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ReneÃ© O'Connor (born Evelyn ReneÃ© O'Connor on February 15 1971 in Katy, Texas) is an American actress, best known for playing the role of Gabrielle on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess from 1995 to 2001.

Biography

Early life

ReneÃ© O'Connor was born to Walter and Sandra O'Connor. Her mother and stepfather, Sandra and Eddie Wilson, own a famous restaurant called "Threadgill's" in Austin, Texas http://www.threadgills.com/ . She has an older brother named Chris, who is a grocery store manager, and her biological father Walter is a finance manager.

Since her first role at age 8 as a caterpillar during a Theater on Wheels production, ReneÃ© has had a passion for acting. At age 12, she began studying acting at Houston's Alley Theatre, and later attended The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. So that she could graduate with her friends, she transferred back to Taylor High School.

Career

She began her real career at the age of 16 in a commercial for McDonalds, later for Exxon. A string of other commercials followed (as well as a string of odd jobs such as Porky Pig at Astroworld and an aerobics instructor in L.A.) and in 1989, she landed a recurring role in a serial called "Teen Angel" featured on the "New Mickey Mouse Club." This led to another Disney serial called "Match Point" and an episode of "Tales from the Crypt" (directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger), though it was later cut. ReneÃ© then went on to portray an imperiled student on an NBC special called "The Flood", Cheryl Ladd's daughter in Danielle Steel's "Changes", a woman captured by Shawnee Indians in ABC's "Follow the River", an actress who hires Rockford as her bodyguard in "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise", Julia Wilkes in Disney's "The Adventures of Huck Finn", and the daughter of a murdered couple in an episode of NYPD Blue. ReneÃ© then came to the attention of Xena: Warrior Princess executive producers Robert G. Tapert and Sam Raimi with an "over-the-top" audition that won her the role of the young Deianeira in their two-hour "Action Pack" adventure "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom." They were so impressed by her performance opposite Hercules: The Legendary Journeys star Kevin Sorbo that they signed her for a starring role in "Darkman II: The Return of Durant." She was later cast as Gabrielle, Xena's sidekick on Xena: Warrior Princess. During the filming of Xena, ReneÃ© lived in Auckland, New Zealand.

She was voted # 3 of the most intriguing people in 1996, # 2 in 1997, and one of the most beautiful people of 1997, by People Online. She made the cover of TV Guide on the July 29 to August 4 2000 issue. It was one of eight collector's covers.

On 27 June 2002, O'Connor played Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare by the Sea's version of Macbeth. The play ran for five weeks and was initially located in San Pedro Point Fermin Park and toured the beach cities in Los Angeles.

On 31 May 2003 ReneÃ© participated in the Firefighters Burn Relay to benefit the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation. The event took place in Burbank, California. She took place in the parade of fire engines. They made stops in several areas, including Beverly Hills, Burbank, Long Beach, and Santa Monica, allowing the public to make donations at each stop. Working with firefighters, educators, and burn care professionals, the foundation helps to develop new programs and services. ReneÃ© volunteered again with the foundation in 2005 raising funds washing cars with others. They raised $2000.

ReneÃ© is producing Diamonds and Guns, an independent film. Joseph LoDuca, who composed the music on Xena and Hercules, will be composing music for this film as well. The short film is a romantic comedy about two friends who go to Las Vegas to find true love. It was shot digitally. O'Connor has been raising funds for the movie selling numerous photos of herself with autographs and a few of her personal paintings on eBay. She has raised about $65,000 from eBay alone as of March 2006. The film is expected to be finished in 2006.

She took the lead in Eric Escobar's Sundance Short One Weekend A Month (2004) and co-starred with Bruce Campbell in the Sci-Fi channel movie Alien Apocalypse (2005).

O'Connor appears in Xena conventions every year. They are usually located in Burbank and Pasadena, but have also taken place in Florida and London. She even dresses up and performs skits and readings onstage. People who are a fan of the Xena series are known as "Xenites" while people being a fan specifically of ReneÃ© are known as "ROCkers". Threadgill's was the location of the first "Xenafest".

Private life

ReneÃ© married New Zealand native and restaurant manager Steve Muir on 14 October 2000 and their son, Miles William Muir, was born on 22 September 2001. They divorced at an unknown time. ReneÃ© later met boyfriend Jed Sura on the set of "Diamonds and Guns". They now have a daughter, Iris Sura O'Connor, born on 19 March 2006.

Trivia

* Her costume continuing to shrink on Xena was a running joke.

* Is still good friends with Xena star Lucy Lawless.

* Has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

* Enjoys jazz dancing, kickboxing, rock climbing, horseback riding, water skiing, and painting.

* Nicknames are "Ren", "ROC", "Stumpy" (reference to Ren and Stimpy), and "vertically challenged".

* Favorite movie is "The Piano".

* Has a cat named Kia Ora, which is MÄori for "hello".

* Was in three TV appearances with Campbell; Xena: Warrior Princess, Alien Apocalypse, and Campbell's directed episode of Hercules.

Biography

Early life

Career

Private life

Trivia

Filmography

Starring Roles

External links