Laura Ashley Bell Bundy (born April 10, 1981) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for originating the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

roles of Amber Von Tussle in the musical version of ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

and''

Elle Woods Elle Woods is the protagonist of Amanda Brown's 2001 novel ''Legally Blonde'' and the 2001 film of the same name as well as the 2003 sequel, '' Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde''. Woods is also the protagonist of the 2007 Broadway adapt ...

in the musical version of ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his List of directorial debuts, feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (writer), Kirsten Smith from ...

''. She also portrayed Dr. Jordan Denby on the television show '' Anger Management.'' In 2010 she signed to

Mercury Records Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

and released her first two

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singles, "

Giddy On Up "Giddy On Up" is a debut song by American stage actress and singer Laura Bell Bundy. Co-written by Bundy, it was released to country music radio in February 2010 as the lead-off single from her debut album '' Achin' and Shakin','' which was release ...

" and "Drop on By".

Early life

Bell Bundy was born in

Euclid, Ohio Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner ring suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 49,692. History The City of Euclid was originally a part of Euclid Township, first map ...

, and raised in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. Her mother, Lorna Bundy-Jones (née Lorna Ann Bell), is a Lancome Beauty Advisor at Ulta, and her father, Don Bundy, is an electrical engineer. Her parents divorced in 1997 when she was 16 years old; both have since remarried. She took dance lessons at Town and Village School of Dance in

Paris, Kentucky Paris is a home rule-class city in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It lies northeast of Lexington on the Stoner Fork of the Licking River. Paris is the seat of its county and forms part of the Lexington–Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. As ...

. When she was nine, she appeared in the

Radio City Christmas Spectacular The ''Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes'' is an annual musical holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The 90-minute show features more than 140 performers and an original musical score, an ...

in New York City. She graduated from

Lexington Catholic High School Lexington Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic high school located in the Rosemill neighborhood in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington. In 2007, it was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Histor ...

. She is the niece of Marcia Malone Bell,

Miss Kentucky The Miss Kentucky competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Kentucky in the Miss America pageant. Kentucky has once won the Miss America crown. Multiple Miss Kentucky titleholders have gone on to make themselv ...

1978 and 1979 Top Ten Miss America semifinalist. Bell Bundy was diagnosed with

celiac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barl ...

when she was about 18 years old. In 1995, at the age of 14, Bell Bundy appeared in the film ''

Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, the film is the first i ...

'', playing the younger version of

Bonnie Hunt Bonnie Lynn Hunt (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, director, producer, writer and television host. Her film roles include ''Rain Man'', ''Beethoven'', ''Beethoven's 2nd'', ''Jumanji'', ''Jerry Maguire'', '' The Green M ...

's character, Sarah Whittle."''Jumanji'' Overview and Cast"
tcm.com, retrieved August 7, 2018

Career

Stage

Bell Bundy originated the role of Tina Denmark in ''

Ruthless! The Musical ''Ruthless! The Musical'' is an all-female musical with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel Paley that spoofs Broadway musicals, like ''Gypsy'' and ''Mame'', and movies such as ''The Bad Seed'' and ''All About Eve''. The musical p ...

'' which opened

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 1992. For this role, she was nominated for a 1993

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. In 2002, at the age of 21, she made her Broadway debut in the musical ''

'', originating the role of Amber Von Tussle. Bell Bundy was next a Glinda standby for

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

in ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...

''. From 2007 to July 2008, she starred on Broadway in '' Legally Blonde: The Musical'' where she originated the lead role of

, receiving her first Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Bell Bundy's theatre credits outside of New York City include the national tour of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'' and ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

'' with

Betty Buckley Betty Lynn Buckley (born July 3, 1947) is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and an Olivier Award. In 2012, she was inducted into the American T ...

and

Deborah Gibson Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album '' Out of the Blue'' in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple plati ...

at the

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in ...

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from t ...

(1998). Bell Bundy reprised the role of Elle Woods in the U.S. national tour of '' Legally Blonde: The Musical'' as a temporary replacement for the injured

Becky Gulsvig Rebecca Lynn Gulsvig (born August 25, 1982) is an American stage actress. Early life Gulsvig was born in Moorhead, Minnesota, the daughter of Patricia Kay ('' née'' Nelson) and Kristofer Gulsvig. She is of Norwegian heritage. Her mother is ...

, alongside

Lauren Zakrin Lauren Ashley Zakrin (born 1988 or 1989) is an American musical theatre actress. She was a finalist in MTV's '' Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods'', coming in fourth place overall. She has appeared on Broadway, as well as i ...

. Bell Bundy began her brief run on January 13, 2009, and ended on February 22, 2009. She would go on to play Elle again during the Nashville engagement of the national tour from June 23–28, 2009. However, she fractured her arm during the June 27, 2009 performance, finished the show, and was rushed to the hospital immediately after. On September 27, 2008, she participated in a benefit concert for

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

's the Chance Theatre with fellow ''Wicked'' alum

Eden Espinosa Eden Erica Espinosa (born February 2, 1978) is an American actress and singer who is best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles, and San Francisco productions of the musical ''Wicked''. In 2022, she was nominated for ...

and with ''Spring Awakening'' alum

Lea Michele Lea Michele Sarfati (; born August 29, 1986) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and author. She began her career as a child actress on Broadway (theatre), Broadway, appearing in productions of ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérab ...

for the ''Broadway Chance Style: Up Close and Personal'' concert. She appeared as Trixie Norton in a new musical ''The Honeymooners'', based on the television comedy ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...

''. The musical premiered at the

in Milburn, New Jersey on September 28, 2017, running through October 29. Directed by

John Rando John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for '' Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

, the musical also starred Michael McGrath as Ralph Kramden,

Michael Mastro Michael R. Mastro (born June 1, 1925) is an American real estate developer, who was in business for forty years managing apartments and mid-size office parks in Seattle. He declared bankruptcy in 2009. Mastro and his wife, Linda, a former Bellev ...

as Ed Norton, and

Leslie Kritzer Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (born May 24, 1977) is an American singer and musical theatre actress. Life and career Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer was born in Manhattan and raised in Livingston, New Jersey. Her father is Jewish, and her mother is of Puer ...

as Alice Kramden. Bundy appeared in the lead role of ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on ...

'' staged and directed by

Kathleen Marshall Kathleen Marshall (born September 28, 1962) is an American director, choreographer, and creative consultant. Life and career Born in Madison, Wisconsin, she graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1980 and S ...

in June 2018 in Los Angeles.

Film and television

Bell Bundy has appeared in films including ''

The Adventures of Huck Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...

'' (1993), '' Life with Mikey'' (1993), and ''

'' (1995) as Young Sarah Whittle. She appeared in the 2006 film adaptation of ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,Gro ...

''. Bell Bundy was a judge at the

Miss America 2009 Miss America 2009, the 82nd Miss America pageant, was held on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday, January 24, 2009. The pageant was broadcast live on TLC from the Theatre for the Performing Arts at the Planet Hollywood Resort and ...

pageant. Bell Bundy had a recurring role on the sixth season of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

's ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'' as Becky, Robin's co-anchor. She would reprise the role in the spinoff, ''

How I Met Your Father ''How I Met Your Father'' is an American sitcom created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger which premiered on Hulu on January 18, 2022. It is a spin-off of ''How I Met Your Mother''. The series, which stars Hilary Duff, Christopher Lowell, F ...

''. Bell Bundy had a recurring role as Shelby on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's ''

Hart of Dixie ''Hart of Dixie'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The CW from September 26, 2011, to March 27, 2015. The series, created by Leila Gerstein, stars Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, a New Yorker who, after her dreams of b ...

'' from 2012 until 2015. She starred as Dr. Jordan Denby on the FX sitcom ''

Anger Management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

'' in 2013. In 2015, she starred in ''Becoming Santa'', a

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

TV movie with Michael Gross and

Meredith Baxter Meredith Ann Baxter (born June 21, 1947) is an American actress and Film producer, producer. She is known for her roles on the CBS sitcom ''Bridget Loves Bernie'' (1972–73), American Broadcasting Company, ABC drama series ''Family (1976 TV ser ...

. She currently stars as Rachel Raskin on '' The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder'', a live action sequel series to ''

The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant him w ...

'', which premiered March 31, 2022 on

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Country music

Bell Bundy released her debut

album, titled ''Longing For a Place Already Gone'', in 2007. After leaving '' Legally Blonde: The Musical'' in July 2008, she moved back to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

to work on her second album, ''Achin' and Shakin''. ''Achin' and Shakin'' was released on April 13, 2010. It debuted at number 5 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Country Albums Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...

chart as well as number 28 on the all-genre ''Billboard'' 200. As of June 26, 2010, the album has sold over 70,000 copies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It also charted internationally, where it reached number 34 on the

Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...

. Bell Bundy also appeared in fellow country artist

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

's music video for "

Only Prettier "Only Prettier" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Miranda Lambert. It was released in July 2010 as the fourth single from her album ''Revolution''. Co-written with Natalie Hemby, the song has both a country girl an ...

," as one of Lambert's friends alongside

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed ...

and

Hillary Scott Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell (born April 1, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the co-lead singer of Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, a country music group that was formed in 2006, and is signed to Big Machine Records. ...

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

. Bell Bundy began as the spokesperson for the Selected Chevrolet Dealers of Middle Tennessee in September 2011. Bell Bundy released a new single, "That's What Angels Do", in 2012. In mid-2013, Bundy signed with

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

and released the single "Two Step", a duet with

Colt Ford Jason Farris Brown (born August 27, 1969) known professionally as Colt Ford, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, and former professional golfer best known for his music fusing the country and rap genres. He has released seven ...

Podcasts

On October 5, 2020, she and music producer Shea Carter launched their podcast Women of Tomorrow, an extension their album of the same name that allows "Bundy and Carter to dive deep into he issues of women's rightsthat were so hard-fought.". Bell Bundy has been a guest on many podcasts to promote the podcast and album, one of the most notable being The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales.

Personal life

In December 2015, Bell Bundy announced her engagement to TBS executive Thom Hinkle after four years of dating. They were married on June 3, 2017, in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

. On February 25, 2019 she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. Their son was born in May 2019. In March 2020, Bell Bundy announced on social media that she had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She has since recovered.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Cast recordings and soundtracks

- Cast Recording (2008) *

- Cast Recording (2003)

Music videos

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bundy, Laura Bell Actresses from Kentucky American child actresses American country singer-songwriters American women country singers American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Big Machine Records artists Lexington Catholic High School alumni Living people Actors from Lexington, Kentucky Mercury Records artists 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Musicians from Lexington, Kentucky Country musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Kentucky women musicians Singers from Kentucky 1981 births