Mayim Bialik (b. December 12, 1975), US actress

Born in San Diego, CA, she began acting at age 11. Her first film role was not, as is commonly believed, in Beaches (1988), but in a horror movie called Pumpkinhead (1988). Her critically acclaimed role in Beaches was as the 11 year old version of Bette Midler's character, and she belted out a tune called "The Glory of Love".

Her most famous role was as Blossom Russo in the sitcom Blossom (1991-1995), where she was an intelligent, bubbly teenager who seemed to have it more together than the rest of her charmingly dysfunctional family. Blossom was either charming and endearing or precocious and annoying, depending on your point of view and tolerance for such things.

The rest of her resume is surprisingly short for such a relatively well-known (at the time, anyway) actress. It mostly consists of guest spots on shows like Empty Nest, Doogie Howser, MD, Webster, Murphy Brown, and MacGuyver. The only other film credit I can find is a role in Don't Drink the Water (1994), a TV movie version of the Woody Allen play (which was quite good, BTW).

Her quick descent into obscurity is probably what prompted the urban legend that she died of alcohol poisoning. Instead, she's alive and well at UCLA working on her PhD in neuroscience. (Yes, you read that right. I'm not making this up, I swear.) At UCLA she led a petition drive to make the campus food outlets serve Kosher meals.