Elizabeth Berkley
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Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1972) is an Golden Rasberry Awards-winning American television, film, and stage actress. She is known for her roles on the television series Saved by the Bell and the 1995 film Showgirls.
Biography
Early life
Berkley was born in Farmington Hills, Michigan to Jere and Fred Berkley. She is Jewish and had a bat mitzvah.[1] When Berkley was nine years old, she took part in the nation-wide search for the title role in the film version of Annie. After making it to the semi-finals, she was rejected for being "too tall". She attended North Farmington High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where she was a good student and also was a member of the school ballet club. She attended college at the University of California at Los Angeles, and she earned her B.A. degree in English in 1995.
Career
Berkley gained prominence for her role as Jessica "Jessie" Spano in the sitcom Saved by the Bell, whom she played from 1989 to 1992. Her character spoke against the objectification of women and had a pro-feminist bent. Aside from her work on Saved by the Bell, Berkley is best known for playing Nomi Malone, the lead character in the infamous 1995 film Showgirls. The sex and nudity-laden movie, given an NC-17 rating in the United States, was a box office bomb, widely panned by critics, and is generally credited with ruining Berkley's movie career. However, as years passed the movie progressively obtained a "so bad it's good" reputation.
As time has put distance between Berkley and the infamous film (and the fact that it had gained cult status among movie buffs), she has gained reasonable critical praise with her performances in smaller roles in independent films like The Real Blonde, Roger Dodger, and Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Berkley received much acclaim for her role as Honey Bruce in the 1999 London stage version of Lenny, opposite Eddie Izzard. She most recently got favorable reviews as Bonnie in the Off-Broadway production of Hurlyburly, which opened on June 11, 2005.
In 2002, she began a recurring role in the third season of the sitcom Titus as Christopher Titus' sister Shannon. The show was cancelled after the season ended. She has been seen largely in dramatic television roles since then, guest starring on series such as CSI, NYPD Blue,Without A Trace, and Threshold. Her most recent appearance was on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She also starred in the Lifetime made-for-television movie, Student Seduction in which she played Christy Dawson, a high school teacher wrongfully accused of sexual harassment by one of her students who becomes obsessed with her.
In October 2006 Elizabeth appeared in the audience of Dancing With the Stars to cheer on friend and former costar Mario Lopez and in an interview with Access Hollywood stated she would like to appear on the show for its 4th Season.
Personal life
Berkley has sectoral heterochromia; her right eye is half green and half brown, and her entire left eye is green. Berkley was the subject of a $45 million lawsuit filed by ex-boyfriend Roger Wilson against Leonardo DiCaprio. It was alleged that DiCaprio bombarded Berkley with messages after spotting her at the promotional party to his film The Man in the Iron Mask and was initially ignored. After encountering Wilson and Berkley outside a New York bar in 1998, DiCaprio allegedly instructed friends to attack Wilson, who suffered a serious throat injury after the subsequent assault. A judge threw out the case in 2004.
On November 1, 2003, Berkley married actor/painter Greg Lauren at the Esperanza Hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Greg's uncle Ralph designed her wedding dress, a silk sheath with pearled spaghetti straps. She is a strict vegan and does not wear leather.[citation needed]
Complete filmography
Template:S-awards Template:S-awardsFootnotes
- ^ Zimmerman, Gail (2001-08-24). "Catch a Rising Star". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
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