Lauren Tom

Infobox actor voice | name = Lauren Tom

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birthname = Lauren Tom
birth_date = Birth date and age|1961|8|4|mf=y
birth_place = flagicon|USA Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
age = 45
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Actress and Voice actress
alias =
gender = Female
status = Married
title =
family =
spouse = Curt Kaplan
children = Oliver Kaplan
relatives = Chip Tom (brother), Ping Tom (uncle)
ethnic = Chinese
religion =
salary =
networth =
URL = http://www.laurentom.com
agent = Theatrical - [http://gershagency.com/ The Gersh Agency]
Voiceover and Commercial - [http://www.laurentom.com/contact.htm Imperium-7 Talent Agency]
Management - [http://www.laurentom.com/contact.htm Pop Art Management]

Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961 [http://www.filmreference.com/film/89/Lauren-Tom.html Lauren Tom Biography (1961?-) ] ] ) is an American actress.

Biography

Early life

Tom, a Chinese American, was born in Highland Park, Illinois, the daughter of Nancy (née Dare) and Chan Tom, who worked in the frozen food business. She was raised Catholic.Fact|date=September 2007 In an article for "Detour Magazine", [ [http://www.laurentom.com/articles_detour.htm Article from "Detour Magazine"] Accessed February 3, 2007] Tom describes an experience she had as a child where other children were teasing her about her Chinese heritage. This caused her to become a rather introverted person which, in turn, is what originally inspired her to get into dancing.

Theater

At the age of 17, Tom landed a spot with a touring company of "A Chorus Line". She was cast in the Broadway version of the show less than a year later. [ [http://www.laurentom.com/articles.htm Article from "In Style Magazine"] Accessed on February 3, 2007] She won an Obie Award for her off-broadway acting, and she's been in such other Broadway shows as "Hurlyburly" and "". During her six years in New York Theatre, Tom worked with directors Peter Sellars and Joanne Akalaitis.

Film

Tom had several small parts in movies including "Nothing Lasts Forever", "Wall Street", "See No Evil, Hear No Evil", and "Blue Steel"; but her biggest role to date was as a waitress in the Robin Williams/Tim Robbins film "Cadillac Man". This role led to being a guest on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson". Tom landed a starring role in the film "The Joy Luck Club" in 1993, which led to roles in such other films such as "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "North".

Since the mid-90s, Tom has starred in few films (focusing her work, primarily, in the voiceover business), with the exceptions of a supporting role in the 2003 hit comedy "Bad Santa" and the critically-acclaimed 2004 film "In Good Company".

Television

Lauren Tom's first role in television was that of "Miko Wakamatsu" on "The Facts of Life". She subsequently appeared on "The Equalizer", "thirtysomething", "Quantum Leap", "Chicago Hope", ', "Grace Under Fire", Ross' girlfriend Julie on "Friends" and a starring role in "DAG", "The Division", "Monk", "My Wife and Kids", "The Nanny", ', "Grey's Anatomy", "The Closer", and "Men in Trees".

Voice acting

Tom began vocal work in the animated series "" (as Angela Chen). From there Lauren had minor roles on "Pinky and the Brain" , "Extreme Ghostbusters" and "The Zeta Project" before landing her lasting roles on "King of the Hill" and later "Futurama".

She has also lent her voice to "Rocket Power", "Max Steel", "Batman Beyond", "Justice League Unlimited", "Kim Possible", Numbuh Three and Numbuhs 44 and 45 on ', "Teen Titans", Yan Lin, Susan, Alchemy on "W.I.T.C.H.", The Replacements (TV series),Legion Of Super-Heroes (TV series), Jake's mom, Counselor Chang on ', and "Avatar the Last Airbender" (as ).

Other animated movies Tom has voiced include "Mulan II", ', ', ', and '. She also stars as her character Amy Wong in the new feature length Futurama movie, "The Beast with a Billion Backs".

References

External links

* [http://www.laurentom.com/ Official site]
*imdb name|id=0866300|name=Lauren Tom
*voice actor|id=1299|name=Lauren Tom