Biography

Mary-Lou van Steenis (aka Stenis) was born on September 13th in Vlaardingen, a suburb of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. After high school she enters a Theatreschool in Maastricht, the most southern city of Holland. Mary-Lou graduates in 1988. From age 17 she also sings in several bands.

Her breakthrough is her role as Patty Starrenburg in the TV series "Spijkerhoek" in 1988. In the series she sings the hit "Wonderful" with the band Shift, this record reached no. 1 in the Dutch charts. Although acting will become her main activity, during the years once in a while she is showing her singing skills.

Her greatest role to the public however is in "Vrienden voor het leven" (Friends for always). This very popular TV series is broadcast from 1990 until 1995. In the serie Mary-Lou plays "Ellen van den Berg". The success of the serie is explained by her perfect partnership with co-star Peter Lusse.

Meanwhile, as to continue her development, Mary-Lou plays other roles like in 1993 in "Bureau Kruislaan". After "Vrienden voor het leven" ended in 1995 she took a total break to spend time on her family life. She became mother of 2 children. In 1998 she returns on Dutch television in "The Jimmy Hopper Show", a parody on "The Jerry Springer talk show". In 2000 she performs in the TV series "Verkeerd Verbonden".

After plenty of TV-series and theatreshows, in 2001 she decided to play in a movie, "De Vriendschap" (Friendship). In this movie directed by Nouchka van Brakel, Mary-Lou plays a great role together with Dutch giants Gerard Cox and Willem Nijholt. In 2002 she played a role in the dramatical medical TV series "24/7".
- IMDb mini biography by: Aernout Fetter (apfetter@zonnet.nl)

She had a number 2 hit in 1989 in Netherlands as singer of the band "Patty & Shift" with the single 'Wonderful', which came directly out of the series Spijkerhoek (1989).