Natasha Lyonne was born on April 4, 1979 in New York City. She spent her childhood with her family in Israel, where the family practiced the Jewish Orthodox religion. Her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. After her parents divorced, Natasha moved back to New York and lived in a cramped one-bedroom apartment with her mother and brother. Natasha attended a local private Jewish school in New York, then moved to Miami when her mother moved there, and Natasha transferred to a high school in Miami. 1986 saw Natasha's first foray into acting, with a small role in the television series Uncle Pee Wee's Theater. She has since appeared in a number of movies, but it was the 1999 film American Pie, a teen sex comedy, that made her famous, and she went on to star in the 2001 sequel, American Pie 2. She also appeared in Cheerleader, Scream 3 and Blade Runner 3.