Kimberly J. Brown


Kimberly Jean Brown is an American actress, best known to audiences for her portrayal of the teen witch Marnie Piper in the Halloweentown films, in which she starred alongside Debbie Reynolds. Before being cast as Marnie, Brown found notoriety for her role as Marah Lewis on Guiding Light, the third actress to take on the role, and as Annie Wheaton in the Rose Red miniseries, an original miniseries written by Stephen King.

Early life

Brown was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on November 16, 1984. She has three brothers: Richard, Roman and Dylan.

Career

Brown's career began when she was very young. By the time she was 11 years oldList of Disney Channel Original Movies, Brown had already enjoyed success as a child model with Ford Models, performed in multiple Broadway shows and earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Marah Lewis on Guiding Light. She also found work as a voice actress, lending her voice to commercials, A Bug's Life and the English dub of Vampire Princess Miyu.
At the age of 13, Brown was cast in her most notable film, the Disney Channel original movie Halloweentown, in which she played 13-year-old Marnie Piper, a young witch who is determined to learn magic from her grandmother Aggie, portrayed by Debbie Reynolds. Halloweentown aired on October 17, 1998, and was well received by audiences, leading Disney Channel to produce three sequels; Brown reprised her role as Marnie in two of them. She was replaced by Sara Paxton in the fourth installment, Return to Halloweentown, a decision over which Brown expressed confusion and disappointment. Fans of the franchise were unhappy with Paxton's portrayal of the character and some major entertainment outlets were critical. BuzzFeed said that the first three films were the best thing about Halloween while the fourth film was best left ignored, while MTV said fans should act as if the fourth film had never happened. Outside of Halloweentown, Brown also starred in another Disney Channel original movie, the 2000 film Quints.
In 1999, Brown co-starred with Janet McTeer in Tumbleweeds. The film received positive reviews.

Other ventures

Brown and a friend run the Etsy shop CraftilyCreative, which sells a variety of items, including Halloweentown-themed merchandise.
In 2016, Brown published a Halloween-themed children's book, Poppin's Pumpkin Patch Parade, with co-author Diane Yslas.

Personal life

In a 2010 interview, Brown said she was close to graduating from college, though she did not disclose her major or the name of the school at which she was studying. She later tweeted that she had received a bachelor of science degree in business.

Filmography

Film

Television