Fishel was born on May 5th, 1981 in Mesa, Arizona. Her father is a sales executive for medical equipment, and her mother went on to manager her career. Fishel has one sibling, a younger brother named Christopher. She began acting in television commercials when she was only ten years old, leading her family to move to California. Here, she attended high school at Calabasas High, with many other future stars including soon-to-be N*Sync-er Lance Bass. Along with commercials, Fishel earned guest appearances on shows such as "Full House" and "Harry and the Hendersons." When Fishel first appeared on "Boy Meets World," she was, again, only intended to be a guest star.

However, after her first appearance, the producers realized that Fishel added something special to the show, something that was missing before. From that point forward, Danielle Fishel would be a regular character, going on to star in 121 out of almost 160 episodes of the beloved show. Her character was the main love interest for the male star of the show, Cory Matthews. This was perhaps Fishel's biggest break and the show stayed on the air for seven years, from 1993 to 2000.

Since then, Fishel has made guest appearances on other shows, such as "Nikki" and "Yes, Dear." In 2004, she was the new co-host of "Sports Center" and in 2007 signed on to be a spokesperson for the weight loss program Nutrisystem. She is also a regular correspondent for "The Tyra Banks Show." Currently, she is lending her voice to the new animated movie "The Chosen One," which is in production and arriving in 2008. Other stars include Tim Curry and Laura Prepon.

Though "Boy Meets World" may have forever cemented the idea of Danielle Fishel as Topanga in people's minds, the show brought her a great opportunity. With the fame the series brought her, Fishel landed a cover of Seventeen magazine, was named one of Teen People magazine's Hottest Stars under 21, and won a YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series.

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