Elizabeth Berkley
Elizabeth Berkley is an American actress. She played Jessie Spano in the Saved by the Bell television franchise and Nomi Malone/Polly Ann Costello in the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls. She voiced the title role of the anime film Armitage III: Poly-Matrix and had supporting roles in the films The First Wives Club and Roger Dodger. In theater, she received critical acclaim for her performance in Hurlyburly.[1]
For those of a similar name, see Elizabeth Berkeley (disambiguation).
Elizabeth Berkley
Elizabeth Berkley Lauren
- Actress
- model
1986–present
1
Early life[edit]
Berkley was born and raised in Farmington Hills a suburb of Detroit in affluent Oakland County, Michigan. She is the daughter of Jere, a gift-basket business owner and Fred Berkley, a lawyer. She has an older brother, Jason.[2] Her family is Jewish. She was raised in a Conservative Jewish household and had a bat mitzvah.[3][4]
She was born with partial heterochromia, a condition of differently colored irises; her right eye is half green and half brown and her left eye is all green.[5] She graduated from Calabasas High School in Calabasas, California.[6]
From a young age, she danced and practiced in a room her parents set up for her in the basement. When she became interested in pursuing dance professionally, she traveled to New York City to train with dancers and choreographers.[7] She performed in several ballets, including Swan Lake, and in 1983 she appeared in some musicals.[8]
Career[edit]
1980s[edit]
Berkley was a teenage model for Elite before pursuing an acting career.[9] She made her television debut in the 1987 television film Frog, while making a number of guest appearances on other TV shows. In 1989 she auditioned for the role of Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell, but the producers of the show could not decide whether to cast Tiffani-Amber Thiessen or her.[10] In the end, they created for Berkley the character Jessie Spano, a role she played from 1989 to 1993 in both of the show's television and film installments.[11]
Personal life[edit]
In 2000, Berkley was tangentially involved in a $45 million lawsuit when actor and screenwriter Roger Wilson filed suit against Leonardo DiCaprio, claiming that DiCaprio had encouraged his friends to assault Wilson in a street fight, related to invitations to socialize directed at Berkley.[51] DiCaprio was alleged to have pursued Berkley while she was in a relationship with Wilson, and Wilson confronted DiCaprio over the accusation.[52]
On November 1, 2003, Berkley married artist and actor Greg Lauren at the Esperanza Hotel in Cabo San Lucas. She formally changed her name to Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, but she still uses her maiden name professionally.[53] She gave birth to their son in July 2012.[54]
Berkley is a strict vegetarian.[55]
