Erin Howie was born in Norwood, Massachusetts. She knew she wanted to be an actress when she was three and would dance around in her underwear while her parents sang "Here's to Erin and the Way She Does the Hula." They would say "Oh, what a little actress!" Though Erin didn't know what "actress" meant at the time, she knew that whatever it was, she wanted to be one if it got her this much attention love and praise. Howie graduated from Boston University in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. While at school, Howie studied theater on the sly. Howie moved out to Los Angeles in 2002, hoping to become a film and television actress. She had every job (selling cars, working as a bank teller, bartending, selling pharmaceuticals...) until she landed a guest starring role on Desperate Housewives in 2006. This led to other roles, including playing a zombie in Mindfire Entertainment's Dead and Deader. Howie's character, Liberty, turns into a zombie, eats the bartender and gets shot by Dean Cain in the movie.