Born in Palm Springs to a family with no show business connections, Alison Lohman has done very well on her own. By age nine, she had landed her first professional, theatrical role playing Gretyl in The Sound of Music at Palm Desert's McCallum Theater. She continued to perform there throughout her school years, winning several awards as an actor, and also singing with Frank Sinatra, and Bob Hope.
     After graduating from high school, she turned down a scholarship to NYU's Tisch School, and headed to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. She appeared in film and TV roles between 1998 and 2002, but her claim to fame is the role of Astrid in White Oleander (2002.)