Rebecca Gayheart

Rebecca Gayheart
Born (1971-08-12) August 12, 1971
Hazard, Kentucky, U.S.
Occupation Actress, model
Years active 1990present
Spouse(s) Eric Dane (m. 2004)
Children 2

Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1971)[1] is an American fashion model, television and film actress. Gayheart began her career appearing in a student short film by Brett Ratner, and later gained notoriety as a spokesperson and model for Noxzema in the early 1990s. She had minor roles in Nothing to Lose and Scream 2 (1997) before starring in the 1998 slasher film Urban Legend (1998), and the black comedy Jawbreaker (1999). She has also had roles on the television series Dead Like Me, Vanished, and Nip/Tuck.

Early life

Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in Pine Top, Kentucky, the daughter of Floneva (née Slone), who worked as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal truck driver.[2][3][4] She is of Irish, Italian, and German descent.[5] She moved to New York City at the age of 15 where she completed her education at New York's Professional Children's School and the Lee Strasberg Institute.

Career

In her first film role, Gayheart appeared in Brett Ratner's New York University short film Whatever Happened to Mason Reese? (1990) starring Mason Reese. She also appeared in the Ratner-directed music video Nuttin' But Love performed by Heavy D and the Boyz.

Gayheart's break into the television industry was a series of television commercials for Noxzema in the early 1990s, earning her the moniker "The Noxzema Girl". The commercials began airing in 1991 and brought her recognition.[6] (This was also referred to at the end of the film Urban Legend, when one of the new college students remarks, "And Brenda [Gayheart's character] was the Noxzema Girl.")

In 1992, Gayheart was cast in her first major role in the soap opera Loving as Hannah Mayberry. In 1993 and 1994, she had a recurring role in the Vanishing Son action pack series. In 1994 and 1995, Gayheart played Bess Martin in the science fiction series Earth 2. In 1995, she played Antonia Marchette, a recurring character in the series Beverly Hills, 90210, and Luke Perry's character's love interest.

Gayheart has been a regular on the 1999 television series Wasteland, Dead Like Me, Vanished, and had a recurring role on Nip/Tuck. She was initially hired to play the part of Inara Serra in the 2002 series Firefly, but was replaced by Morena Baccarin after only one day of filming. None of Gayheart's scenes were used.[7]

1999 was also the year Gayheart starred in the movie Jawbreaker with Rose McGowan, Julie Benz, and Judy Greer as girls in an exclusive clique in their high school.

Gayheart starred as the waitress in the Train music video for the 1999 song "Meet Virginia".

In 2002, Gayheart was hired for the role of Inara Serra on the television series Firefly but was fired after only one day of filming. Show creator Joss Whedon said that there was a lack of chemistry between her and the rest of the cast. The role was recast with actress Morena Baccarin who reportedly filmed her first scene the very day she was accepted for the role.[8][9]

In 2007, Gayheart guest-starred on Ugly Betty as Jordan, an ex-girlfriend of Alexis Meade. The following year, Gayheart starred in the Broadway comedy, Boeing-Boeing opposite Christine Baranski, Mark Rylance, Greg Germann, Paige Davis, and Missi Pyle.[10] She had a guest role on The Cleaner in 2009.

Personal life

For a time, Gayheart was engaged to director Brett Ratner.[3]

She married actor Eric Dane on October 29, 2004. Dane told Flaunt Magazine about how they met: "It's probably one of the least interesting stories in the world. It went basically like this: 'You wanna go out?' 'Yeah, sure.' Ten months later, we were married."[11] They have two daughters: Billie Beatrice (born March 3, 2010) and Georgia Geraldine (born December 28, 2011).[12][13]

Vehicular manslaughter

On June 13, 2001, Gayheart was driving a vehicle which struck nine-year-old Jorge Cruz, Jr. as he walked across a street in Los Angeles. He died the following day from his injuries. On November 27, 2001, Gayheart pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter. She was sentenced to three years of probation, a one-year suspension of her license, a $2,800 fine, and 750 hours of community service.[3][14]

Leaked video

On August 17, 2009, a nude video was posted on the website gawker.com that showed former Miss Teen USA contestant Kari Ann Peniche with Gayheart and husband Eric Dane.[15][16][17]

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1990 Whatever Happened to Mason Reese? Model #1 Short film
1996 Somebody Is Waiting Lilli
1997 Nothing to Lose Danielle
Scream 2 Lois
1998 Hairshirt Jennifer Scott
Urban Legend Brenda Bates
1999 Puppet Lori Myers [18]
Jawbreaker Julie Freeman
2000 From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter Mary Newlie
Shadow Hours Chloe Holloway Official Selection Sundance 2000 Competition
Urban Legends: Final Cut Nurse Brenda Bates Cameo/Uncredited
2001 Doppelganger Brian's Girlfriend 14-min short film
Harvard Man Kelly Morgan
2002 Pipe Dream Marliss Funt
2005 Santa's Slay Gwen Mason
2007 Bunny Whipped Beatriz Magdalene Johnson
2013 G.B.F. Mrs. Daniels
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1992–1993 Loving Hannah Mayberry Unknown episodes
1992 All My Children Hannah Mayberry Unknown episodes
1994 Vanishing Son Clair Armstrong Television movie
Vanishing Son III Clair Armstrong Television movie
Vanishing Son IV Clair Armstrong Television movie
1994–1995 Earth 2 Bess Martin 21 episodes
1995 Beverly Hills, 90210 Antonia "Toni" Marchette 8 episodes
1996 Sliders Natalie 1 episode
1997 Invasion Cassy Winslow Television movie
1998 Hercules Medea (Voice) 1 episode
1999 Wasteland Samantha "Sam" Price 13 episodes
2001 Inside Schwartz Nadia 1 episode
2003 Dead Like Me Betty Rhomer 5 episodes
What I Like About You Dana 1 episode
2004 The Division Suzanne Richland 3 episodes
2004–2006 Nip/Tuck Natasha Charles 3 episodes
2005 The Christmas Blessing Meghan Television movie
2006 Scarlett Scarlett Television movie
Medium Jessica Delaney 1 episode
Vanished Judy Nash 13 episodes
2007 CSI: Miami Claire Gibbs 1 episode
Ugly Betty Jordan Dunn 1 episode
2009 The Cleaner Carey Kern 1 episode

References

  1. Kentucky Birth Index, 1911–1999. State of Kentucky. At Ancestry.com.
  2. Rebecca Gayheart Biography at FilmReference.com
  3. 1 2 3 Rebecca Gayheart Biography at Yahoo! Movies Archived September 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. Forever in Black Hills
  5. Salzberg, Charles. "Accent on Success", Flair, Fall 1999. Republished at rebecca-gayheart.de
  6. Rebecca Gayheart at Askmen.com
  7. Whedon, Joss. Firefly: the complete series: "Serenity" commentary
  8. "Morena Baccarin replaces Rebecca Gayheart on Firefly". www.streamerarchives.org. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  9. Anders, Charlie Jane. "The Real Reason Why Joss Whedon Named His Space Western Show Firefly". Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  10. "Headlines: Paige Davis and Rebecca Gayheart Fly Into Boeing-Boeing". broadway.com. September 28, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
  11. Tewksbury, Drew. Getting Big with Eric Dane, Flaunt Magazine
  12. Donaldson, Catherine (March 5, 2010). "It's a Girl for Eric Dane & Rebecca Gayheart". People.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  13. Hammel, Sara (December 30, 2011). "It's a Girl for Rebecca Gayheart and Eric Dane!". People.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  14. people.com Ex-'90210' Star: Wrongful Death Suit
  15. "Dane's Anatomy". gawker.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2010.
  16. "Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart's McSteamy Video Tape With Ex-Beauty Queen". ABCNews.go.com. August 18, 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  17. Kevork/Djansezian. "Eric Dane, Rebecca Gayheart sex tape: Just videotaped nakedtime!". NJ.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  18. "[T]hat summer [of 1996], I booked my first role, in an independent movie called Puppet. [...] This film, which to this day I have never seen because I don't think it's possible to purchase a copy of it anywhere at any price, starred Rebecca Gayheart and Fred Weller [...] I don't know anyone who has ever seen or even heard of Puppet. All I can say is that it was screened in a theater at least once, because my manager went to see it." Lange, Artie, with Anthony Bozza and Howard Stern (2009). Too Fat to Fish, Random House Digital, Inc, ISBN 9780385526579, p. 172
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.