Catherine Lisa Bell[2] was born on 14 August 1968[3][4] in London to a Scottish father, Peter Bell, and an Iranian mother, Mina Ezzati.[4] Peter was working as an architect under contract to an oil company in Iran; Mina had travelled to London to study nursing. Bell's parents divorced when Catherine was two years old. She was raised by her mother and maternal grandparents. The family eventually moved to California's San Fernando Valley[4] where Bell was exposed to diverse influences. The family spoke Persian at home. Her grandparents were Muslim, but Catherine was also exposed to Catholicism and attended a Baptist summer camp. In her teenage years, Catherine came under the influence of her California surroundings: "I am definitely a Valley Girl. I was a tomboy. I liked to skateboard, play football, and push the envelope a little bit".[4] Catherine enrolled at UCLA, where she considered a career in medicine or research. However, when she was offered a modelling job in Japan, where advertisers value "American beauty", she dropped out during her second year.[4]
When Bell returned to the United States, she decided to try acting.[4] She studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas. She also worked as a massage therapist for eight years at the Peninsula Hotel,[5] and her clients included singer Peter Gabriel. Bell's first television acting role was one line spoken to Gabriel on the short-lived 1990 sitcom Sugar and Spice.[6]
In 1994, Bell starred in the Dolph Lundgren film Men of War. While filming the movie in Thailand, Bell and her co-star Trevor Goddard bonded over contracting amoebic dysentery. Goddard would play Bell's off-and-on love interest Mic Brumby the following year on JAG. They remained friends until Goddard's death from a drug overdose in June 2003, an event that the bereaved Bell described as "horrible".[6]
In 1995, she obtained a three-line role in one episode of the NBC TV series JAG, which centers on the work of the United States Department of the Navy's Judge Advocate General office. NBC canceled the show after which it was picked up by CBS, which restructured the series, incorporating a female Marine Corps lawyer character, Sarah MacKenzie. Bell auditioned for that role and won it. One episode of the show established that MacKenzie is an Iranian-American, and featured Bell speaking Persian.[4] She continued in this role until the series ended in 2005.[7]
Beginning in 2007, Bell starred in Lifetime's ensemble drama series Army Wives as Denise Sherwood, the wife of a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel,[8] who endures domestic violence at the hands of her teenage son during the show's first season.[9]
In 2015, it was reported that Bell would star in the movie Love Finds Its Way, which would begin filming in 2016.[12] Production began on the film in March 2017, with Vancouver as the filming location, and 9 July 2017 as the date for the film's premiere on the Hallmark Channel.[13]
On 2 April 2019, CBS announced that Bell would be reprising her JAG role of Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie alongside former co-star David James Elliott for a multi-episode arc in the tenth season of NCIS: Los Angeles.[14]
In 2022, Bell starred in the Lifetime film Jailbreak Lovers as part of its "Ripped from the Headlines" feature film which tells the story of how Toby Dorr snuck inmate John Manard out of prison in a dog crate which sparked a manhunt.[15]
Personal life
Bell at military concert at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California in 2000
Bell met actor-production assistant Adam Beason on the set of the 1992 film Death Becomes Her. They were married on 8 May 1994. They are the parents of two children.[18][19] They lived in a nearly 5,700 square feet (530 m2) faux-Tuscan-style mini-mansion in Calabasas, California.[20] The couple sold the house in 2010,[20] and publicly confirmed that they had separated sometime before September 2011.[21] They eventually divorced in 2011.[22]
Since 2012, Bell has lived with fellow Scientologist, photographer and party planner Brooke Daniells, together with their children, in Los Angeles.[23][24] In 2014, Bell paid US$2.05 million for a single-story ranch house on a 1.2 acres (0.49 ha) lot in the gated Hidden Hills community in the western suburbs of Los Angeles.[20]
Main role (season 2–10) As Lieutenant Junior Grade Diane Schonke, episodes: "Skeleton Crew" (1996), "We the People" (1997) (archive footage), "Death Watch" (1998) (archive footage) As Jenny Lake, episode: "Ghosts of Christmas Past" (1999) As Mrs. Alexander MacKenzie, episode: "Mutiny" (2001) As Ensign Beverly Tromatore, episode: "Each of Us Angels" (2003)
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