Real Name:
Peri Kay Oldham

Date of Birth:
May 27th 1961

Place of Birth:
Waco, Texas, USA

Screen Debut:
21 Jump Street in episode "The Currency We Trade In" (1988)

Spouses:
Christian Vincent (1999 - present)

Peri Gilpin was born in Waco, Texas on May 27th 1961. Her name derives from the fact that her parents thought she would be a boy and hadn't thought of any girl's names - only "Peter". So they adapted that into Peri. She was raised in Dallas by her mother and stepfather. Her late natural father, Jim O'Brien, was a radio broadcaster who sometimes took young Peri in with him to sing Happy Birthday over the airwaves.

Peri studied acting at the Dallas Theater Center. She continued her studies at the University of Texas and the British-American Academy in London. Upon her return to the USA, she got a job as a make-up artist, but her desire to act motivated her to become an apprentice with the renowned Williamstown Theater Festival, Massachusetts. She later worker in Hollywood on the show Wings, created by the same people as Frasier and actually had Frasier and Lilith appear in it. She worked with the late producer Roz Doyle, who her character is named after in tribute. She originally lost out on the part of Roz to Lisa Kudrow (now better known as Phoebe on Friends) but the producers realised Lisa wasn't right for the part and gave Peri the job.

Peri's stage credits include starring in the Broadway productions of As Bees in Honey Drow and Lucky Lucy and the Fortune Man and in the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as Helena, and in numerous regional theatre productions.

Peri's additional TV credits include the NBC films The Secret She Carried opposite D.W. Moffett and Jere Burns and Fight for Justice: The Nancy Conn Story; and as a regular on Fresh 'N' Blood and 21 Jump Street. She has guest starred in The Outer Limits episode "Etherically Yours" as well as appearing in Wings (though not as Roz), The John Larroquette Show (as Roz) and Cheers as Holly Matherson.

Peri runs a production company, Bristol Cities, with Jane Leeves where they are developing film and television projects.

At present she lives in Los Angeles with her husband Christian Vincent, an artist, and their three dogs, one of whom is one of Moose's (Eddie) puppies. Recently, with help from a surrogate mother, Peri and Christian became parents to twins.