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News (2/02)"><U>Yahoo! News (2/02)</U></A>   |   <B>Happenings (1/24/02)</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=348 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0458dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>Happenings (1/24/02)</I></div> <div> <B>Catherine Bell</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#008080" FACE="Arial" ><B>by David P. McGrath</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="5d9dc210.jpg" border=0 width="220" height="289" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Full name: </B><I><B>Catherine Lisa Bell</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Date of birth: </B><I><B>August 14, 1968</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Place of birth: </B><I><B>London, England</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Eye color: </B><I><B>Brown</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Hair color: </B><I><B>Brown</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Star sign: </B><I><B>Leo</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Height: </B><I><B>5'8" {Site Manager's note: Catherine's said in recent interviews that she is 5'9"}</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Career start: </B><I><B>Modeling in Japan</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Husband: </B><I><B>Adam Beason (director's assistant)</B></I> </div> <div> <B>Education: </B><I><B>University of California in Los Angeles</B></I></div> <div> <B>Her nicknames are "CB" and "CatBell." </B></div> <div> <B>At 5'8", she might just be the tallest leading lady on primetime TV. She's half-Iranian. She's played two different characters on the show she now co-stars in. She's a cancer survivor. She's drop dead gorgeous.</B></div> <bR> <div> She is Catherine Bell a/k/a Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie of CBS-TV's long-running Tuesday night drama "JAG." One media critic wrote, "Despite regularly scoring in the Nielsen Top 20, the series generates all the buzz of a basic cable cooking show. After seven years...it still gets treated like a buck private by the media."</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="77998030.jpg" border=0 width="152" height="259" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bell, who was born in London and emigrated to the USA (with her parents) when she was three years old, has been working overtime the last few months, to increase the ratings and enhance the image of her TV show. She's been involved in a blitz of media appearances and interviews since the middle of November.</div> <bR> <div> "That kind of stuff that you just read to me does drive me nuts," she said in a recent interview for HAPPENINGS MAGAZINE. "We have an average of 17 million regular viewers every week. That's more than Jay Leno or David Letterman have, yet, in the big picture no one knows who we are and everyone knows who they are. I love those guys, but come on!"</div> <bR> <div> But, having said that, Bell did admit that the show has seen a big increase in viewers since the horrific events of September 11th. It is one facet of the show's success that the gregarious Bell did not want to dwell on.</div> <bR> <div> "Well, I think with the country on a war footing, anything having to do with the military and patriotism benefits," she explained. "And, yes 'JAG' is benefiting from that somewhat, but I don't think that's the only reason we're starting to get a little head of steam. We are the 'little show that could.' We have been consistently good and now it's starting to pay off. I guess I could trot out that old saying 'better late than never.' But I am glad we are finally getting some recognition."</div> <bR> <div> Bell came to her co-starring role opposite David James Elliott in a roundabout way. She sort of came back from the dead. "JAG" actually played its first season on NBC-TV. In one - and only one - episode Bell played the love of David James Elliott's life. But, she died.</div> <bR> <div> "Well, it wasn't really a Lazarus type of deal," she pointed out with a laugh. When the show was cancelled by NBC and moved over to CBS, Bell heard from executive producer Don Bellisario that he was looking for a female lead.</div> <div> "He sent me the outline for the character," Bell said. "She had to be 5'9" or taller, brown hair, tough and aggressive, attractive and have some martial arts experience. He sent it to me because we became friends during the shooting of that one episode. Luckily for me Don had also directed that episode. He knew I fit the role to a T.</div> <bR> <div> "I sent him a letter saying that I would love to audition and 'wouldn't it be cool if his new partner looked like the dead love of his life.' Plus, I revealed to Don that I had been kickboxing for almost 10 years. He was sold. I got the gig."</div> <bR> <div> Bell, whose grandparents are Iranian Muslims, got the scare of her life when she was 22. She came down with thyroid cancer. It was a life-changing experience for her.</div> <bR> <div> "Well," she said haltingly, "if you're going to get cancer, that's the one to get. My thyroid gland was surgically removed and now I have to take a hormone pill every day - but - I'm totally cured.</div> <bR> <div> "It scared the hell out of me. I was just starting my acting career. I had been a hell raiser and party gal at UCLA and this put the fear of the Lord in me. I turned my life around physically and spiritually then and there.</div> <bR> <div> "You would call me Mrs. Clean if you knew how I lived. I am SO good."</div> <bR> <div> {THE END}</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>