Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1972)note is an American actress, philanthropist, and producer.
Born in Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit, she was enamoured by the world of dance from a very young age and soon became interested in pursuing it professionally, so she travelled to New York to train - even getting to perform in several ballets such as Swan Lake. She also appeared in several musicals, and was a teenage model in this time.
Eventually pivoting to an acting career, she spent the next two years in guest spots on various television shows and the odd Made-for-TV Movie before a chance audition that would change her life. A planned Kid Com set in a California high school, named Saved by the Bell, initially had just two female characters, Lisa Turtle and Kelly Kapowski. The latter was who she was auditioning for and, although Tiffani Thiessen was deemed the best fit for the part, they liked Elizabeth's audition so much they were inspired to create a new character just to have her on the show - Jessie Spano, an overachiever and passionate feminist, with plenty of Not So Above It All moments to go with it. As part of Saved By the Bell, she also appeared in the Vacation Movie Hawaiian Style. Although she did not reprise her role in the spin-off The College Years, the only cast member not to appear in it in any sense, she managed a cameo in the finale movie Wedding in Las Vegas.
Having become known for a children's show, she looked to distance herself from family-friendly roles and hopefully transition into film. A script written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven, when Basic Instinct was fresh in everyone's minds as Sharon Stone's breakout role, looked to be just the project to do that. Unfortunately that film became Showgirls, one of the most notorious unintentional comedies of all time. And given that Elizabeth had top billing, she took the majority of the blame for the film's Box Office failure and 'so bad it's good' nature. Paul Verhoeven in later years would take responsibility for her panned performance, regretting how the film affected her career when he had directed her that way.
Showgirls didn't completely destroy her career however, as she still managed supporting roles in films such as The First Wives Club, Any Given Sunday and the Tribeca Film Festival's inaugural winner Roger Dodger - which she has named a personal favourite. She also starred in several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, and some notable television roles such as Titus and The L Word.
The 2010s and the growing nostalgia for Showgirls and Saved By the Bell saw her embracing the cult fanbase around the former, happily appearing at several screenings and performing a routine inspired by it on Dancing with the Stars (she placed sixth). She also reprised her role as Jessie Spano for the Saved by the Bell sequel series.
Outside of acting, she set up a self-help column for teenage girls called Ask Elizabeth in 2010, and she later published a book under the same name based on the workshops she ran as part of the program.
She is married to actor Greg Lauren and they have one child.
Film Roles
- Frog as Kathy (TV Movie)
- Point Break (1991) as Macrame Girl (Deleted Role)
- Saved By The Bell Hawaiian Style as Jessie Spano (TV Movie)
- Saved By The Bell Wedding In Las Vegas as Jessie Spano (TV Movie)
- White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild as Crystal
- Molly And Gina as Kimberly Sweeny
- Bandit Goes Country as Beth (TV Movie)
- White Wolves II Legend Of The Wild as Crystal
- Showgirls as Nomi Malone
- Armitage III Poly Matrix as Naomi Armitage
- The First Wives Club as Phoebe LaVelle
- The Real Blonde as Tina
- Random Encounter as Alicia 'Allie' Brayman
- Taxman as Nadia Rubakov
- Last Call as Helena
- Tail Lights Fade as Eve
- Any Given Sunday as Mandy Murphy
- Becoming Dick as Maggie (TV Movie)
- The Curse of the Jade Scorpion as Jill
- The Shipment as Candy Colucci
- Cover Story as Samantha Noble
- Roger Dodger as Andrea
- Moving Malcolm as Liz Woodward
- Meet Market as Linda
- Black Widow 2008 as Olivia Whitfield/Grace Miller (TV Movie)
- Women In Trouble as Tracy
- S. Darko as Trudy
Television Roles
- Gimme a Break! as Girl # 1 (1 episode)
- Silver Spoons as Melissa (1 episode)
- Day By Day as Lisabeth (1 episode)
- Saved by the Bell as Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as Jessie Spano (1 episode)
- Saved by the Bell (2020) as Jessie Spano
- The Hogan Family as Ashley (1 episode)
- Married People as Isabel (1 episode)
- Life Goes On as Selena (1 episode)
- Raven as Deborah (1 episode)
- Step by Step as Lisa Morgan (1 episode)
- Baywatch as Courtney Bremmer (2 episodes)
- Crossroads as Jen (1 episode)
- Diagnosis: Murder as Shannon Thatcher (1 episode)
- Burke's Law as Heather Charles (1 episode)
- Perversions Of Science as Ruth (1 episode)
- Brothers Keeper as Amy (1 episode)
- Jack And Jill as Gabi (1 episode)
- NYPD Blue as Nicole Graf (2 episodes)
- Titus as Shannon (3 episodes)
- The Twilight Zone (2002) as Marisa Sanborn (1 episode)
- CSI as Renee Foam Dancer (1 episode)
- Without a Trace as Post-Makerover Lynette Shaw (1 episode)
- Threshold as Christine Polchek (1 episode)
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Danielle Quinn (1 episode)
- CSI: Miami as Julia Winston (recurring)
- The L Word as Kelly Wentworth (1 episode)
- Dancing with the Stars As Herself (14 episodes)
- Melissa & Joey as Dr. Kathryn Miller (1 episode)
- Dinner At Tiffanis as Herself (1 episode)
- New Girl as Becky Cavatappi (1 episode)
Trivia
- Deleted Role: She was part of the original cast of The Idol, but was replaced along with most of the others when it was reworked and re-shot under the management of Sam Levinson.
