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Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12,
1971) is an American television and film actress.
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. She
is of Irish, Italian, German and Cherokee descent. 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.
In her first film role, Gayheart appeared in Brett Ratner's New York
University (NYU) 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. (This was also referenced at the end of the film Urban
Legend, when one of the new college students remarks, "And Brenda 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 had a
recurring role as Antonia Marchette in the series Beverly Hills, 90210 as
Luke Perry'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
dropped after only one day of filming. Morena Baccarin took over the role,
and none of Rebecca's scenes were used.
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.
For a time, Gayheart was engaged to director Brett Ratner and has dated
Michael Weatherly. She and actor Eric Dane were married on October 29,
2004. Gayheart and Dane are expecting their first child, a girl, in March
2010.
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.
On June 13, 2001, Gayheart struck and fatally injured nine-year-old Jorge
Cruz, Jr., as he jaywalked across a Los Angeles-area street. According to
the police report, the child was walking home from school and ran across
the street approximately 160 feet from a crosswalk. The vehicles in front
of Gayheart stopped to permit Cruz to cross. Either unwilling to wait or
in an effort to avoid hitting the stopped cars, Gayheart maneuvered her
vehicle around the other cars, pulling into a two-way left-turn lane to
pass them and struck the boy with her vehicle. "The parents' lawyer Steven
Lerman alleges that Gayheart was talking on a cell phone; the actress's
attorney Marty Singer adamantly denies that and says there is proof to the
contrary."
Cruz died the next day at Los Angeles Children's Hospital. His parents,
Jorge Cruz and Silvia Martinez, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her
on August 6, 2001, seeking coverage of medical and funeral expenses, and
compensation for loss of future earnings. The lawsuit was settled out of
court, and settlement terms were not disclosed.
On November 27, 2001, Gayheart pleaded no contest to vehicular
manslaughter in the death of Jorge Cruz, Jr. She was sentenced to three
years' probation, a one-year suspension of her license, a $2,800 fine, and
750 hours of community service. She was also ordered to make a
public-service announcement regarding the danger of a driver not stopping
when other vehicles in front of the driver have stopped.
While awaiting that outcome of the vehicular manslaughter case, she was
involved in another auto accident. She flipped her rental car into two
parked vehicles. No one was injured and no charges were filed. Her father
attributed the second accident in part to her anxiety over both the first
accident and her resulting criminal case. He commented that he and his
wife did not intend to allow their daughter to drive any longer.
In August 2009, a naked video surfaced on Gawker.com with Gayheart,
husband Eric Dane and former Miss U.S. Teen Kari Ann Peniche. In the video
clip, Gayheart, Peniche, and Dane walk naked around Peniche's Los Angeles
apartment, relax in a hottub and discuss their potential porn names.
Through it all, Dane, Peniche and Gayheart appear to be intoxicated.
Midway through the clip, Gayheart says she has to lie down because she's
"so high". |
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For Better or for Worse (2010)
"The Cleaner" .... Carey Kern (1 episode, 2009)
- An Ordinary Man (2009) TV episode .... Carey Kern
"Ugly Betty" .... Jordan Dunn (1 episode, 2007)
- A Tree Grows in Guadalajara (2007) TV episode .... Jordan Dunn
Bunny Whipped (2007) .... Beatriz Magdalene Johnson
"CSI: Miami" .... Claire Gibbs (1 episode, 2007)
... aka CSI: Weekends (USA: promotional title)
- Burned (2007) TV episode .... Claire Gibbs
"Vanished" .... Judy Nash (13 episodes, 2006)
- Warm Springs (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
- The Velocity of Sara (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
- The Proffer (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
- The Cell (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
- The New World (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
(8 more)
Last Day (2006/II) .... Abra
"Nip/Tuck" .... Natasha Charles (3 episodes, 2004-2006)
- Diana Lubey (2006) TV episode .... Natasha Charles
- Trudy Nye (2004) TV episode .... Natasha Charles
- Natasha Charles (2004) TV episode .... Natasha Charles
"Medium" .... Jessica Delaney (1 episode, 2006)
- Allison Wonderland (2006) TV episode .... Jessica Delaney
Scarlett (2006) (TV) .... Scarlett
The Christmas Blessing (2005) (TV) .... Meghan Sullivan
... aka Miracle of the Heart (Australia)
Santa's Slay (2005) .... Gwen Mason
"The Division" .... Suzanne Richland (3 episodes, 2004)
... aka Heart of the City
- Lost and Found (2004) TV episode .... Suzanne Richland
- The Fall of the House of Hayes (2004) TV episode .... Suzanne
Richland
- It's the Real Thing (2004) TV episode .... Suzanne Richland
"Dead Like Me" .... Betty Rhomer (5 episodes, 2003)
- Reaping Havoc (2003) TV episode .... Betty Rhomer
- Reapercussions (2003) TV episode (voice) .... Betty Rhomer
- Curious George (2003) TV episode .... Betty Rhomer
- Dead Girl Walking (2003) TV episode .... Betty Rhomer
- Pilot (2003) TV episode .... Betty Rhomer
"What I Like About You" .... Dana (1 episode, 2003)
- The Other Woman (2003) TV episode .... Dana
Pipe Dream (2002) .... Marliss Funt
"Inside Schwartz" .... Nadia (1 episode, 2001)
- Pilot (2001) TV episode .... Nadia
Harvard Man (2001) .... Kelly Morgan
Doppelganger (2001) .... Brian's Girlfriend
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) (uncredited) .... Nurse Brenda Bates
... aka Légendes urbaines 2 (Canada: French title)
... aka Légendes urbaines: La suite (Canada: French title)
... aka Leyendas urbanas: Corte final (USA: Spanish title)
Shadow Hours (2000) .... Chloe Holloway
From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (1999) (V) .... Mary
Newlie
... aka The Hangman's Daughter (USA: closing credits title)
"Wasteland" .... Samantha 'Sam' Price (13 episodes, 1999)
- My Ex-friends Wedding (1999) TV episode .... Samantha 'Sam' Price
- Double Date (1999) TV episode .... Samantha 'Sam' Price
- Empty Pockets (1999) TV episode .... Samantha 'Sam' Price
- Pilot (1999) TV episode .... Samantha 'Sam' Price
- Best Laid Plans (1999) TV episode .... Samantha 'Sam' Price
(8 more)
Jawbreaker (1999) .... Julie
Puppet (1999) .... Lori Myers
"Hercules" .... Medea (1 episode, 1998)
... aka Disney's Hercules (USA: complete title)
- Hercules and the Argonauts (1998) TV episode (voice) .... Medea
Urban Legend (1998) .... Brenda Bates
... aka Mixed Culture
... aka Urban Legend (France)
Hairshirt (1998) .... Jennifer Scott
... aka Too Smooth (USA: reissue title)
Scream 2 (1997) .... Sorority Sister Lois
Nothing to Lose (1997) .... Danielle
Invasion (1997) (TV) .... Cassy Winslow
... aka Robin Cook's Invasion (USA: complete title)
Somebody Is Waiting (1996) .... Lilli
"Sliders" .... Natalie Nassau (1 episode, 1996)
- Time Again and World (1996) TV episode .... Natalie Nassau
"Beverly Hills, 90210" .... Antonia 'Toni' Marchette (8 episodes,
1995)
... aka Class of Beverly Hills (USA: teaser title)
- One Wedding and a Funeral (1995) TV episode .... Antonia 'Toni'
Marchette
- Earthquake Weather (1995) TV episode .... Antonia 'Toni' Marchette
- Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas (1995) TV episode .... Antonia 'Toni'
Marchette
- Violated (1995) TV episode .... Antonia 'Toni' Marchette
- Speechless (1995) TV episode .... Antonia 'Toni' Marchette
(3 more)
"Earth 2" .... Bess Martin (21 episodes, 1994-1995)
- Flower Child (1995) TV episode .... Bess Martin
- Natural Born Grendlers (1995) TV episode .... Bess Martin
- All About Eve (1995) TV episode .... Bess Martin
- Survival of the Fittest (1995) TV episode .... Bess Martin
- The Boy Who Would Be Terrian King (1995) TV episode .... Bess
Martin
(16 more)
Vanishing Son IV (1994) (TV) .... Clair Armstrong
Vanishing Son III (1994) (TV) .... Clair Armstrong
Vanishing Son (1994) (TV) .... Clair Armstrong
"Loving" (1983) TV series .... Hannah Mayberry (unknown episodes,
1992-1993)
Whatever Happened to Mason Reese (1990) .... Model #1 |
