Happy Birthday to Actress, Author, Activist Maria Bello

Maria Bello was born today, April 18, in 1967. She is an actress and writer. Her many film roles include Permanent Midnight (1998), Payback (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), The Cooler (2003), A History of Violence (2005), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), Prisoners (2013), Lights Out (2016), and In Search of Fellini (2017). Bello is known for her television roles as Dr. Anna Del Amico on the medical drama ER (1997–1998), with other starring roles including that as Lucy Robbins on the series Touch in 2013, as Michelle McBride on the first season of the series Goliath in 2016, and since 2017 as Special Agent Jacqueline 'Jack' Sloane on the series NCIS.

Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania.  She grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family and graduated from Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania. She majored in political science at Villanova University. Following graduation, Bello honed her acting skills in a number of New York theater productions.

Her breakthrough came when she was cast as Mrs. Smith in the TV series spy show Mr. & Mrs. Smith, though the show was cancelled after 8 weeks. She then appeared in the final three episodes of the third season of ER as pediatrician Dr. Anna Del Amico and was a regular cast member during the medical drama's fourth season.

Bello moved on to films. She was nominated for the Golden Globe award twice: for Best Supporting Actress in The Cooler  (right) and for Best Actress in A History of Violence. She starred in The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) as Jocelyn.

In 2011, Bello became a founding board member of the CQ Matrix Company, a company created by her then life-partner, Clare Mann, to help clients achieve “transformative living and the power of intelligent exchange” by enhancing their communication quotient.

In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Bello founded WE ADVANCE with Aleda Frishman, Alison Thompson, and Barbara Guillaume. It is an organization that encourages Haitian women to collaborate in making healthcare a priority, and putting an end to domestic violence within their communities. Currently, the organization is based in a health clinic and a community outreach center in Cité Soleil. Bello is also a board member of Darfur Women Action Group, an NGO that undertakes activism on behalf of genocide victims of the Darfur conflict.

Bello has a son with former boyfriend Dan McDermott. In November 2013, Bello wrote about having a same-sex relationship with her then-partner, Clare Munn (with Bello at right).

She published a book, Whatever...Love Is Love: Questioning the Labels We Give Ourselves (Dey Street Books, April 28, 2015).