Kristina Louise Yothers is an American actress and singer. Beginning a career as a

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

at the age of three, she is best known for her role as Jennifer Keaton on the hit

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the move in the United States ...

'', as well as for her roles in numerous television films throughout the 1980s and early 1990s including ''The Cherokee Trail'', '' Crash Course'', and ''Spunk: The Tonya Harding Story'' among others.

Early life

Yothers was born in

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

. Her father, Robert Yothers, was a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

. She has three brothers, Jeffrey and Randy (twins), and Cory, who all acted in commercials as children. Randy, as a child actor, made several TV appearances in the early 1970s, and a film appearance in Return From Witch Mountain (1978), all credited as "Poindexter" Yothers. Cory appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the early 1980s, often credited as "Bumper" Yothers.

Career

Yothers began her acting career in

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

s at age three. Her first cinema role was in the 1981

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

''The Cherokee Trail''. She also appeared in the 1982 feature film ''

Shoot the Moon ''Shoot the Moon'' is a 1982 American drama film directed by Alan Parker, and written by Bo Goldman. It stars Albert Finney, Diane Keaton, Karen Allen, Peter Weller and Dana Hill. Set in Marin County, California, the film follows George (Finn ...

''. Her most famous role was as Jennifer Keaton, the younger daughter in the television comedy ''

'' from 1982 to 1989. She also competed in the ''

Battle of the Network Stars ''Battle of the Network Stars'' is a series of competitions in which television stars from ABC, CBS and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of 19 of these competitions were held between 1976 and 1988, all of which were aired b ...

'' in December 1988. When ''Family Ties'' ended, Yothers abandoned her blonde hair color and has mostly worn it black with the notable exception of a 1996 appearance on '' Married... with Children''. She wrote the book ''Being Your Best: Tina Yothers's Guide for Girls'' and formed the band Jaded with her brother Cory. She provided the lead vocals while Cory played keyboard. In 1998, Jaded released their self-titled CD, which was co-written by Cory Yothers, Michael Anderson, Tina Yothers and performed by Tina Yothers (lead vocals), Michael Anderson (guitars/vocals), Jerry France (guitars/vocals), Larry Rosales (drums), Mike Wilson (bass) and Phil Jordan from

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, the ...

on trumpet, along with a DJ. Previously, Yothers sang a cover of

The Raes The Raes were the British-Canadian husband-and-wife singing duo of Robbie Rae (born Robert Henry Bevan, May 17, 1954 – February 9, 2006) and Cherrill Rae (born Yates), who had a handful of disco-inflected pop hits in the late 1970s. Robbie Rae ...

song "Baby I'm Back in Love Again", which she would later record as a single, in a ''Family Ties'' episode "Band on the Run" (February 26, 1987). After a nine-year absence from acting, Yothers was given the lead role in ''Lovelace the Musical'', a 2004 stage show based on the life of former pornographic film star Linda Lovelace. She followed that up with a stint as a stock player in the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater in Boca Raton, Florida from 2005 to 2007. She also appeared as herself on a special TV child stars edition of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

'' in 2001 where she was voted off in round 5. Yothers appeared on the fourth season of the VH1

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed t ...

'', which began on August 6, 2006. After Yothers's second pregnancy, she appeared on '' Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp'' to try get back to her post-Fit Club weight. On January 17, 2012 she was featured on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

show ''

Celebrity Wife Swap ''Wife Swap'' is an American reality television program that was first broadcast on ABC in 2004 based on the British show with the same name. In the program, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers ...

'', where she traded places with

Niecy Nash Carol Denise Betts (née Ensley; born February 23, 1970), known professionally as Niecy Nash-Betts (), is an American actress, comedian and television host, best known for her performances on television. Nash hosted the Style Network show '' C ...

of ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Ro ...

''. In February 2013, Yothers appeared on an episode of the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

series '' What Not To Wear''.

Filmography

Film and television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yothers, Tina Living people Actresses from California American child actresses American self-help writers American television actresses American film actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Musicians from Whittier, California Participants in American reality television series Actors from Whittier, California Writers from Whittier, California Singers from California 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Year of birth missing (living people)