Kirsten Simone Vangsness (born July 7, 1972) is an American actress
and writer. She is best known for her portrayal of FBI Technical
Analyst Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama series Criminal Minds. She
portrayed the same character on the spin-off series Criminal Minds:
Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.Vangsness was born
in Pasadena, California, daughter of Errol Leroy Vangsness, of
Norwegian descent, and wife Barbara Mary (née Marconi), of Italian
descent. She was raised in Porterville, California, and later moved to
Cerritos, California. She graduated from Cerritos High School in June
1990 and attended Cypress College in Cypress, California. She later
graduated from California State University, Fullerton in
1996.Vangsness got involved in acting as a child to help overcome
shyness and got her first big break in the theatre, where she won
several awards, including the 15 Minutes of Female Best Actress Award,
the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Emerging Comic Actress,
and the Golden Betty Award.Vangsness' work has been published in the
Los Angeles Times. Since 2014, Vangsness has co-written four episodes
of Criminal Minds. In 2014 she co-wrote "Nelson's Sparrow" with
executive producer, Erica Messer, In 2015 she co-wrote "A Beautiful
Disaster" once again with Messer and In 2016 she co-wrote "Spencer"
with Messer. The Criminal Minds series finale was also co-written by
Vangsness and Messer
and writer. She is best known for her portrayal of FBI Technical
Analyst Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama series Criminal Minds. She
portrayed the same character on the spin-off series Criminal Minds:
Suspect Behavior and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.Vangsness was born
in Pasadena, California, daughter of Errol Leroy Vangsness, of
Norwegian descent, and wife Barbara Mary (née Marconi), of Italian
descent. She was raised in Porterville, California, and later moved to
Cerritos, California. She graduated from Cerritos High School in June
1990 and attended Cypress College in Cypress, California. She later
graduated from California State University, Fullerton in
1996.Vangsness got involved in acting as a child to help overcome
shyness and got her first big break in the theatre, where she won
several awards, including the 15 Minutes of Female Best Actress Award,
the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Emerging Comic Actress,
and the Golden Betty Award.Vangsness' work has been published in the
Los Angeles Times. Since 2014, Vangsness has co-written four episodes
of Criminal Minds. In 2014 she co-wrote "Nelson's Sparrow" with
executive producer, Erica Messer, In 2015 she co-wrote "A Beautiful
Disaster" once again with Messer and In 2016 she co-wrote "Spencer"
with Messer. The Criminal Minds series finale was also co-written by
Vangsness and Messer
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