Jennifer Ehle

Born: December 29 1969
Where: Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

The actress is probably best remembered for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennett in the BBC drama Pride & Prejudice opposite Colin Firth.

Despite her quintessentuial English looks, she was actually born in America, the daughter of actress Rosemary Harris and novelist John Ehle.

She made her stage debut as a toddler alongside her mother in a local production of A Streetcar Named Desire and went on to appear in Where The Wild Things Are while at summer camp in New York state.

She attended London's Central School of Speech and Drama and made her debut in the TV series The Camomile Lawn in 1996, for which she won the Radio Times best newcomer award.

TV roles, including the part of Empress Zita of Austria in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Alan Bleasdale's Presents series, followed.

She made her big screen debut in 1994 in the musical drama Backbeat and landed the role of Elizabeth in Pride & Prejudice the following year.

(she apparently enjoyed an off-screen relationship with co-star Colin Firth).

In 1997, she starred alongside Glenn Cose in Bruce Beresford's war drama Paradise Road and played Oscar Wilde's wife Constance opposite Stephen Fry in Wilde.

The following year she starred in the romantic comedy Bedrooms and Hallways and followed this with the British rom-com This Year's Love.

Director Istvan Szabo cast her in the drama Sunshine opposite her mother Rosemary (apparently he was unaware they were related.)

Off-screen she was nominated for an Olivier Award for her best actress for her performance in The Real Thing at London's Donmar Warehouse and went on to land a Tony Award when the show moved to Broadway.

Back on the big screen, she played Christabel in Neil LaBute's Possession in 2002 and starred alongside Edward Burns in the thriller The River King.

Recent work has included Dan Wilde's drama Alpha Male with Danny Huston.