Background

Ethnicity: Blair's paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants (from Poland and Russia), and her maternal grandfather was from a Jewish family from Ukraine/Russia. Her maternal grandmother was of Scottish (from Lanarkshire) and English (from Warwickshire) ancestry.

Selma Blair Beitner was born on June 23, 1972, in Southfield, in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan, the United States. She is the youngest of four girls. Her sisters are Katherine, Elizabeth, and Marie Beitner.

Blair had a Jewish upbringing; her Hebrew name is Bat-Sheva. When she was 23, her parents, Elliot and Molly Ann Beitner divorced, and the actress legally dropped her father's last name, Beitner. Her mother was a judge, while her father was an attorney and an active member of the United States Democratic Party.

Education

Blair attended Hillel Day School, a Jewish day school in Farmington Hills before enrolling in Cranbrook Kingswood school in Michigan. After graduating, she attended both Kalamazoo College and New York University, before transferring to and graduating from the University of Michigan in 1995 with degrees in both English and Psychology.

Just one week after her college graduation, she moved to New York City when she was 21 years old and has said she was "basically homeless, living in the Salvation Army" at the time. While she was unsure whether she was going to pursue a career in acting or photography, she began taking acting classes at New York City's Stella Adler Conservatory and the Column Theater.

Career

In 1990, during her time at Cranbrook Kingswood, Blair was involved in a production of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral. According to Blair, it was a failure, but her English teacher told her not to give up; that was the first time she thought she could be an actress. Selma had to face a number of auditions and rejections before she finally landed a television commercial in 1993. After 75 auditions, she got her first advertising contract for a television spot ad for a theater in Virginia, for which she received her Screen Actor's Guild membership. She continued appearing in television commercials until bagging her first acting role in the television series, The Adventures of Pete & Pete in 1995. She portrayed the love interest of the main character Big Pete.

The following year, she made her film debut by playing the role of Pretzel Cart in the movie, The Broccoli Theory. Selma went unnoticed in the film. She then bagged a decent role in the film, In & Out. However, many portions in which Selma had appeared weres shown the door by the editor and the film released without much of Selma’s on-screen presence. She was also seen in My Friend Steve’s 1998 music video, Charmed.

After playing a series of smaller parts and ultimately losing out on the role of Dawson's Creek's Joey Potter to Katie Holmes and Buffy the Vampire Slayer's title character to Sarah Michelle Gellar, Blair scored her breakout role in the 1999 cult drama film Cruel Intentions. Starring opposite Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe, and Gellar, she played innocent high school student Cecile Caldwell and won an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss after locking lips onscreen with Gellar.

The same year, she went on to star as Zoe Bean in The WB's teen sitcom Zoe, Duncan, Jack, and Jane. The series lasted two seasons, and in 2000, it was renamed Zoe. The role earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination.

Blair reunited with Cruel Intentions co-star Witherspoon to star as snooty law school student Vivian Kensington in the 2001 comedy Legally Blonde. Of working with Witherspoon, Blair has said, "She's been a friend since Cruel Intentions... I would act with her any day."

In 2002 she earned another Teen Choice Award acting nomination for the raunchy romantic comedy The Sweetest Thing in which she appeared opposite Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate. The following year she co-starred with Julia Stiles and Jason Lewis in the comedy, A Guy Thing.

She also starred as Liz Sherman, a woman with pyrokinetic powers, in the Guillermo del Toro-directed Hellboy in 2004, followed by the action/fantasy superhero film's sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army in 2008.

Turning her focus to television, she starred opposite Molly Shannon in NBC's situation comedy Kath & Kim beginning in 2008 until the show's cancellation the next year after one season and 17 episodes.

Next, she played a therapist in Charlie Sheen's FX comedy Anger Management beginning in 2012. After Blair reportedly complained about costar Sheen's work habits, the actor, who was also an executive producer for the show, called for her firing. Lionsgate, Anger Management's production company, confirmed in June 2013 that Blair would not be returning to the show.

In 2016, she returned to FX for the role of Kris Jenner (of E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians fame) in the network's hit true crime anthology series, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Also in 2016, Blair starred as a "single, unfulfilled rock photographer" in the independent drama Mothers and Daughters, as part of a large ensemble cast, consisting of Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Mira Sorvino, and Courteney Cox. The film was released on 6 May 2016 for digital markets and received largely mixed reviews.

In June 2016, Blair was cast alongside Nicolas Cage and Anne Winters in Brian Taylor's horror comedy film, Mom and Dad, which was released in theaters on January 19, 2018. The film received positive reviews from critics.

On August 21, 2018, it was announced that Blair was cast in a recurring role on the upcoming Netflix science-fiction drama series, Another Life.

Achievements

• Selma Blair is a critically acclaimed and award-winning actress who has quickly become well-known for her roles in theatre, cinema, and television.
  
  In 2000, Blair won a Movieline's Young Hollywood Award. Blair was included on the FHM list of "The 100 Sexiest Women of 2004".

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Watch Hellboy: Sword Of Storms | Prime Video

    (In this first animated feature from Director Tad Stones (...)

  • My Mom's New Boyfriend

    (After a three-year assignment in the field, FBI agent Hen...)

    2008
  • Pretty Persuasion

    (Kimberly Joyce (Evan Rachel Wood), an outwardly friendly ...)

    2005
  • In Their Skin

    (A few months after the accidental death of their daughter...)

    2012
  • Lies & Alibis

    (Ray (Steve Coogan) runs an alibi service for adulterous h...)

    2006
  • Hellboy: Blood and Iron

    (When Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien are assigned to ...)

    2007
  • Mothers and Daughters

    (With an all-star cast of Susan Sarandon, Sharon Stone, Co...)

  • Can't Hardly Wait

    (Commencement ceremony is over, it's time for Huntington H...)

    1998
  • Night of the White Pants

    (Come along for an unforgettable night of raunch, rock, an...)

    2006
  • Columbus Circle

    (Selma Blair leads an ensemble featuring Amy Smart, Giovan...)

    2011
  • A Dirty Shame

    (Sylvia Stickles suffers a concussion and the injury cause...)

    2004
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army

    (Hellboy and his team of paranormal outcasts must face off...)

    2008
  • Ordinary World

    (A former punk rocker (Billie Joe Armstrong) struggling to...)

    2016
  • Kill Me Later

    (Shawn is a deeply depressed young woman who is unhappy wi...)

    2001
  • Hellboy

    (As dark forces gather to hasten the Apocalypse, Hellboy f...)

    2004
  • Cruel Intentions

    (Sarah Michelle Geller, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspo...)

    1999
  • The Fog

    (One hundred years after their ship was deliberately wreck...)

    2005
  • The Family Tree

    (When a bizarre accident leaves desperate housewife Bunnie...)

    2011
  • After

    (A college freshman's perfectly planned-out life is rocked...)

    2019
  • Mom And Dad

    (Children must survive a wild 24 hours during which a mass...)

    2017
  • The Sweetest Thing

    (A girl finds she is forced to educate herself on the etiq...)

    2002
  • Scream 2

    (Away at college, Sidney Prescott thought she'd finally pu...)

    1997
  • Feast Of Love

    (Professor Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) watches love c...)

    2007
  • In & Out

    (A former student who's now an actor tells an audience of ...)

    1997
  • Sex, Death and Bowling

    (Eli McAllister sets out to win The Fiesta Cup, a local bo...)

    2015
  • The Poker House

    (A dramatization of Lori Petty's teenage years spent in sm...)

    2008
  • A Guy Thing

    (Paul Coleman (Jason Lee, "My Name is Earl") is a good guy...)

    2003
  • Down To You

    (Hot screen favorites Freddie Prinze Jr. (She's All That, ...)

    2000
  • In Good Company

    (Dan Foreman is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from h...)

    2004
  • Legally Blonde

    (Elle woods has it all. She's the president of her sororit...)

    2001

• TV series

  • Anger Management

    (Charlie Sheen is "Charlie," a successful therapist who th...)

    2012
  • American Crime Story

    (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story explores...)

  • Kath & Kim

Religion

In her childhood, Selma was exposed to Judaism and she even had a Jewish name which was Bat-Sheva. Educationally, she was immersed in Jewish values as she attended a Jewish high school. In her youth, she was connected to Christianity as she lived in a Protestant Christian settlement. Nevertheless, it is currently unknown what religion she has remained devoted to.

Politics

In October 2012, Blair starred in the political satire sketch The Woman for Romney, about the campaign proposals of the former Republican Party's nominee for the 2012 United States presidential election, Mitt Romney. She also supported Marianne Williamson for the 2014 congressional elections.

Views

On May 27, 2012, Blair attended the National Memorial Day Concert as a special guest, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. She presented the story of Brigette Cain, a war widow, who lost her husband (Pfc. Norman L. Cain III) in Afghanistan.

Blair enjoys child and animal care. She has practiced horseback riding since age 17.

Blair's charity work and causes include Marc Jacobs' Skin Cancer Awareness Campaign, H&M's Fashion Against AIDS 2011 Campaign, Children's Action Network, AmFAR AIDS Research 2011, Lange Foundation (dedicated to saving homeless and abandoned animals), Bulgari-Save the Children 2012 Ad Campaign, No Kid Hungry, Staying Alive Foundation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. On October 2, 2015, Blair was awarded "The Universal Smile Award" during THE SMILE GALA LA 2015 to benefit children with cleft lip and palate.

In October 2017, Blair, along with fellow actress Rachel McAdams, spoke out about being sexually harassed by director James Toback. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she detailed an account of an incident that took place during a meeting in a hotel room during which Toback allegedly held her against her will and ejaculated on her leg.

Despite Toback allegedly threatening her life if she came forward with her story and her feeling "afraid," Blair further explained to W that the #MeToo movement gave her courage to speak out. "I also thought of the wonder of this moment, that women are finally able to express things publicly that they hadn’t felt they would ever tell a soul - even though I never wanted to tell my story publicly," she revealed to the magazine. "I just wanted him to stop. I didn’t want anyone to ever know private details of my life, but so be it. If that’s what it takes to change things, then I’m on board."

While appearing on CBS' The Talk in January 2018, she estimated that Toback had been accused of assault by at least 359 women and said she thinks he "deserves to be in jail."

Quotations: "I'm a character actress. I don't bleach my teeth, I chain-smoke, I'm flat-chested, I don't mind being nude, I'm not precious, I'm pale as a ghost, I have crow's feet, and I believe I can play anybody."

"Part of me would love to have been a leading lady because there's a lot of glamor that goes with that and a lot of applause, but I've been very blessed."

"I never want to be a show-off or attention-getter or something that, truthfully, is kind of repulsive to me, but I get uncomfortable."

Personality

Blair developed a fear of the water and sharks after seeing Jaws (1975). Blair has also admitted to battling alcoholism, depression, and anxiety. In 2018, she declared she was "winning that battle" and celebrated the two-year anniversary of sobriety in June of that year.

Physical Characteristics: Selma Blair has a height of 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 52 kg. She has black hair and brown eyes. Her body measurements are 33-23-33 inches and her bra size is 32A. Her dress size is 2 (US) and shoe size 7 (US).

Selma Blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in August 2018. She probably had this disease for at least 15 years before being diagnosed. She had thought, for years, that she was suffering from minor illnesses or even a pinched nerve, but the diagnosis finally explained her disabilities, including her occasional falling, dropping things, foggy memory, and her left side acting like it was “asking for directions from a broken GPS.” Blair was inspired to reveal the news as a way to thank Allisa Swanson, her costume designer, who had become her unofficial “dresser” for Blair’s role in the Netflix series Another Life, stating that Swanson “gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, (and) buttons my coats.”She also has spasmodic dysphonia, which affected her voice.

Interests

• horseback riding

• Politicians

  Marianne Williamson, Mitt Romney

• Writers

  Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley, Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner, Please, Let Me Go: The Horrific True Story of One Young Girl’s Life In The Hands of British Sex Traffickers by Caitlin Spencer, The Lost Family by Jenna Blum

• Sport & Clubs

  ice skating

Connections

In 1990, Blair's childhood sweetheart died unexpectedly in his dorm room. "He had epilepsy his whole life and was definitely careful about it, but then he died suddenly the day before his birthday," she has said, admitting she still doesn't know the cause of his death. "I was in love with him since I first saw him in first grade... he was my first love."

She married writer/producer Ahmet Zappa at the late Carrie Fisher's Beverly Hills mansion in January 2004, after six months of dating. In June 2006, she cited irreconcilable differences when filing to divorce Zappa (the son of musician Frank Zappa).

Blair dated her Kath and Kim co-star Mikey Day from 2008 to 2010.

Blair began dating fashion designer Jason Bleick in 2010, and the couple welcomed their first child, a son named Arthur, in July 2011. They ended their relationship in September 2012 but continue to co-parent their son.

Father:

Elliot I. Beitner

Mother:

Molly Ann (Cooke) Beitner

Sister:

Katherine Beitner

Sister:

Elizabeth Beitner

Sister:

Marie Beitner

Ex-husband:

Marie Beitner

ex-boyfriend:

Mikey Day

Son:

Arthur Saint Bleick

colleague:

Patrick Wilson

Friend:

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Friend:

Reese Witherspoon