Chris Klein (actor)

Chris Klein
Chris Klein in March 2012
Born	Frederick Christopher Klein (1979-03-14) March 14, 1979 (age 37) Hinsdale, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Known for	The American Pie films (1999-2012)
Spouse(s)	Laina Rose Thyfault (m. 2015)
Children	1

Frederick Christopher "Chris" Klein (born March 14, 1979) is an American actor who is best known for playing Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher in the American Pie comedy teen films.

Klein was raised in Brookfield, Illinois. He is of German, Irish, and English descent. His mother, Terese (née Bergen), is a kindergarten teacher, and his father, Fred Klein, is an engineer. Klein was the second of three children. His older sister, Debbie, was born in 1978 and his younger brother, Timothy, was born in 1982. As a child, Klein had his first on stage experience by singing This Little Light of Mine in a community theater at the Sheraton Convention Center in Chicago. He lived in the town for thirteen years before his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. At Millard West High School in Omaha, Klein acted in his high school's performance of West Side Story, played cornerback and linebacker for the football team, and swam on the Millard West Swim Team. In his senior year, Klein was offered his first professional acting job by director Alexander Payne, who was scouting Omaha, his hometown, as a potential filming location for the film Election. He attended Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas.

After auditioning for Election, Payne chose Klein and they began filming. The film was released in April 1999 to positive reviews. Soon after, Klein found a steady amount of work in the film industry while briefly attending TCU, where he studied theater and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He was next seen in American Pie, acting as Christopher Russell Ostreicher, which opened on July 9, 1999, and was a box office success. The following year Klein starred in Here on Earth alongside LeeLee Sobieski and Josh Hartnett (2000). Klein reprised his American Pie role in American Pie 2 (2001) and American Reunion (2012), but was not in the third installment, American Wedding, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. In 2002, Klein had a role in the Mel Gibson Vietnam War film We Were Soldiers. Klein starred in the 2002 remake of the film Rollerball, but the film was a massive critical and financial failure. Klein has also appeared in several teen movies, including Just Friends (2005), American Dreamz (2006).