Zooey was born on January 17, 1980. She loves old music, vintage clothes she has a style more reminiscent of an early Hollywood movie starlet than that of most of the actresses of today. She's the daughter of Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel and named after the beloved J D Salinger character began to quickly rack up credits starting in 1998, making her TV debut in an episode of "Veronica's Closet". The following year she was featured in her first film, "Mumford", a comedy about a man (Loren Dean) posing as a psychologist in a small town. Here Deschanel played a troubled young woman obsessed with models and impressed critics and the film's limited audience with her spot-on portrayal.

In 2000 she was featured in the ensemble of the long-awaited Cameron Crowe film "Almost Famous", a semi-autobiographical look at a teenage rock journalist who goes on tour with an up and coming band. Deschanel played the older and musically influential sister of the character based on Crowe (played by newcomer Patrick Fugit). Decked out in timely miniskirts with teased hair, Deschanel was at ease in the period piece, lighting up the screen in her scenes and proving an asset to the film. The actress was poised to breakout into the big time in 2000, lensing featured roles in the mental institution-set drama "Manic", the comedic crime caper "Big Trouble" and the romantic comedy "Beauty Loop".

In 2002, Deschanel co-starred with Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal in the independent feature "The Good Girl" playing a drugstore cosmetics girl who indulges in some sadistic over-makeovers of her clueless customers. That same year, she was cast in the Stephan Gaghan action thriller "Abandon" and made a wildly funny guest appearance on the hit NBC sit-com "Frasier" as Roz's cynical yet seductive young cousin Jen, who nearly derails the marriage of Frasier's station manager Kenny (Tom McGowan) . The following year, Deschanel co-starred (opposite Paul Schneider) as a boarding school virgin who returns to her small town and falls in love with the town's "lady's man" in the romantic drama feature "All The Real Girls" (2003).

The actress returned to the eyes of more mainstream audiences when she co-starred in director Jon Favreau's holiday charmer "Elf" (2003) as a comely department store Santa's helper who befriends Buddy (Will Ferrell), a human raised by North Pole elves on a journey to discover his true heritage.

With a string of upcoming movies Zooeys' most likely to stick around for quite sometime.

Zooey Deschanel Filmography

• The Happening (2008)
• Barry Munday (2007)
• Gospel According to Janis (2008)
• Surf's Up (2007)
• Raving (2007)
• The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
• Flakes (2007)
• Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
• The Go-Getter (2007)
• The Good Life (2007)
• Live Free or Die (2006)
• Failure to Launch (2006)
• Once Upon a Mattress (2005) (TV)
• Winter Passing (2005)
• "American Dad!"
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
• Eulogy (2004)
• "Cracking Up"
• Elf (2003)
• House Hunting (2003)
• It's Better to Be Wanted for Murder Than Not to Be Wanted at All (2003)
• All the Real Girls (2003)
• Whatever We Do (2003)
• "Frasier"
• Abandon (2002)
• Sweet Friggin' Daisies (2002)
• The New Guy (2002)
• Big Trouble (2002)
• The Good Girl (2002)
• Manic (2001)
• Almost Famous (2000)
• Mumford (1999)
• "Veronica's Closet"