Alison Brie emerged as one of Hollywood's most sought-after television actresses after playing coed Annie Walker on the eccentric comedy series "Community," about a group of misfits who share a Spanish study group at a fictional junior college. She first gained attention after landing a lead role in the critically acclaimed drama series "Mad Men," as a haughty and conservative wife of an advertising executive who struggled with her inability to have children. Brie then joined the zany cast of "Community," and quickly earned an equally loyal following of both sexes who recognized her instinctive flair for comedy -- all of which proved that she was ready to tackle more exciting and higher profile roles.

Alison Brie was born on Dec. 29, 1983 in Pasadena, CA. She started performing at a young age, mostly at the Jewish Community Center in nearby Los Feliz. After Brie graduated from South Pasadena High School in 2001, she studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where she received a bachelors degree in drama. While pursuing her degree, Brie also attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. After college, she continued to stage act while simultaneously going after TV and film roles. In 2006, she guest starred as a novice hairdresser on the popular Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana." For her next project, Brie starred on "My Alibi," based on the popular Web series that followed a group of high school kids who pull a large prank during first period and are locked up in one room until someone in the group confesses.

With only a few acting credits to her name, Brie nabbed a juicy part on the Emmy Award-winning series "Mad Men," a stylish drama set in the 1960s that follows a chain-smoking, hard-drinking, womanizing executive (Jon Hamm) who works at one of Manhattan's top advertising agencies. On the series, she plays the uppity wife of one of the agencies' partners (Vincent Kartheiser) who, because of her inability to have children, was always anxious about the stability of their marriage. Brie's role on the critically acclaimed drama series ironically led to her being cast on NBC's hit sitcom, "Community," an ensemble comedy about a group of misfits at a community college in Colorado led by Joel McHale, a lawyer whose license was revoked and is now forced to return to school to earn a legitimate diploma.

Brie's role on the series -- a straight-laced student who has just started dating and exploring her wild side -- gave her instant sex symbol status and landed her a spot on numerous "Sexiest Women" lists. In 2011, she used her newly acquired fame to land a role as an overly ambitious personal assistant in the successful horror franchise "Scream 4," which brought back to the fold many of the original film's cast members, including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette.