Mark-Paul Gosselaar Biography

Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar was born on March 1, 1974, in Panorama City, Los Angeles, California, US, to Paula (née van den Brink) and Hans Gosselaar. While his mother was a homemaker and KLM hostess, her father was an Anheuser-Busch plant supervisor.

He grew up with his 3 elder siblings: his elder brother, Mike, and his elder sisters, Sylvia and Linda. All his siblings were born in the Netherlands.

His father was born in the Netherlands and has both German and Dutch Jewish origins. His mother was born in Bali, Indonesia, and is of Dutch and Indonesian descent. His Jewish paternal great-grandparents were killed at the Sobibor extermination camp, located in Nazi-occupied Poland, during the Holocaust.

His parents separated when he was still quite young. Gosselaar was just 5 when he began modeling, with a print ad for Century Plaza. He was seen in commercials for Smurf merchandise and Oreo cookies, too. He also appeared in guest roles in TV series in childhood. During this time, his mother worked as his manager.

He later grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley in Southern California, and attended Hart High School. As a child, he was fluent in Dutch.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar began his TV career with an episodic role in the 1986 fantasy-drama series Highway to Heaven. This was followed by minor roles in other series, such as the anthology series The Twilight Zone (1986), the coming-of-age drama The Wonder Years (1988), and the sitcom Punky Brewster (1988).

However, he shot to fame with his lead role of Zack Morris in the sitcom Saved by the Bell (1989-1993). He had earlier played the same role in the Disney Channel sitcom Good Morning, Miss Bliss (1988-1989). Although Good Morning, Miss Bliss was not renewed after a season, his character was later revived for Saved by the Bell.

Saved by the Bell earned Mark-Paul Gosselaar the 1991 Young Artist Award for the Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Primetime Series. It also fetched him 3 more Young Artist Award nominations, in the years 1990, 1992, and 1993.

He reprised the role of Zack Morris in the 1992 TV movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style; the sitcom’s sequel, Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993-1994); the 1994 TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas; the 1994 spin-off, Saved by the Bell: The New Class; the animated sketch comedy Robot Chicken (voice, 2008); the sitcom Family Guy (voice, 2016); and the revival of the sitcom Saved by the Bell (2020-2021).

His other most prominent role was that of Peter Bash in the comedy-drama series Franklin & Bash (2011-2014). He has been seen in lead roles in series such as Hyperion Bay (as Dennis Sweeny, 1998-1999), D.C. (as Pete Komisky, 2000), NYPD Blue (as Detective John Clark Jr., 2001-2005), Commander in Chief (as Richard 'Dickie' McDonald, 2005-2006), Raising the Bar (as Jerry Kellerman, 2008-2009), Truth Be Told (as Mitch, 2015), Pitch (as Mike Lawson, 2016), The Passage (as Brad Wolgast, 2019), and Mixed-ish (as Paul Johnson, 2019-2021).

While Mark-Paul Gosselaar made his feature film debut as Scott James, in the 1993 adventure movie White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II, he is also known for his role of Cooper Frederickson in the 1998 black comedy Dead Man on Campus. He has also appeared in the independent films Sticks and Stones (1996) and Beer Money (2001). Some of his other notable movies include the 1994 sports drama The St. Tammany Miracle, the 1996 sci-fi thriller Specimen, the 1996 crime thriller Kounterfeit, and the 2015 action thriller Heist.

Gosselaar is also quite popular on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. In 2006, he was seen in a TV commercial for Purina Beneful dog food. He has also lent his voice for a Turbo Tax TV advertisement in 2013.

In October 2009, Gosselaar made his off-Broadway debut with The Roundabout Theatre Company production of Theresa Rebeck's The Understudy. The show ran till January 2010. In 2016, he appeared in Dinner at Tiffani's, a cooking show hosted by his Saved by the Bell co-star Tiffani Thiessen.

In 1989, Mark-Paul Gosselaar was reportedly in a relationship with actor and co-star Tiffani Thiessen. The same year, he had a fling with co-star Elizabeth Berkley, whom he had met on the sets of Saved by the Bell.

Later in 1989, he began a relationship with actor and co-star Lark Voorhies. However, the couple broke up in 1992. Gosselaar reportedly dated actor Amy Weber in 1992. Rumors claim he has also dated model Christy Turlington.

In 1996, he married actor and former model Lisa Ann Russell in Maui, Hawaii. The couple separated in June 2010, after a 14-year marriage. Their divorce was finalized in May 2011. They are parents to 2 children: their son, Michael Charles Gosselaar (born on January 31, 2004), and their daughter, Ava Lorenn Gosselaar (born on May 7, 2006).

In August 2011, Mark-Paul Gosselaar got engaged to ad executive Catriona McGinn. The couple married at the Sunstone winery in Santa Ynez, California, on July 28, 2012. They have a son, Dekker Edward Gosselaar (born on September 30, 2013), and a daughter, Lachlyn Hope Gosselaar (born on February 17, 2015).

A sports car enthusiast and a celebrity race car driver, Gosselaar has also been an avid track cyclist, a dirt biker, and a pilot. He participated in track cycling at the 2005 Far West Championships. He also won the Encino Velodrome Category 4/5 Sprint Championship and boasts of a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt, too.