Nikki Blonsky
Blonsky at a fashion show, 2008
Born	Nicole Blonsky November 9, 1988 (1988-11-09) (age 21) Great Neck, New York, United States
Occupation	Actress/Singer
Years active	2007–present

Nicole "Nikki" Blonsky^[1] (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film Hairspray and as Maggie Baker in the 2008 television movie Queen Sized.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 2.1 Awards 2.2 Music 2.3 Television 2.4 Others 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Personal life

Blonsky was born in Great Neck, New York, which is in Nassau County on Long Island, NY, the daughter of Karen (née Smeja), a school aide, and Carl Blonsky, a municipal worker for the village water pollution control district.^[2][3] Blonsky worked at Cold Stone Creamery before starting her work on Hairspray.^[2]

She graduated from Great Neck Village School in June 2005.^[3] Her father is Jewish but she was raised in her mother's Catholic religion. She wanted to be Tracy Turnblad when she saw Hairspray on Broadway. She tried out for the part then, but was told she was too young.^[4][5] Coincidentally, she was born the same year the original Hairspray film was released.

She said that her favorite singers are Patsy Cline and Cass Elliot.^[6]

[edit] Career

[edit] Awards

Blonsky was honored in the 13th Annual Critics' Choice Awards for her role as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray in 2007 (Best Young Actress). She was taped "screaming her brains out"^{[citation needed]} when she won the award. Blonsky, along with Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, John Travolta, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, Allison Janney, and Elijah Kelley, also won best acting ensemble in Hairspray.

[edit] Music

Blonsky began work on her debut album in September 2007. She confirmed in November 2007 that she was working with alternative rock musician Duncan Sheik on a number of tracks. Her first single, "On a High", a cover of one of Sheik's tracks, was featured in the Lifetime Original Movie Queen Sized, in which Blonsky also starred. On December 18, 2007, she performed with the Turtle Creek Chorale in her first solo performance.

Blonsky covered the Disney classic "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella for DisneyMania 6, which was released on May 20, 2008.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Television

In 2008, Blonsky announced plans to star in a television sitcom, which is currently in the planning stages.^[7] In 2009 Blonsky made a guest appearance on the Ugly Betty episode "Dressed for Success", in which she played Teri O'Shaughnessy, an assistant at Elle, the rival magazine of the show’s fictional Mode.^[8]After that, She was interviewed by The Insider about her guest appearance in Ugly Betty.

[edit] Others

On 22 June 2008 she sang the American National Anthem in the pre-race ceremony at the 2008 Toyota\Save Mart 350 that took place at Infineon Raceway.

[edit] Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	Hairspray	Tracy Turnblad	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
2008	Queen Sized	Maggie Baker	TV movie
	Harold	Rhonda
2009	Ugly Betty	Teri	Episode: "Dressed for Success"
	Waiting for Forever	Dolores	post-production
	The Insider	Herself	Interview about guest appearance in Ugly Betty
2010	Hairspray 2: White Lipstick	Tracy Turnblad

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Nikki Blonsky at the Internet Movie Database
• Nikki Blonsky at Allmovie
• Nikki Blonsky at TV.com
• "17 Year-Old Nikki Blonsky Cast as Hairspray Film's Tracy", BroadwayWorld.com, June 8, 2006
• "Breaking News: Unknown Lands Hairspray Lead", Cinematical.com, June 8, 2006
• "A ‘Hairspray’ dream come true", MSNBC/Access Hollywood, June 15, 2006