Biography of Minka Kelly

Minka Dumont Kelly, was born on 24 June, 1980, in Los Angeles, California. She is the only daughter of Rick Dufay, former Aerosmith guitarist, and late Vegas showgirl Maureen Kelly. Her grandparents are the actors, Richard Ney and the Academy Award-winning actress - Greer Garson.

No wonder then, that she is a part of showbiz, as acting seems to run in her blood. Minka was the daughter of separated parents who lived with her mother. After living in several communities, Minka and her mother finally settled Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Minka completed her education.

After graduation, she returned to LA to study surgical technology. But within a year, she realized that she wanted to become an actress, and eventually shifted her focus to acting.

From the start, she successfully appeared in various television and print advertisements, such as those of Johnson & Johnson, Old Navy and Madge Cosmetics. She got her first television break as Monica, for an episode of in the comedy series 'Cracking Up'.

This gave her some other cameos in television shows like 'American Dreams', 'Drake & Josh', and the role of a recurring guest in 'What I like about you'. She made her first big-screen appearance in 2005, with the thriller 'Devil's Highway'. Later on, she acted in 'The State's Evidence' and 'The Pumpkin Karver'.

But what gave her real fame and appreciation is NBC's ongoing series 'Friday Night Lights' in the spring of 2006. Here, she plays the head cheerleader Lyla Garrity. She took special training for this role from the cheerleaders of 'Texas State University' in 2007. She also did a role alongside Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell and Jennifer Garner in 'The Kingdom'.

She ranked number 42 in 2007 and 54 in 2008 on the Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list. Her upcoming film projects are '500 Days of Summer' and 'The Roommate'. She is also still playing the role of Lyla Garrity on the show 'Friday Night Lights'. She is to play the role of Hope in the new series 'Body Politic'.

A typical American girl, Minka Kelly, had been romantically linked with American actor Donald Faison in 2005 and later with Chris Evans. In 2007, she began dating the American musician, John Mayer. According to people.com, they broke up in 2008. Minka is currently said to be involved with the New York Yankee, Derek Jeter. She has residences in Texas, Austin and Los Angeles.

Minka Kelly has worked hard to be where she is today, and looking at her career track, we can definitely say that this beautiful actress is here to stay!