Justine Bateman (born February 19, 1966) is an American actress.

Biography

Early life

Bateman was born in Rye, New York to Victoria, a flight attendant, and Kent Bateman, an acting coach, film and television writer/director and founder of a repertory stage in Hollywood.[1][2] Her younger brother is actor Jason Bateman. She attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California and graduated in 1984.

Career

In 1984, Bateman starred on the Tales from the Darkside television series in the episode "Mookie and Pookie". She played the role of superficial Mallory Keaton on the television sitcom Family Ties from 1982 to 1989. Mallory was presented as a vacuous airhead, which was fodder for jokes and teasing from her brother Alex (Michael J. Fox). Bateman hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1988. The same year, she starred in the lead role of Satisfaction, a film about an all-girl band that also starred Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson. Bateman starred as the lead vocalist and also performed the vocals on the soundtrack.
Bateman made a brief comeback in the 1996-97 NBC sitcom version of the British TV comedy Men Behaving Badly with Rob Schneider and Ron Eldard, but left after a contract dispute. She has appeared in several made-for-TV movies and in the Showtime series Out of Order, which included her only known nude scene.
In "Family Ties", a third-season Arrested Development episode, her character is initially believed to be Jason's character's sister, but she turns out to be a prostitute taken advantage of by his father and pimped by his brother.

Personal life

Bateman revealed to TV Guide in its November 9, 1996 issue that she had struggled with anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating while making Family Ties. "[I would make rules like] I can have one more cookie if I go throw it all up later," she said. "Or I can have this now if I skip lunch later." She was able to overcome her eating disorder through a 12 step program and turning to Christianity.
In summer of 1986 she taught acting classes and directed a small play at Otis Parson's in downtown Los Angeles. During this time she also commissioned an artist, Galo Canote, who was working on the MacArthur Park Bandshell to paint over a Bruce Springsteen billboard.
She is married to Mark Fluent and has two children, Duke and Olivia. She also runs her own fashion design company[3] and serves on the National Board of Directors of Screen Actors Guild.[4]