Leighton Meester

Leighton Meester

(pic soon)

Leighton Marissa Meester was born in April 9, 1986. She is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and model. She is known mostly for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on the television series Gossip Girl (2007–2012). She has also appeared in the films Killer Movie (2008), Country Strong (2010), The Roommate (2011), Monte Carlo(2011), The Oranges (2011), and The Judge (2014). Meester made her Broadway debut in Of Mice and Men (2014).

Meester was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Constance Lynn (née Haas) and Douglas Jay Meester. Her father is a real estate broker and her mother is a writer. She has one older brother, Douglas Logan Meester (born 1983), and a younger brother, Alexander "Lex" Meester (born 1994). At the time of her birth, Meester's parents were serving time in a federal prison for their involvement in a drug ring that smuggled marijuana from Jamaica to the United States. Constance was able to give birth to Leighton in a hospital and nurse her for three months in a halfway house, before returning to prison to complete her sentence. Her paternal grandparents cared for Meester during this period. She has maintained that her parents gave her a normal upbringing and, despite their criminal past, has stated, "It made me realize that you can't judge anyone—especially your parents—for what they've done in their past, because people change." She grew up in Marco Island, Florida. Her parents separated in 1992. 

When she was 11 years old, Meester and her siblings moved with their mother to New York City. She attended the Professional Children's School and began working as a model with Wilhelmina, booking a Ralph Lauren campaign shot by Bruce Weber, and working with then-photographer Sofia Coppola. Meester also booked commercials for Tamagotchi and Clearasil, and modeled for Limited Too alongside Amanda Seyfried. At age 14, she relocated to Los Angeles, California and attended Hollywood and Beverly Hills High Schools. Meester then transferred to a small private school and graduated a year earlier than normal.

Meester made her acting debut in 1999 as a murder victim's friend, Alyssa Turner, on an episode of Law & Order. Following this, she made her film debut in Hangman's Curse (2003), based on the bestselling book by Frank Peretti. She had a series regular role in Tarzan, which aired for only eight episodes. A recurring role in Entourage as Justine Chapin and Veronica Mars as Carrie Bishop followed in 2004 and 2005. Meester booked guest roles in the series Crossing Jordan, 8 Simple Rules, 7th Heaven and 24. She was cast as series regular in Surface as Savannah Barnett. In 2006, Meester appeared in two films, Flourish and Inside. She also guest starred in an episode of Numbers and appeared in two episodes of House as Ali Johnson, a teenager who has a crush on Gregory House. She then had guest roles on CSI: Miami and Shark, and portrayed the female lead in the horror film Drive-Thru, for which she recorded the song "Inside the Black".