Tamblyn, Amber 1973–

(Amber Rose Tamblyn)

PERSONAL: Born May 14, 1983, in Santa Monica, CA; daughter of Russ (an actor) and Bonnie (an artist, singer, and teacher) Tamblyn.

ADDRESSES: Home—8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 530, Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

CAREER: Actress and poet. Working actress since age eleven, including General Hospital television show, "Emily Bowen-Quatermaine," 1995–2001; "Partnership for a Drug-Free America" commercial, 1997; Joan of Arcadia television show, "Joan," 2003–2005; feature films include Live Nude Girls, Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and Stephanie Daley.

AWARDS, HONORS: YoungStar Awards, best young actress/performance in a daytime series, for General Hospital, 2000; Saturn Awards, best actress in a television series, for Joan of Arcadia, 2004.

WRITINGS:

Free Stallion (poems), Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of poetry to publications, including CUPS and Poetry USA.

SIDELIGHTS: An actress and a poet, Amber Tamblyn has appeared in a number of films and television shows since she was first spotted by an agent in a production of Pippi Longstocking when she was ten years old. In 1995, she created the character of Emily Bowen-Quartermain on the daytime series General Hospital, a part she continued to play throughout her high school career, and for which she was awarded a YoungStar Award. Tamblyn went on to star in the television show Joan of Arcadia and in films such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. But Tamblyn's first love is poetry. She credits her interest to early exposure from family friend and poet Jack Hirschman, and an arts-intensive program at Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH), the experimental school she attended from kindergarten through eighth grade. She was fascinated by Hirschman and attempted to emulate him, the result of which was "Kill Me So Much," her first published poem, which appeared in the San Francisco magazine, CUPS, when Tamblyn was twelve. With her mother's assistance, Tamblyn self-published two volumes of her poems at a local copy store, and then Free Stallion was released by Simon & Schuster. The volume collects her work from a period of years, from childhood to young adulthood, and reflects her interest in rhythm, politics, the Beat poets, and her view of growing up. Says Tamblyn on her Web site: "For me, the book is filled with a desire for honest and authentic self-discovery in a world where your worth is often measured by the shape of your body and the height of your success. I think my poems are a departure from that very obsession that binds us as women. It is the only way for me to fully convey the person I feel I truly am." Teresa Pfeifer, in a review for School Library Journal, called the book "a unique record of one artist's early promise of crafting an art for life or vice versa."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2005, review of Free Stallion, p. 923.

Publishers Weekly, October 17, 2005, review of Free Stallion, p. 70.

School Library Journal, December, 2005, Teresa Pfeifer, review of Free Stallion, p. 175.

WWD: Women's Wear Daily, August 15, 2005, Rose Apodaca, "Slam Dunk," interview with Amber Tamblyn, p. 6.

ONLINE

Amber Tamblyn Home Page, http://www.amtam.com (April 26, 2006).

Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/ (April 26, 2006), author biography.

NNDB.com, http://www.nndb.com/ (April 26, 2006), author biography.

Rebel Asylum, http://www.rebelasylum.com (April 26, 2006), author's Web site.