Laura Prepon

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Laura Prepon
Laura Prepon, 2008
Born	March 7, 1980 (1980-03-07) (age 29) Watchung, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–present

Laura Prepon (born March 7, 1980) is an American actress, best known for her role as Donna Pinciotti in the long-running television series That '70s Show. She is also known for the role of Hannah Daniels on the ABC drama October Road.

Early life

Prepon was born in Watchung, New Jersey, the daughter of Marjorie, a high school teacher, and Michael, an orthopedic surgeon.^[1] She was raised in Watchung in a family of Russian Jewish and Irish Catholic extraction. Her father died during heart surgery in 1993.^[2] Prepon is the youngest of five children.^[3] She attended Watchung Hills Regional High School. She studied at the Total Theater Lab in New York City.^[4]

Career

1995–2004

Prepon's first acting job was a 1995 television commercial for MCI.^[5] In 1996, she studied drama with acting teacher Caroline Thomas at Thomas's Total Theatre Lab.^[6] Later, in September 1997, she premiered on a Levi Strauss-developed show called They Go On, an Internet-based soap opera.^[7]

Prepon had a starring role as Donna Pinciotti on the Fox television series That '70s Show, from 1998 to 2006. Prior to joining the That '70s Show cast, Prepon worked as a model in Paris, Milan, and Brazil.^[8] In 2004, Prepon was on the cover of Maxim.

2005–Present

Prepon was an executive producer of E! Hollywood Hold'em^[9] and of Robert Hall's debut film Lightning Bug. The 2006 movie Karla starring Prepon caused a substantial controversy and public outcry in Canada. The movie was based on the true story of Canadian serial killers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo. Not only the families of the killers' victims, but politicians and members of the general public, called for a boycott of the movie.^{[citation needed]} The movie was restricted to a small scale Canadian release.

Prepon was a cast member of the ABC show October Road, which debuted March 15, 2007. The show was canceled by ABC on May 12, 2008, despite strong ratings and a grassroots campaign from the show's fanbase to keep the show alive. In April 2007, she starred in a short film, Once Upon a Time. She has also appeared in the Oxygen movie, Romancing the Bride. She also was the original voice for Hayley Smith on American Dad! and voiced her in an Unaired Pilot.^[10]

In 2009, she appeared on How I Met Your Mother as Karen, Ted's old high school and college girlfriend on the episodes "Sorry Bro" and "The Front Porch."

She appeared as Lauren, Mary's long lost sister, on USA network's In Plain Sight in the episode "A Frond In Need."^[11]

Filmography

References

External links

• Laura Prepon at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography from the That '70s Show website