Maria Elana Bello was born April 18, 1967 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA.

One of 4 children, she has 2 brothers and a sister. Her father was employed in construction and her mother, a teacher who was a former school nurse. Her heritage is Polish/ Italian.

She attended Villanova University in Philadelphia: majoring in Political Science. In her senior year she took an acting class as an elective and fell in love with acting. She moved to New York City with $300.00 in her pocket and worked as a bartender, dog walker and cleaned houses.

Her extensive New York theater credits include "The Killer Inside Me", "Small town Gals With", "Urban Planning", "Big Problems", "After The Fact", "Young Frankenstein", "A Lie Of The Mind", "His Pillow", "Out Of Gas On Lover's Leap", "Big Talk", and "Talked Away".

Maria co- founded the Dream Yard Project For Kids, a non-profit arts and education program for children in Harlem. She has travelled to Africa where she spoke to children and gathered material for a book examining the values of children from different cultures.

Maria learned Moi Thai for her role as Mrs. Smith in the series Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

He starred in Assault on Precinct 13 (2005), A History of Violence (2005) and Oliver Stone’s drama World Trade Center (2006).

Bello practices yoga, muay thai and ballet. Bello and her boyfriend TV executive Dan McDermott, welcomed their first child, Jackson Blue McDermott, on March 5, 2001.

Filmography

• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
• Yellow Handkerchief (2008)
• Downloading Nancy (2007)
• The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
• Nothing Is Private (2007)
• Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
• Flicka (2006)
• World Trade Center (2006)
• Thank You for Smoking (2005)
• A History of Violence (2005)
• The Dark (2005)
• The Sisters (2005)
• Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
• Silver City (2004)
• Secret Window (2004)
• Nobody's Perfect (2004)
• The Cooler (2003)
• 100 Mile Rule (2002)
• Auto Focus (2002)
• China: The Panda Adventure (2001)
• Born in Brooklyn (2001)
• Duets (2000)
• Coyote Ugly (2000)
• Sam the Man (2000)
• Payback (1999)
• Permanent Midnight (1998)
• "ER" (25 episodes, 1997-1998)
• "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" (1 episode, 1996)
• "Due South" (1 episode, 1996)
• "The Commish" (1 episode, 1995)
• The Commish: In the Shadow of the Gallows (1995)
• "Nowhere Man" (1 episode, 1995)
• "Misery Loves Company" (1 episode, 1995)
• Maintenance (1992)

Awards

• New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actress "A History of Violence" 2005
• The Actor Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series "ER" 1997