Amanda Laura Bynes is an American actress and fashion designer. After appearing in commercials and in plays, she rose to prominence as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the Nickelodeon series All That and The Amanda Show.
Background
Ethnicity:
Bynes' ancestors immigrated from Ireland, Poland, Russia, and Romania and her maternal grandparents are from Toronto, Ontario.
Amanda Bynes was born in Thousand Oaks, California, on April 3, 1986, the youngest of three children born to Lynn (née Organ), a dental assistant and office manager, and Rick Bynes, a dentist.
Education
Bynes started out at University Elementary School, and later graduated from Thousand Oaks High School's independent study program.
Career
In 1993, Bynes attended a comedy camp, and began professionally acting at the age of seven, appearing in a television advertisement for Buncha Crunch candies. During her childhood, she also appeared on stage in versions of Annie, The Secret Garden, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music. Bynes became a regular cast member of Nickelodeon's Figure It Out and All That. She was a regular cast member on All That for seasons three through six. She also starred in her own sketch comedy show, The Amanda Show (1999–2002).
Bynes made her film debut in 2002's modest box office success, Big Fat Liar. Her first leading role was in 2003's What a Girl Wants, co-starring with Colin Firth, Oliver James, and Kelly Preston. From 2002 to 2006, Bynes starred alongside Jennie Garth in The WB Television Network's sitcom What I Like About You. Bynes had voice parts in 2003's Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure and 2005's CGI animated comedy, Robots. She co-starred in Arliss as Crystal Dupree. Bynes appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair's July 2003 edition with nine of Hollywood's other young female stars.
In 2006, Bynes starred in She's the Man, a comedy based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Bynes appeared in another romantic comedy, Lovewrecked, which was shot before She's the Man but released after it, showing in cinemas outside of the United States in 2005 and 2006 and debuting in the U.S. on the ABC Family network on January 21, 2007. She also portrays Penny Pingleton in Hairspray. Bynes next starred in another comedy, Sydney White, released on September 21, 2007.
In 2008, Bynes appeared in the Lifetime Television movie Living Proof as the student assistant of Harry Connick, Jr.'s character. Bynes was also originally set to star as Ryden Malby in the 2009 comedy Post Grad but was replaced by Alexis Bledel.
In June 2009, Bynes inked a two-picture deal with Screen Gems. The first of the two movies was the 2010 teen comedy Easy A, starring Emma Stone and Lisa Kudrow, and the second was to have been a starring role. Bynes also planned to reprise her role as Penny Pingleton in the sequel to Hairspray. However, Hairspray 2 was canceled.
In June 2010, Bynes stated that she planned to retire from acting, announcing on her Twitter page, "I don’t love acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it." A month later, Bynes had an apparent change of heart and "unretired". At the 2011 MTV Movie Awards, Bynes told People Magazine that she's merely taking "time off."
The young star would soon face difficult times. In the spring of 2012, she allegedly hit the rear corner of a police officer's vehicle. She was arrested and received a driving under the influence charge. Her father publicly came to her defense, stating that the DUI allegations were false.
According to police reports, Bynes was later involved in two additional hit-and-run car incidents. She was later spotted driving after her license had been suspended, and her car was impounded. Bynes was once again in trouble with the law in May 2013. She was taken into custody after she reportedly was seen smoking marijuana in the lobby of her New York City apartment building and later allegedly threw a bong out of her apartment window. Bynes was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, marijuana possession and tampering with evidence, according to the Los Angeles Times. She underwent a psychiatric evaluation at a local hospital before being taken to the police station.
The troubled performer once again found herself under psychiatric observation that July. She had reportedly started a fire near the driveway of a home in Thousand Oaks, California. Local authorities investigated the incident and decided to bring Bynes in custody. She was placed on a psychiatric hold, known as a "5150," which allows the actress to be detained for 72 hours in a mental health facility. A judge agreed to extend her stay and give her parents temporary guardianship of her. Bynes then spent time in a rehabilitation center.
After receiving treatment, Bynes appeared to be trying to turn her life around. She lived with her parents and enrolled at Los Angeles' Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising to pursue a career as a designer. In April 2014, Bynes got her driver's license back. But she was once again in trouble with the law that fall. In September, Bynes was arrested for driving under the influence. She was charged with a misdemeanor and released after posting a bail amount of $15,000.
Bynes's troubles seemed to escalate after that incident. She took Twitter to accuse her father of abuse and then claimed a microchip in her brain made her make these allegations, according to a report in People magazine. On October 10, Bynes was placed on psychiatric hold at a hospital in Pasadena, California.
Over the following years, Bynes all but abandoned acting as she sought to repair her personal relationships and pursue other artistic interests at a fashion and design school. She regained control of her finances in the summer of 2017 and sat down for her first interview in four years that fall, in which she hinted at a possible return to acting.
In August 2018, People reported that Bynes was in a happy and healthy place in her life. While still under the conservatorship of her parents, she had rebuilt her relationship with them and was living on her own again. "Finally she is surrounded by friends and companions she can trust and really open up to," her lawyer told People. "She feels free to be herself, which brings her so much happiness and excitement for the future."
Religion
Amanda's father is Catholic and her mother is Jewish; Bynes has described herself as Jewish. Regarding her religious beliefs, Bynes states: "As far as religion, I was raised both. I learned about both Judaism and Catholicism. My parents said it was up to me to decide [which faith to adhere to] when I grew up. I'm sort of a spiritual person anyway. I haven't decided yet on a religion. I don't know yet exactly what I believe."
Politics
Bynes hasn’t weighed in too much on the political debate, but she appears to lean to the left side of things.
Views
Amanda's inspirations came from Bette Midler and Lucille Ball.
Bynes supports gay marriage anyway. After the New York legislature passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage, Bynes tweeted: "Congratulations New York!"
Quotations:
"I'm really excited about my life. You only get one and I want to enjoy it."
"I'm so protected in my Nickelodeon bubble and "What I Like About You." It's all pretty much the same people I've worked with and it was pretty protected."
"I enjoy doing things that are scary or things that some girls might not like because it won't let them look gorgeous. Like, in my new movie I play a boy, and every day they'd pin my hair back and I'd have no makeup. That's when you start relying more on your sense of humor."
"I think every girl wants someone who is smart and funny, and I do too. But I want someone who is interesting. I mean, I want to be attracted to him, but beauty fades. There are many guys and girls who grew up being beautiful and never had to be smart or look hard for anything."
"I think women look better and better as they get older, but there is some pressure on them to look a certain way. I personally think we should grow old gracefully. Like, my mum has great hair and it's beautiful. It looks natural."
"I love movies that have a good story. I love movies that make you feel good about yourself but I also love movies that make you walk away thinking about them. I like things that have, you know, something to them."
"'m a good person, and I don't want to undermine anyone. I don't want to make anyone look stupid. I don't talk badly about people. I just try to be a nice girl and that's the best way to stay out of it. Some people have such big egos that they have to knock people down to get ahead. And I'm just who I am, and I'm a person who's very lucky. But my life is my family and not my job. If it ever got too crazy I'd be like, 'Okay, I'm checkin' out now.'"
"Whatever is meant to be will be and you just have to trust that things happen for a reason. It's made handling disappointments that much easier because I just remember my mom's words and know that something better is meant to come my way."
"I'm the type of person who believes that everything happens for a reason, and at the time that it's supposed to. So now...other ideas are coming up for other movies and everything is just happening really wonderfully."
Personality
Amanda has two dogs: Tootsie Roll (golden labrador) and Betty Boop (Australian shepherd); three cats, Subbie, Dubbie and Tiger; and a fish named Bella.
Amanda also knows how to play the piano and the violin.
Physical Characteristics:
Amanda was diagnosed with Schizophrenia after being placed on an involuntary 72-hour 5150 psychiatric hold. The mental health evaluation was later extended.
Amanda naturally has brown hair, but she generally dyes them blonde. Her eye color is green.
Height - 5 ft 8 in or 173 cm.