Bio
Lynsey Bartilson is an American actress best known for her starring role as Lily Finnerty on the television sitcom Grounded for Life, from 2001-2005.
Bartilson was born in Edina, Minnesota and moved to Los Angeles with her family at four. A dancer from a very young age, Lynsey won her first talent competition at the age of seven, in solo dance.
She discovered her love for comedy in a summer drama class, when she was cast as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, even though she was the smallest child in the class.
Lynsey began acting professionally at the age of nine, with guest appearances on television and video. At the same time, she was performing in professional musical theatre productions across Los Angeles.
She played Annie in three different productions; starred as Ramona Quimby, and got great notices as Effie Lou in the world premiere of Amelia Bedelia. She won a Dramalogue Award for her performance as Young Maxine in Situation Tragedy. She also continued dancing professionally, appearing twice in the Joffrey Ballet's annual Nutcracker.
All of that musical theatre experience paid off when CBS began looking for a young triple-threat to star opposite Angela Lansbury in the Hallmark Christmas musical special, Mrs. Santa Claus. Lynsey was chosen from more than 500 girls who auditioned for the part.
She later recurred on the teen drama series Party of Five and guest starred on a number of shows including Zoe, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Early Edition, That '70s Show and Judging Amy, before landing her breakout role on Grounded for Life.
Since Grounded for Life she has had guest roles on numerous series including Malcolm in the Middle, NCIS, Bones, Psycho Girlfriend and Good Luck Charlie.
She also starred in the web series The Online Gamer, from 2010-2011.
Lynsey enjoys helping others achieve their goals. The director and choreographer for Celebrity Centre's Kids on Stage for a Better World, Lynsey works with 40-50 youngsters to create positive-message benefit concerts for the disadvantaged.
Under Lynsey's direction, the group was awarded the Young Artists Awards Michael J. Landon Community Service Award. In addition, Lynsey is the International Spokesperson for Youth for Human Rights.