Piper Perabo

She got engaged to Stephen T. Kay, a New Zealand actor, director, and film and television writer in 2013. Kay directed and produced ‘Covert Affairs’ that had Perabo in the lead. The two married in New York City on July 26, 2014.

She is the co-owner of the prohibition-themed bar, ‘Employees Only’, located in West Village, Manhattan and the ‘Jack's Wife Freda’ restaurant located in SoHo, Lower Manhattan.

She is also a proponent for LGBT rights.

Piper Lisa Perabo was born on October 31, 1976, in Dallas, Texas, US as the eldest child among three children of George William Perabo, a professor of poetry at Ocean County College and Mary Charlotte (née Ulland), a physical therapist. She was named after American stage and screen actress Piper Laurie by her parents.

She gets her English, German, Irish descent from her father and Norwegian descent from her mother. She grew up in Toms River, New Jersey with her two younger brothers Noah and Adam.

She studied at the ‘Toms River High School North’ and completed her graduation from there in 1994. Thereafter she attended ‘Honors Tutorial College’ at Ohio University and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater in 1998. The last year of her college also saw her studying Latin, poetry and physics.

During her college days she went to New York to visit her then boyfriend. It was during this time that she was spotted by casting director Denise Fitzgerald while she accompanied her boyfriend in an audition. Although she did not earn any part, Fitzgerald helped her in getting an agent.

Following her graduation she relocated to New York and sustained herself as a waitress. There she started studying acting at the off-Broadway theatre ‘La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club’ and performed in various on-stage productions.

She endeavoured into on-screen acting with the short film ‘Single Spaced’ (1997). Her first feature film was the September 10, 1999 released American comedy ‘Whiteboyz’.

She essayed the starring role of Violet "Jersey" Sanford in the American romantic musical comedy drama film ‘Coyote Ugly’ based on the real American drinking establishment ‘Coyote Ugly Saloon’.

Considered Perabo’s breakthrough ‘Coyote Ugly’ released on August 4, 2000 and became a blockbuster hit grossing $113.9 million at box office. It earned her a MTV Movie Award in the category of Best Music Moment for ‘One Way or Another’.

Her next feature was as FBI Agent Karen Sympathy in the live action/animated adventure comedy flick ‘The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle’ that was based on Jay Ward’s TV cartoon ‘The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show’. Released on June 30, 2000 (US) the film that also featured animated characters Rocky and Bullwinkle failed commercially.