Kristin Bauer van Straten

Kristin Bauer van Straten
Bauer van Straten at the 2012 Toulouse Game Show
Born	Kristin Neubauer Racine, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Spouse(s)	Abri van Straten
Website	www.kristinbauer.com

Kristin Bauer van Straten is an American film and television actress, perhaps best known for her roles as vampire Pamela Swynford De Beaufort on the HBO television series True Blood, Jerry's girlfriend Gillian on Seinfeld, and as sorceress Maleficent in the ABC series Once Upon a Time.

Van Straten was born in Racine, Wisconsin. She is of German descent. During childhood, she played sports, rode horses, and fired shot guns. She graduated from The Prairie School in Racine. Van Straten studied fine arts at Washington University in St. Louis as well as in Boston and New York (Parsons The New School for Design) in her youth, but decided to become an actress and moved to Los Angeles, where she has been living since she began acting in 1994. She continues to draw and paint. Her works include commissioned portraits. Van Straten carries out conservation work to improve the treatment of animals.

In 1995, van Straten had her first regular role in a television series, as Maggie Reynolds on The Crew. Other recurring roles include Geneva Renault in Total Security, Candy Cooper in That's Life, Rebecca Colfax in Dirty Sexy Money, and Belinda Slypich in Hidden Hills. Perhaps her best known film role was in Dancing at the Blue Iguana in 2000. Van Straten played a porn star appearing as the featured act at a Los Angeles strip club and performed an extended nude dance. In 2001, she starred in the award-winning short film Room 302, and in 2004 she had a minor role in the film 50 First Dates, which starred Adam Sandler. In the animated series Justice League, she supplied the voice of the superhero Mera.