Rebecca Gayheart
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| Rebecca Gayheart | |
| Born | August 12, 1971 (age 35) Hazard, Kentucky  United States |
| Spouse(s) | Eric Dane (29 October 2004 - present) |
Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1971, in Hazard, Kentucky) is an American actress.
Contents |
[edit] Personal life
Gayheart was raised in Pinetop, Kentucky, by parents of Irish, Mexican, Italian, German and Cherokee Indian heritage. Her father, Curtis, was a coal miner. She moved to New York City at 15 where she completed her education at New York's Professional Children's School and the Lee Strasberg Institute.
Gayheart was for a time engaged to director Brett Ratner. She and actor Eric Dane were married on October 29, 2004.
[edit] Career
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.
[edit] Television roles
- In 1992, Gayheart landed her first major role when she joined the cast of the soap opera Loving as Hannah Mayberry.
- In 1993 and 1994, Gayheart had a recurring role in the Vanishing Son action pack series.
- In 1995, she had a recurring role as Antonia Marchette in the series Beverly Hills, 90210.
- She has also been a regular on the television series Earth 2 (1994), Wasteland (1999), and Dead Like Me as Betty (2003) and had a recurring role on Nip/Tuck (2004).
- Gayheart was initially hired to play the part of Inara Serra on Firefly (2002), but dropped out after only one day of filming. Morena Baccarin took over the role, and none of Rebecca's scenes were ever used.
Gayheart's role as Judy Nash in the 2006 Fox series Vanished ended with its cancellation.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Scarlett | Scarlett | |
| Bunny Whipped | Beatriz Magdalene Johnson | ||
| 2005 | The Christmas Blessing | Meghan | |
| Santa's Slay | Gwen Mason | ||
| 2002 | Pipe Dream | Marliss Funt | |
| 2001 | Harvard Man | Kelly Morgan | |
| Doppelganger | Brian's Girlfriend | ||
| 2000 | Urban Legends: Final Cut | Nurse Brenda Bates | uncredited |
| Shadow Hours | Chloe Holloway | ||
| From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter | Mary Newlie | ||
| 1999 | Jawbreaker | Julie Freeman | |
| Puppet | Lori Myers | ||
| 1998 | Urban Legend | Brenda Bates | |
| Hairshirt | Jennifer Scott | ||
| 1997 | Scream 2 | Sorority Sister Lois | |
| Nothing to Lose | Danielle | ||
| Invasion | Cassy Winslow | ||
| 1996 | Somebody Is Waiting | Lilli | |
| 1994 | Vanishing Son IV | Clair Armstrong | TV movie |
| Vanishing Son III | Clair Armstrong | TV movie | |
| Vanishing Son | Clair Armstrong | TV movie | |
| 1990 | Whatever Happened to Mason Reese | Model #1 |
[edit] Manslaughter conviction
On 13 June 2001, Gayheart struck nine-year-old Jorge Cruz Jr. as he crossed a Los Angeles-area street. According to the police report, the child was walking home from school and crossed the street. While several cars stopped to let him go, Gayheart swerved around them and into a two-way left-turn lane, striking the boy. Her attorney, Steven Lerman, subsequently admitted Gayheart had been using a cell phone during impact.[1]
Cruz died the next day at Los Angeles Children's Hospital. His parents, Jorge Cruz and Silvia Martinez, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on 6 August 2001 against her and Gayheart eventually paid for Cruz's hospital and funeral expenses. On November 27 2001, she pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter. 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.
Gayheart was represented in the criminal proceeding by Harland Braun, who also defended Robert Blake against murder charges during the same timeframe and is defending Prison Break actor Lane Garrison against vehicular homicide charges as of 2007.
She sparked further controversy later that year when she flipped a rental car into two parked cars with her father commenting that, "I've told my wife not to let her drive any more." [2]
