Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1972 in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA) is a Jewish-American television, film, and stage actress.

Career

Berkley gained prominence for her role as Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano in the sitcom Saved by the Bell, which she played from 1989 to 1992.

She is best known as Nomi Malone, the lead character in the controversial 1995 film Showgirls. The sex and nudity-laden movie, given an NC-17 rating in the United States, was a box office bomb, was widely panned, and is generally credited with ruining Berkley's promising movie career.

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 June 11, 2005.

Trivia

• She has different coloured eyes: her right eye is half green and half brown, and her left eye is green.

• 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 was the subject of a $45 million lawsuit filed by ex-boyfriend Roger Wilson against Leonardo DiCaprio. It is alleged DiCaprio bombarded Berkley with messages after spotting her at the promotional party to his film The Man in the Iron Mask and having his initial advances ignored. After encountering Wilson and Berkley outside a New York bar in 1998, DiCaprio alledgedly 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. Ralph Lauren (Greg's uncle) designed her wedding dress, a silk sheath with pearled spaghetti straps.

• Berkley attended the prestigious North Farmington High School in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She was active on student council and a member of the school ballet club.

Quote

"Ever since those reviews for Showgirls, it's like I was that woman in The Scarlet Letter. Except that instead of having to wear the letter 'A' for adulteress, I was condemned to wear an 'S' for showgirl."

Selected Filmography

• Molly & Gina (1994)
• Showgirls (1995)
• The First Wives Club (1996)
• The Real Blonde (1997)
• Any Given Sunday (1999)
• Random Encounter (1999)
• Tail Lights Fade (1999)
• The Taxman (1999)
• The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
• The Shipment (2001)
• Roger Dodger (2002)
• Moving Malcolm (2003)

External links

• Elizabeth Berkley at the Internet Movie Database
• Fan Site
• Interview: From Sin City to the Big Apple - Elizabeth Berkley on the things Bayside never taught herfa:Ш§Щ„ЫЊШІШ§ШЁШЄ ШЁШ±Ъ©Щ„ЫЊ

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