Christine Harrell is a television and film producer, as well as the wife of Sean Astin, who starred in The Lord of the Rings and The Goonies. Harrell and Astin have been married since the early 1990s and are the parents of three children.
Sean appears to be a Hollywood star from a long and committed relationship, as well as, to a lesser extent, father material. Astin and Christine are indeed candidates for the couple’s objectives.
So how did they end up as a couple with so much love between them? What started it all for Christine and her husband, and what is her own story? Scroll down to find the answers.
Christine Harrell’s Childhood and Beauty Pageant Success
Christine Louise Harrell was born on September 12, 1967, just outside of LaPorte, Indiana.
Christine is the daughter of firefighters Frank Harrell and Nancy Miller. Sean, her actor husband, reveals in his book, There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale, that his father-in-law and Harrell’s father, Frank, was hard worker his entire life.
Christine Harrell, an Indiana native, was crowned Miss Indiana 1984 alongside her husband, actor Sean Astin.
Christine Harrell was a young woman with her husband, Sean Astin.
He was a career firefighter who once squandered his entire life savings and much of his family’s emotional capital in an unsuccessful attempt to own and operate a grocery store.
Astin’s wife grew up in the Indiana town of Rolling Prairie. She spent her childhood and adolescence in the Hoosier countryside of Rolling Prairie.
Harrell graduated from New Prairie High School. She used to compete in teen beauty pageants and models. She is the Miss Teen Indiana winner (1984). Harrell won the title when she was 17 years old.
Christine Harrell’s Modeling Career in Indiana
Ms. Astin, now 54, first attempted to hone her modeling skills in Indiana.
She began her modeling career as a student of Evelyn LaHaie of Valparaiso, a well-known personality in her own right. She was the one who came up with the name “Jackson Five” after meeting Joe Jackson and his singing sons, including then-6-year-old Michael, in the mid-1960s.
Evelyn also booked the Jacksons to perform at her agency’s fashion show at The Big Top department store in Gary, Indiana, just as they were launching their singing group career. LaHaie ran her Evelyn School of Charm and Modeling at the Hotel Gary in Gary for decades.
She was instrumental in launching the careers of many young performers, including Harrel. When Harrel was auditioning for modeling, LaHaie was on the board of directors of the Modeling Association of America.
She left Indiana to pursue a career in acting.
After graduating from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Harrell relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film and television industries.
During her time on the west coast, she attended UCLA, where she earned a B.A. in History and a B.A. in English American Literature and Culture, according to IMDB. In the film and television industry, she began her career as an assistant to Elizabeth Dalling, CEO, senior partner, and head of international and celebrity representation at Special Artists Agency.
Christine Harrell, Sean Astin’s wife, used to work at a Beverly Hills Special Talent Agency.
Christine Harrell, Sean Astin’s wife, used to work at a Special Artist Agency.
Sean’s life partner worked as an Executive Assistant there. Christine produced the 1994 short film Kangaroo Court with her husband in the director’s chair after marrying Sean. The couple later received an Oscar nomination for Kangaroo Court.
Christine’s husband announced in September 2018 that they had spent the previous ten years working on a full-length film based on Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal-winning novel Number the Stars. The project was supposed to be a full-length feature and Astin’s directorial debut, but the parents of three have yet to provide an update.
What Is Christine Harrell Up To These Days?
For the time being, Harrell is the Vice President and CFO of Lava Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based performing arts company.
She has worked for the company for over two decades, and her actor husband is the CEO and President.
While raising her children, the Indiana native worked for a few community organizations, such as the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles and the local government. She contributed her artistic talents to city beautification for the organizations.
How Did Christine Meet Sean Astin?
Sean was on the road promoting his 1990 war drama Memphis Belle.
He was traveling through Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. During those trips, he had his first face-to-face conversation with the woman he would eventually marry.
Christine Harrell has been married to Lord of the Rings actor Sean Astin for many years.
Christine Harrell and Sean Astin were married.
The Goonies star claims he was crawling around the floor of the Al Rasheed Hotel in Tokyo to pick up a phone while watching CNN and listening to Bernie Shaw in the bathtub. Christine was on the other end of the line, working for a commercial agent in Beverley Hills who had set up meetings for Astin in Japan.
But it wasn’t until late January 1991 that the UCLA graduate met Sean in person for the first time. Sean was nineteen at the time, and Christine was twenty-two. The Rudy actor writes in his book that after their first meeting, Harrell and he were almost immediately inseparable. According to him, they became life partners in every way imaginable.
They also enjoy telling people that they are codependent. They moved in together, traveled to Asia, backpacked across Europe, and “fell madly in love,” according to Astin.
Christine Harrell had three daughters after marrying Sean.
Christine Louise Harrell married actor Sean Astin, son of John Astin and Patty Duke, at her mother-in-Idaho law’s farm on July 11, 1992.
Sean Astin and his long-term wife have three daughters.
Christine Harrell, Sean Astin’s wife, and their three daughters.
They have three daughters, as previously mentioned. In November 1996, Sean and Chris welcomed their first child, actress Alexandra “Ali” Astin. Elizabeth Louise Astin, the couple’s second child, was born in August 2002. In July 2005, Harrell and her husband welcomed their third child, Isabella Louise Astin.
Isabella Louise, Christine’s daughter, was born a month early. Los Angeles, California is home to the family. They do, however, return to Harrell’s hometown of Northwest Indiana on occasion.
Is Christine a character in The Lord of the Rings?
Christine has been mistaken for one of the cast members of her husband’s career-defining film franchise, The Lord Of The Rings. However, she has yet to receive an official screen credit.
The Lord of the Rings 3 featured Sean and his wife’s first child.
Her first daughter, Alexandra Astin, on the other hand, was in the movie. In Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, she portrayed Elanor Gamgee, the daughter of Sean Astin’s character, Samwise Gamgee.
Alexandra, the Harvard graduate, appeared and attended her father’s book signings during The Return of the King’s theater run. She was also on the There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale promotional tour.
Alexandria is currently a rising theater artist who has appeared in several critically acclaimed plays.
Christine Harrell Salary
Although Sean is an A-list celebrity with a millionaire status, his three daughters’ mother, Christine Harrell, is an unsung celebrity who works more behind the scenes.
Multiple sources claim Harrell’s significant other has a net worth of more than $10 million, though no such claims have ever been made by Lava Entertainment’s CFO.
In any case, Harrell should fare well given her position in a highly prestigious and lucrative field.
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