Zooey Deschanel was born on January 17, 1980 in Los Angeles, California. Her birth name was Zooey Claire. Zooey is named after the male personality from J.D. Salinger's wonderful Franny and Zooey. Zooey Deschanel is called Zo by her near and dear ones. Her father is a very famous director and cinematographer. His name is Caleb Deschanel. Caleb Deschanel was nominated for the Oscars for ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and is among the popular personalities of Hollywood. Zooey Deschanel’s mother was a notable actress of her time. Her name is Mary Jo Deschanel and she starred in the famous "Twin Peaks" which released in the year 1990. Zooey Deschanel has a sister named Emily Deschanel who is also an actress.

Zooey Deschanel was interested in acting and singing from the beginning. Actually her family background was also responsible to a great extend for this. Zooey attended ‘Crossroads’ which is one of the famous Performing Arts High School in Santa Monica. She also studied theatre at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Zooey Deschanel is five feet six inches tall. She has blue eyes and dark brown hair that makes her even more appealing. Zooey Deschanel loves Jazz singing. Her favorite musicians are Journey, Judy Garland, and Ella Fitzgerald. She is good piano and Ukulele player. Zooey Deschanel has always been in news for her relationships with the famous personalities. Zooey Deschanel has dated Mickey Madden from the band Maroon 5, Chris Kattan from SNL, Matthew Davis from Legally Blonde, Hunter Bergan from the band AFI and Danhi Harrison.

Coming from a back ground that was related to show biz, Zooey Deschanel got her first break playing a model in "Veronica's Closet" in the year 1997. She was seventeen years old at that time. In 1999, she got her first film Mumford. Getting the role in the film compelled her to leave her studies and take up acting as her career. As acting was her first choice, the decision was easy and she quit studies for acting.

In the year 2000, came the movie ‘Almost Famous’. This was a major break through in Zooey Deschanel’s career. Filmgoers not only praised her beauty but also her acting skills. She got the critical acclaim in the year 2003, for her work in David Gordon Green's ‘All the Real Girls’. She was also voted as the Best Actress at the Mar Del Plata Film Festiva for her role in the movie. She was also nominated for the Best Female lead in the Independent Spirit Awards. Unfortunately, she did not get the award. Charlize Theron bagged the award for the category.

Apart from being an excellent actress, Zooey Deschanel is also quite good in singing. Her singing talent helped her to get her role in Jovie in Elf, which was released in the year 2003. She has also acted as well as sang in ‘Once Upon a Mattress’, which came in the year 2005. It was a Disney production musical. Zooey Deschanel has also written screenplay for "Circus Girl" with friend Jackson Nash.