Kirsten Vangsness - wikipedia Kirsten Vangsness Kirsten Vangsness Kirsten Simone Vangsness ( 1972 - 07 - 07 ) July 7, 1972 ( age 45 ) Pasadena, California, U.S. Occupation Actress, writer Years active 1998 -- present Partner ( s ) Keith Hanson ( 2015 - present ; engaged ) Kirsten Simone Vangsness ( born July 7, 1972 ) is an American actress and writer. She currently stars as FBI Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia on the CBS drama series Criminal Minds. She portrayed the same character on the spin - off series Criminal Minds : Suspect Behavior. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Acting 2.2 Writing 3 Personal life 4 Filmography 4.1 Film 4.2 Television 5 References 6 External links Early life Vangsness was born in Pasadena, California, the daughter of Errol Leroy Vangsness ( born 1938 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ) and his wife Barbara Mary ( née Marconi ; born 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ). Her paternal great - grandparents were Norwegian, with ancestry from Bergen, Gol, and Oslo. She was raised in Porterville, California, and later moved to Cerritos, California. She graduated from Cerritos High School in June 1990 and attended Cypress College. She later graduated from California State University, Fullerton in June 1995. Career Acting Vangsness got into acting as a child to help overcome shyness and got her first big break in the theatre, where she won several awards, including the 15 Minutes of Female Best Actress Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Emerging Comic Actress, and the Golden Betty Award. Writing Vangsness ' work has been published in the Los Angeles Times. Since 2014, Vangsness has co-written three episodes of Criminal Minds. In 2014 she co-wrote `` Nelson 's Sparrow '' with Executive Producer, Erica Messer, in 2015 she co-wrote `` A Beautiful Disaster '' once again with Messer and in 2016 she co-wrote `` Spencer '' with Messer. Personal life Vangsness says that she is `` as queer as a purple unicorn singing Madonna ''. She began dating film and television editor Melanie Goldstein in 2006. They were engaged, but separated in 2013. In November 2015, it was reported that she was engaged to her boyfriend, actor and writer Keith Hanson. Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1998 Sometimes Santa 's Gotta Get Whacked Tooth Fairy Short film 2006 A-List Blue 2008 Tranny McGuyver TV News Reporter Short film 2009 Scream of the Bikini Interior Decorator In My Sleep Madge 2011 Sarina 's Song Party Guest Short film 2011 Chicago 8, The The Chicago 8 Sketch Artist 2012 Remember to Breathe Vocals for Young Alice Short film 2015 Kill Me, Deadly Mona Livingston 2016 Diane & Devine Meet the Apocalypse Fawn 2017 Axis Heather ( voice ) 2017 Dave Made a Maze Jane Television Year Title Role Notes Phil of the Future Veronica Episode : `` Age Before Beauty '' LAX Ticket Agent / Stephanie 3 episodes 2005 -- present Criminal Minds Penelope Garcia Main Cast ; 292 episodes Vampire Mob Laura Anderson 2010 -- 2012 Pretty the Series Meredith Champagne 14 episodes 2011 Criminal Minds : Suspect Behavior Penelope Garcia Main Cast ; 13 episodes Second City This Week Herself 1 episode 2011 -- 2013 Good Job, Thanks ! Therapist 2 episodes 2013 Shelf Life Freaky Squeaky 6 episodes, webseries 2016 - 2017 Criminal Minds : Beyond Borders Penelope Garcia Special Guest ; 2 episodes References Jump up ^ Vangsness, Kirsten ( 2007 - 07 - 24 ). `` Kirstens Blog ''. CBS. Archived from the original on 2007 - 10 - 12. Retrieved 2007 - 10 - 07. Jump up ^ `` Criminal Minds ' Kirsten Vangsness Joins Spin - Off as a Series Regular ''. TVGuide.com. Jump up ^ Family tree by Vangsness ' father Jump up ^ `` Kirsten Simone Vangsness ancestry profile ''. Geni.com. Jump up ^ Cypress College Public Information Office ( 2012 - 05 - 04 ). `` Cypress College @ Cypress Newsletter '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ `` The nerd who got heard ''. Matt Pomroy. 2008 - 03 - 06. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 07. Jump up ^ `` CRIMINAL MINDS Season 10 - 1013. Nelson 's Sparrow - Press Release ''. Criminal Minds Round Table. Jump up ^ `` CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1118. A Beautiful Disaster - Press Release ''. Criminal Minds Round Table. Jump up ^ Anderson - Minshall, Diane ( November 2011 ). `` The Purple Unicorn ''. The Advocate : 42. Jump up ^ Melanie Goldstein on IMDb Jump up ^ `` Untitled ''. Criminal Minds Fanatic. 2009 - 09 - 22. Retrieved 2009 - 11 - 12. Jump up ^ Waldon, Dave ( 2008 - 09 - 23 ). `` Kirsten Vangsness Thrives on `` Criminal Minds '' ``. AfterEllen.com. Archived from the original on 2008 - 10 - 06. Retrieved 2008 - 10 - 10. Jump up ^ Nicole Sands ( November 23, 2015 ). `` Criminal Minds Star Kirsten Vangsness Is Engaged : ' He 's the Perfect Partner ' ''. People. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kirsten Vangsness. Kirsten Vangsness on IMDb Kirsten Vangsness at TVGuide.com Profile at CBS - Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Criminal Minds Episodes Season 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Characters Jason Gideon Aaron Hotchner Elle Greenaway Derek Morgan Spencer Reid Jennifer Jareau Penelope Garcia Emily Prentiss David Rossi Alex Blake Video game Suspect Behavior Sam Cooper Beyond Borders Episodes Season 1 Characters Jack Garrett Clara Seger Russ Montgomery Matt Simmons Mae Jarvis International South Korean VIAF : 170639305 LCCN : no2011067949 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kirsten_Vangsness&oldid=838368679 '' Categories : 1972 births Living people American television actresses American people of Norwegian descent Queer actors LGBT entertainers from the United States LGBT people from California People from Cerritos, California 20th - century American actresses 21st - century American actresses Hidden categories : Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2015 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Bosanski Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی Français 한국어 Íslenska Italiano Lëtzebuergesch Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Português Русский Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 14 more Edit links This page was last edited on 26 April 2018, at 15 : 43. 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Question: actress who plays penelope garcia on criminal minds
Answer: Kirsten Simone Vangsness; Kirsten Simone Vangsness; Kirsten Simone Vangsness; Kirsten Simone Vangsness; Kirsten Simone Vangsness