s history. Recently, she created a sensation with her risqué guest cameo in the hit Avril Lavigne video Rock and Roll. Earlier this year she starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie “Perfect Match.” McKellar often appears around the country as a speaker on mathematics education, a vocation she began following her invitation to speak to a subcommittee of Congress on the importance of women in math and science in 2000. In recent years, she has served as a spokesperson for St. Jude Research Hospital’s Math-a-thon program, which raises millions of dollars every month for cancer research and to help provide free care to young cancer patients. (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL – ‘WEDDING BELLS’ – CAST BIOS/Page 2 McKellar was honored with the 2012 UCLA Award for Recent Graduate Achievement. The award, bestowed by the UCLA Alumni Association, pays tribute to alumni who manifest outstanding achievement in their professional fields, in service to their communities and in academic pursuits. She was also honored with the 2014 Communications Award from the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, which includes the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. # # # KAVAN SMITH (Nick) – Kavan Smith is an intelligent, thoughtful actor, blessed with a wide and versatile range. Born in Edmonton, Alberta both Smith and his brother were raised by his father when his parents divorced. He excelled in many sports as a child and focused on football and martial arts. During his teenage years he cultivated a love for performing with a friend. They would often skip school to record and rehearse skits they would eventually take public on local busses and to shopping centers. After graduation, Smith attended the University of Calgary and worked towards a degree in Economics but dropped out after a year and-a-half. He spent a year contemplating his next move and then enrolled in the Mount Royal University performing arts program. It was here that he developed a love of books and started writing. Soon after graduating he landed a lead role on the Canadian television show Destiny Ridge and moved to Vancouver. Smith has been continuously adding versatile film and television roles to his acting repertoire since discovering his passion for performance. In 1999 he caught the eye of Brian DePalma and was cast in the sci-fi adventure “Mission to Mars.” Since then he has played key roles in FOX’s “Human Target,” The CW series “Smallville” and “Supernatural,” SyFy’s “The Outer Limits,” “Sanctuary,” “Battlestar Galactica”, USA’s “Fairly Legal” and DirectTV’s “Rogue. Smith has also had large recurring roles in USA’s “The 4400” as Jed Garrity, SyFy’s “Stargate: Atlantis” as Major Evan Lorne, SyFy’s “Eureka” as Deputy Andy, ABC’s “Mistresses” as Ellis Boone, CW’s “Supernatural” as Cuthbert Sinclair and Hallmark Channel’s original series “When Calls the Heart” as Leland Coulter # # # TAMMY GILLIS (Amy) – Tammy Gillis is a Canadian actor-director. She grew up in Manitoba and acted from a young age, playing a variety of roles in school plays. After high school, Gillis went on to study at the University of Manitoba, where she was discovered by a modeling scout and cast in both a series of commercial for Greenkids and the award-winning short film “Heart of the World,” directed by Guy Maddin. Since then, she has added over 50 credits to her name and made TV guest appearances on “Motive” (CTV/ABC),”Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce”(Bravo), “Supernatural” (CW), “Lost Girl” (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL – ‘WEDDING BELLS’ – CAST BIOS/Page 3 (Showcase), “Blue Mountain State” (Spike TV), “Endgame” (Showcase),”Ties That Bind” (UpTV) and many more. She has recurred on “Less Than Kind” (HBO Canada),”jPod” (CBC) and “Signed Sealed Delivered” (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries). Additional work in which Gillis has appeared includes the feature film “White Noise 2,” “Shooter” and “No Men Beyond This Point,” as well as leading roles in “Unleashing Mr. Darcy” (Hallmark Channel), “A Novel Romance” (Hallmark Channel), and “Stolen from the Womb” (Lifetime). She will soon be seen in the feature film “Menorca,” shot in Winnipeg and Spain, in which she has the lead role. Gillis also recently acted in, produced, and directed “The Support Group,” an original web comedy series. Dividing her time between Vancouver, the east coast of Canada and Los Angeles, Gillis is a rising star who brings years of entertainment industry experience to the table. A well respected member of the community, she served as a jury member for the Canadian Screen Awards this past year. She also volunteers as a mentor in the current 2016 WIFTV actor mentorship program, as well as last year’s program. Gillis has been profiled on Vancouver Television, Novus TV, YPNextHome and has appeared in numerous publications including TV Week, Playback Magazine, Talent Monthly, The Academy of Canadian Television and Cinema, The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Magazine, Reel West, The Winnipeg Sun, The Toronto Sun, The Edmonton Sun, 24 Hours and many more. She was chosen as one of the Fresh Face Stars in the magazine Femme Fatale and “The Sharp Woman” in the very first issue of Sharp Magazine. # # # CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL (James) – Christopher Russell is a first generation Canadian born to British parents. From a very young age, he was drawn to the arts and began performing. His first role as an actor was portraying Mary and Joseph's donkey in his pre-school production of “The Nativity Story,” for which he received rave reviews. In high school, Russell performed in many productions, most notably as Magnus Muldoon in a rendition of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Inspector Hound,” which earned him the Sears Drama Festival Award of Excellence. Russell recently filmed the lead role of Madison in ABC Family’s pilot “Gorgeous Morons.” His numerous television credits prior to that include guest star and recurring appearances on “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” “Men in Trees” with Anne Heche, “Flashpoint,” “The Listener,” “Murdoch Mysteries,” The CW’s “iZombie,” “Nikita,” “Supernatural” and “Beauty and the Beast,” as well as the TV movies “Love, Again,” “Midnight Masquerade,” “The Boy Next Door,” “Seduced By Lies” and “Catch A Christmas Star.” Russell’s film credits include “Gone Tomorrow,” “Gangster Exchange,” George Romero’s “Land of the Dead,” “Center Stage: Turn It Up” and “The Right Kind Of Wrong,” which was an official selection for TIFF 2013, starring “True Blood’s” Ryan Kwanten and Catherine O'Hara. Russell currently lives in Vancouver with his wife and his two children. # # # HALLMARK CAHNNEL – ‘WEDDING BELLS’ – CAST BIOS/Page 4 BRUCE BOXLEITNER (Charlie) – As one of Hollywood’s leading men, Bruce Boxleitner has starred in a major motion picture franchise (“Tron”), numerous feature films, several popular TV series, produced a major network film and TV series, performed on Broadway and authored two science fiction novels. Boxleitner spent three seasons co-starring with Andie MacDowell on Hallmark Channel’s first- ever primetime series, “Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove,” which was the #1 rated series airing on Saturday at 8 p.m. Boxleitner’s character, Bob Beldon is the owner of the Cedar Cove Inn, Thyme and Tide. The series was based on the popular book series Cedar Cove by #1 NY Times best-selling author Debbie Macomber. In addition, Boxleitner co-starred with Lindsay Wagner in Hallmark Channel’s “The Thanksgiving House” special which premiered on November 2, 2013 and co-starred in the Christmas TV movie “Silver Bells” that aired on December 1, 2013 on the UP Network.