Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Memento Mori

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Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born November 28, 1984) is an American actress. She is 5'8" tall (IMDB.com).

Biography

Early life

Winstead was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina to James Ronald Winstead and Betty Lou Knight; she has four older siblings (three sisters and a brother) and is a distant cousin of actress Ava Gardner. She grew up in North Carolina and Salt Lake City, Utah. Wanting to be a ballerina from a young age, Winstead attended the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City at age 11, and began taking acting classes shortly after. Her career took off then.

Career

Winstead began acting in the late 1990s, appearing in episodes of the television series Touched by an Angel and Promised Land, before being cast as Jessica Bennett in the 1999 soap opera, Passions, a role she played until 2000. She subsequently appeared in the short-lived series, Wolf Lake, and in the made-for-television film, Monster Island.

In 2005, Winstead was part of a large ensemble of teen actors in the successful Disney film, Sky High. In the same year, she appeared in the independent film, Checking Out, playing one of the members of a dysfunctional Jewish family; the film has yet to be released. Her next film, Final Destination 3, was a horror sequel that was released in February 2006 to strong box office (Winstead had previously auditioned for Final Destination 2); her co-star in the film was actor Ryan Merriman, who had appeared in the Ring Two, a film in which Winstead had a minor role which was cut from the finished film.

Winstead recently finished filming a role in Black Christmas, a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name. Her character Heather is a lead role. She will also be co-starring in Emilio Estevez's all-star Bobby

Other upcoming projects include Grind House where she plays Lee. She has also landed a supporting role as Lucy Mclane in the much anticipated fourth installment to the Die Hard franchise. She has already been on set in Los Angeles in October and the film is slated to release at the end of June 2007.

Selected filmography

Year Title Role Notes

2007 Live Free or Die Hard Lucy McClane Lead Role

2007 Grind House Lee Lead Role

2006 Black Christmas Heather Lee Lead Role

2006 Bobby Susan Taylor Supporting Role

2006 Final Destination 3 Wendy Christensen Female Lead

2005 Sky High Gwen Grayson Supporting Role

External links

* MaryEWinstead.com- Fansite

* Mary Elizabeth Winstead Fan

* FilmStew interview (February 15, 2006)