Leighton Marissa Meester (born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on teen drama television series Gossip Girl on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films such as Killer Movie (2008), Country Strong (2010), The Roommate (2011), Monte Carlo (2011), The Oranges (2011) and The Judge (2014). Meester made her Broadway debut in Of Mice and Men (2014). She plays the character Angie D\'Amato on the 2018 ABC television sitcom Single Parents (2018).\n', '

In addition to acting, Meester has also ventured into music. In 2009, she featured on Cobra Starship\'s "Good Girls Go Bad", which charted in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and released her first single "Somebody to Love" on the Universal Republic label. She released a second single "Your Love\'s a Drug" in 2010. Meester has also recorded songs for various soundtracks. Her debut album, Heartstrings, was independently released in 2014. She has also modeled, having been the face of brands such as Jimmy Choo, Herbal Essences, and Vera Wang.\n', '

Meester was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Constance Lynn (née Haas) and Douglas Jay Meester. Her father is a real estate broker; her mother is a writer. She has two brothers; an older brother, Douglas Logan Meester (born 1983), and a younger brother, Alexander "Lex" Meester (born 1994). At the time of her birth, Meester\'s parents were serving time in a federal prison for their involvement in a drug ring that smuggled marijuana from Jamaica to the United States. Constance was able to give birth to Leighton in a hospital and nurse her for three months in a halfway house, before returning to prison to complete her sentence. Her paternal grandparents cared for Meester during this period. She has maintained that her parents gave her a normal upbringing and, despite their criminal past, has stated, "It made me realize that you can\'t judge anyone—especially your parents—for what they\'ve done in their past, because people change." She grew up in Marco Island, Florida, where she participated in productions at a local playhouse. Her parents separated in 1992.\n', '

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