- Born
- Birth nameAlia Martine Shawkat
- Nickname
- Allie
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Alia Shawkat was born in Riverside, California, to Dina Burke and actor Tony Shawkat. Her maternal grandfather, Paul Burke, was also an actor. Her father is from Baghdad, Iraq, and her mother has Irish, Italian, and Norwegian ancestry. Success arrived early for Alia. Her career began at the young age of 11 when she landed a role on the ABC Family series State of Grace (2001). She later starred as "Maeby Funke" on Fox's Emmy-award winning Arrested Development (2003) where she portrayed a rebellious and mischievous member of a dysfunctional Orange County family trying to adjust to their loss of wealth.
Alia was introduced to show business by appearing in a Calvin Klein catalog, which immediately attracted the attention of commercial and theatrical agents in Hollywood. She soon landed a role opposite George Clooney in Three Kings (1999). This was followed by a supporting lead in the Ron Perlman' movie The Trial of Old Drum (2000).
But it was State of Grace (2001) that catapulted her into the forefront of young actresses. She has also had guest-starring roles on JAG (1995), Without a Trace (2002), Boomtown (2002) and Presidio Med (2002) and she recently starred opposite Martin Lawrence in Rebound (2005).
At 16 years old, when she was not filming, Alia attended a private school near her home in Rancho Mirage where she was able to continue her studies in English, Physics, Math, Geography and Drama. Her ambition is eventually to attend Yale University studying International Relations.
In her free time, Alia enjoys horseback riding, ice-skating and dancing. She is an accomplished pianist and speaks several languages. She splits her time between her home and Rancho Mirage and Los Angeles where she resides with her parents and her two brothers.
- IMDb mini biography by: Lewis Kay/Alisha Mahon/Jamie Starr
- ChildrenNo Children
- Parents
- RelativesPaul Burke(Grandparent)Peggy Pryor(Grandparent)Martin Burke(Great Grandparent)Sibling(Sibling)Sibling(Sibling)
- Her great-grandfather, Martin Burke, was a boxer who fought Gene Tunney and sparred with Jack Dempsey. Later, he and his wife owned a string of nightclubs in the New Orleans French Quarter.
- Her father is Iraqi; he was born in Baghdad, and moved to the United States in the 1970s. Her maternal grandfather was of half Irish and half Italian descent, and her maternal grandmother was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants. Her Italian ancestry likely includes Arbëreshë, ethnic Albanians who live in Italy.
- Her maternal grandparents were actor Paul Burke of Valley of the Dolls (1967) fame, and former dancer Peggy Pryor (born Alice Louise Wikan).
- She spends her time in both Los Angeles and her hometown of Palm Springs with her parents, two brothers, and her pet cat Max.
- Member of The Interstate 5 Tennis Association.
- As an actress, you never know when you're going to work again - and there's so much dependency on working.
- In my opinion FOX is known for being a network that just advertises, and that's pretty much how they get their viewers.
- But I love singing, and I've been singing backup for friends' bands.
- Kids can be harsh, especially when they get jealous.
- When you focus on life, on enjoying and connecting with other people, that's when work comes. When you focus on work, you can never work. I'm always going through waves of that.
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