Sweet girl performer Amber Benson racked up numerous movie and TV credits before rising to fame on the celeb supernatural series (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Benson went with family to LA when she was 14 in 1991. By 1993 she had made the 1 of 3 (Jack Reed) TV-films, (Jack Reed: Badge of Honor), appearing as the daughter of the titular Chicago cop in this NBC entry as well as its 1994 and 1996 follow-ups. 1993 also saw the actress make her famouse with featured roles in the teen thriller (The Crush) and Steven Soderbergh's coming-of-age drama (King of the Hill). Her relatively small but memorable parts in these different features helped to start teen performer's career.
The following year she was featured in Anthony Drazan's period drama "Imaginary Crimes" and had a pivotal supporting role in the social satire "S.F.W.". Playing determined, pure-hearted and somewhat wise characters seemed to come easy to Benson, who brought a palpable intelligence to her powerful performances. She essayed the charmingly innocent daughter of divorced dad Randy Quaid in "Bye Bye, Love" (1995) and guest starred on an episode of the Fox series "Partners" the following year. Though her role as 'Stoned Girl' in the teen comedy "Can't Hardly Wait" was drastically cut to earn a PG-13 rating, Benson soon became a familiar presence to the film's target audience when she began appearing on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (The WB) the following year. Her 1999-2001 recurring role as the good witch who becomes more than just a friend to fellow enchantress Willow (Alyson Hannigan) saw the actress taking on controversial topics and earning the esteem of the notoriously hard-to-please "Buffy" fan base. When the series moved to UPN in 2001, Benson's role was upgraded to that of a regular.
