Actress Jessica Alba shot to stardom with her role on TV's Dark Angel. She also played Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four movies.

Jessica Marie Alba was born on April 28. 1981, in Pomona, California.

Her father is Mexican, her mother is of French and Danish descent.

Alba had a very difficult childhood, as she suffered from numerous physical maladies, including collapsed lungs, pneumonia, ruptured appendix, and tonsillar cyst. )

Her father was in the Air Force and so they moved around a lot.

At the age of 11 she won an acting competition in Beverly Hills, one whose grand prize was free acting classes. She won and soon was taking the first acting classes of her life.

Besides having asthma since childhood, Jessica Alba had a kidney infection in 2001, which resulted in her becoming anorexic that same year.

She has even stated that she started to prepare her own meals since she was a child, because her family's eating habits were causing her weight problems.

Jessica's acting career took off at the early age of 13, when she was cast in Camp Nowhere and in The Secret World of Alex Mack.

She's one smart girl - she graduated from high school at age 16.

Jessica also appeared in Nintendo and J.C. Penney commercials as a child.

In 1994, she landed the role in a T.V. show called Flipper which was shot in Australia. )

Jessica was actually kidnapped after having received telephone threats during the production of Flipper. She was found unharmed in the trunk of a car. Alba couldn't provide any information and so the case was dismissed.

She also appeared in Beverly Hills, 901210 as Layla. )

Alba's career was on the rise in 1999 when she appeared in Never Been Kissed, alongside Drew Barrymore. )

She is an avid swimmer and PADI-certified scuba diver.

Her big break came when she was chosen from 1,200 candidates to play the role of genetically-engineered super soldier, on the Fox sci-fi TV series Dark Angel. )

While filming Dark Angel, Alba and fellow co-star Michael Weatherly began a four year relationship. On Alba's twentieth birthday Weatherly proposed, despite a 12-year age difference. Her parents did not approve of the relationship because of the age gap and they eventually broke up. )

In 2001, Alba was ranked No. 1 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list.

Her show Dark Angel was canceled after two seasons on Fox.

Alba has said that she is very modest and that she would never pose nude in a magazine, not even topless, nor she would do a nude scene in a movie.

In a March 2006 issue of Playboy Magazine they mag used her image inside their magazine, without her permission. She sued the company, but later dropped the lawsuit after Hugh Hefner apologized and then made donations to two charities that Alba has supported.

She was "Punk'd" (2003) on the Ashton Kutcher-hosted MTV show in 2003.

She made a cameo on Wahlberg's show "Entourage" in 2004. )

She has a tattoo of a daisy with a ladybug on it on the back of her neck.

Jessica loves to play golf.

Jessica's nicknames are Sky Angel and Albz.

Jessica was mentioned in the D12 song "My Band".

Nominated as "Worst Actress" for both Fantastic Four (2005) and Into the Blue (2005) for the 26th annual Razzie Awards.

To compensate for that - she was named as one of "50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine in 2005.

She is mentioned in Ashley Tisdale's song "He Said She Said".

She is good friends with Eva Longoria Parker, Eva Mendes and Kate Hudson.

Alba was considered for a role in Mission Impossible 3.

Alba and Cash Warren met while making Fantastic Four in 2004. They got engaged in December 2007.

Signed a $5 million deal to be the new face of beauty giant Revlon (April 2007). )

Voted 2nd in a poll on World's Sexiest Bodies compiled by women magazine Glamour in April 2007.

She was named the "Sexiest Woman Celebrity" by Victoria's Secret.

She starred as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, with Julian McMahon in Fantastic Four.

She is a huge fan of 1983's "Flashdance". )

Jessica and Cash were married in L.A. on May 19, 2008.

Alba posed for a bondage-themed print advertising campaign by Declare Yourself, a campaign encouraging voter registration among youth for the 2008 United States presidential election. The ads photographed by Mark Liddell, which feature Alba wrapped in and gagged with black tape, drew national media attention.

on June 7, 2008, Alba gave birth to a baby girl they named Honor Marie Warren. Pictures of the baby girl were first shown in OK! magazine. The mag paid a reported $1.5 million dollars for the pictures.

In November 2008 Jessica Alba joined Scarlett Johansson, Jared Leto and Hayden Panettiere, among others, in featuring in a line of celebrity trading cards, with sale proceeds going to charities selected by the stars.

Jessica is 5 feet 6.5 inches (1.69 metres) tall.

Alba owns two pup dogs named, Nancy and Sid.

She was featured in saucy poses for 2009 Campari calendar.

In 2010, a Chinese girl made headlines after she said she wanted to have plastic surgery to look like Alba to get her ex-boyfriend back. Alba spoke out about the perceived need to change one's appearance for love.

Jessica and Cash welcomed their second daughter in 2011 named Haven Garner Warren.

In 2011, Alba participated in a two-day lobbying effort in Washington D.C. in support of the Safe Chemicals Act, a revision of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.

In January 2012, Alba and business partner Chris Gavigan launched The Honest Company, a collection of toxin-free household goods, diapers, and body care products.