Mayim Hoya Bialik was born on December 12, 1975 in San Diego, California. Her parents are Barry Bialik and Beverly Winkelman, and they raised her in the Jewish faith. Her grandparents were Holocaust refugees who immigrated to the United States. Starting her acting career as a child, she first played a small role on the sitcom,
The Facts of Life. In 1988, at age eleven, she got a role in the film,
Beaches. Soon she was cast as the star of the comedy series,
Blossom, which ran from 1991 to 1995.
When
Blossom finally went off the air, rather than continue acting full time, she decided to go to college, choosing UCLA over Yale and Harvard even though she was accepted at the more prestigious universities. She graduated in 2000 with her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish studies. She later went back to school to pursue her Ph.D.
Most recently, Bialik has resumed acting, lending her voice to the character of Justine Flanner on the film,
Kim Possible: The Secret Files, and doing a guest spot on HBO's
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Bialik is married to Michael Stone. Together they had a son on October 10, 2005. Bialik is active in her Jewish faith, and enjoys playing piano, trumpet and bass guitar.