Kristina Louise Yothers is an American actress and singer. Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of three, she is best known for her role as Jennifer Keaton on the hit NBC series Family Ties, as well as for her roles in numerous television films throughout the 1980s and early 1990s including The Cherokee Trail, Crash Course, and Spunk: The Tonya Harding Story among others.
Early life
Yothers was born in Whittier, California. Her father, Robert Yothers, was a television producer. She has three brothers, Jeffrey and Randy, and Cory, who all acted in commercials as children. Cory appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the early 1980s, often credited as "Bumper" Yothers.
Career
Yothers began her acting career in television advertisements at age three. Her first cinema role was in the 1981 television filmThe Cherokee Trail. She also appeared in the 1982 feature film Shoot the Moon. Her most famous role was as Jennifer Keaton, the younger daughter in the television comedyFamily Ties from 1982 to 1989. She also competed in the Battle of the Network Stars in December 1988. When Family Ties ended, Yothers abandoned her blonde hair color and has mostly worn it black with the notable exception of a 1996 appearance on Married... with Children. She wrote the book Being Your Best: Tina Yothers's Guide for Girls and formed the band Jaded with her brother Cory. She provided the lead vocals while Cory played keyboard. In 1998, Jaded released their self-titled CD, which was co-written by Cory Yothers, Michael Anderson, Tina Yothers and performed by Tina Yothers, Michael Anderson, Jerry France, Larry Rosales, Mike Wilson and Phil Jordan from No Doubt on trumpet, along with a DJ. Previously, Yothers sang a cover of The Raes song "Baby I'm Back in Love Again", which she would later record as a single, in a Family Ties episode "Band on the Run". After a nine-year absence from acting, Yothers was given the lead role in Lovelace the Musical, a 2004 stage show based on the life of former pornographic film starLinda Lovelace. She followed that up with a stint as a stock player in the Burt ReynoldsDinner Theater in Boca Raton, Florida from 2005 to 2007. She also appeared as herself on a special TV child stars edition of The Weakest Link in 2001 where she was voted off in round 5. Yothers appeared on the fourth season of the VH1reality television showCelebrity Fit Club, which began on August 6, 2006. After Yothers's second pregnancy, she appeared on to try get back to her post-Fit Club weight. On January 17, 2012 she was featured on the ABC show Celebrity Wife Swap, where she traded places with Niecy Nash of Reno 911!. In February 2013, Yothers appeared on an episode of the TLC series What Not To Wear.
Personal life
In 2002, Yothers married an electrician, Robert Kaiser, who had a daughter from a previous marriage. Yothers has two children with her husband, daughter Lillian Grace 'Lilly', born October 2005, and a son, Robert Jake born September 24, 2007. The family resides in Ontario, California.
