What Is Lauralee Bell's Net Worth?
Lauralee Bell is an American actress, producer, writer, and director who has a net worth of $200 million. Lauralee Bell is best known for starring as Christine Blair on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless," which was created by her parents. She has starred on the show since 1983, and she also played Christine in several 2007 episodes of "The Bold and the Beautiful." Bell won a Daytime Emmy for the 2013 short film "mI promise," which she wrote, directed, executive produced, and starred in. She also wrote, directed, and executive produced the short films "Family Dinner" (2009) and "Just Off Rodeo" (2011), and she executive produced the 2018 Lifetime movie "Nightmare Tenant." Lauralee has also appeared in the films "Carpool Guy" (2005), "Easy Rider 2: The Ride Home" (2012), and "Their Killer Affair" (2017) and the TV movies "Past Sins" (2006) and "Mistress Hunter" (2018).
Early Life
Lauralee Bell was born Lauralee Kristen Bell on December 22, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents, Lee Phillip Bell and William J. Bell, created the soap operas "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful." William passed away in 2005 at the age of 78, and Lee died in 2020 at the age of 91. Lauralee has two brothers, William Jr. and Bradley. Bradley has won eight Daytime Emmys for his work as head writer and executive producer of "The Bold and the Beautiful." Bell is the sister-in-law of Colleen Bell, who has worked as an executive producer on "The Bold and the Beautiful," and Maria Arena Bell, a former executive producer and head writer for "The Young and the Restless." President Barack Obama appointed Colleen United States Ambassador to Hungary in 2015, and California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her the Director of the California Film Commission in 2019. Lauralee studied at The Latin School of Chicago, and as a teenager, she was offered what was initially a bit part as model Christine "Cricket" Blair on "The Young and the Restless."
(Photo by Paul Archuleta/Getty Images)
Career
Three years after Bell began playing Christine Blair on "The Young and the Restless," the role was upgraded from bit part to contract role in 1986. In 2001, Lauralee went to a recurring status on the show while she was on maternity leave, but she returned to being a regular the following year. In 2005, she went back to recurring status. In 2007, Bell reprised the role in several episodes of "The Bold and the Beautiful," and in 2010, she returned to "The Young and the Restless" after saying that she would go back to the soap opera if "the show crafts a substantial storyline for her." Since then, she has continued to appear on the series in a recurring role. Lauralee earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for her performance on "The Young and the Restless" in 2016. In the '90s, Bell guest-starred on "Diagnosis: Murder" (1995), "Walker, Texas Ranger" (1998), and "Pacific Blue" (1999). Her first film was 2005's "Carpool Guy," then she starred in the TV movies "Past Sins" (2006) and "Just Ask Mike" (2008) and guest-starred on "CSI: Miami" (2006). In 2012, she appeared in the film "Easy Rider: The Ride Back," which has been described as both a prequel and sequel to the critically-acclaimed 1969 film "Easy Rider."
Bell guest-starred on "Castle" in 2012, then she won a Daytime Emmy for her 2013 short film "mI promise." Next, Lauralee appeared in the film "Their Killer Affair" (2017) and the TV movies "Mistress Hunter" (2018) and "Nightmare Tenant" (2018). In 2021, she played Daphne Dumas in "V.C. Andrews' Landry Family," a "V.C. Andrews Ruby Movie Series Event," appearing in "Ruby" and "Pearl in the Mist." In an interview with Comicbook.com, Bell spoke about going from playing the likable Christine Blair to "evil stepmother" Daphne Dumas, stating, "Of all the other movies I've done, I never want there to be a 'fake' moment. With this, I had to go to the director and just say, 'It's so foreign for me to be this over the top. So if this looks silly, like you've got to tell me. I will be grateful, not offended in any way.'" She added, "We sort of realized that with Daphne, there was no limit. She just doesn't care what other people think. She is all about her, and so there is no real wrong."
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Personal Life
On October 4, 1997, Lauralee married photographer Scott Martin, who she met in the eighth grade. The couple welcomed son Christian on January 17, 2001, and daughter Samantha on October 28, 2002. Bell was the co-owner of the boutique On Sunset, but it closed in 2009.
Awards and Nominations
Bell has earned two Daytime Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Special Class Short Format Daytime for "mI promise" in 2014. Her other nomination was for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for "The Young and the Restless" (2016). The soap opera has also earned Lauralee a "Soap Opera Digest" Award (1999) and two nominations (1996 and 1998), a Young Artist Award (1989), and two Soap Hub Award nominations (2020 and 2021). In 2014, she won a Telly Award for Internet/Online Video – Drama for "mI promise."
Real Estate
Lauralee's parents owned an impressive collection of homes, primarily in Los Angeles. They owned several homes in Malibu's exclusive gated community Malibu Colony. Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson bought one of the Bell homes in 2014 for $13.5 million. They at one point tried to sell a different home in the Colony for nearly $19 million. In July 2020, LeBron James paid an estimated $40 million for the family's Beverly Hills compound. For decades, the family owned a 8-acre hilltop estate in Malibu. They tapped architect/designer Tadao Ando to build a 30,000-square-foot brutalist mansion. In May 2023, Beyonce and Jay-Z bought the mansion for $200 million.
