Catherine Oxenberg
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| Catherine Oxenberg | |
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| Born | September 22, 1961 New York City, New York, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Evans (1998-1998) Casper Van Dien (1999-present) |
Catherine Oxenberg (Serbian Cyrillic: Катарина Оксенберг) (born September 22, 1961 in New York City) is an American actress, best known for her performance as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s American prime time soap opera Dynasty. Through her mother, she is a descendant of the Serbian Karađorđević dynasty.
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[edit] Early life
Born in New York City, Oxenberg is the eldest daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and her first husband Howard Oxenberg,[1] a dress manufacturer and close friend of the Kennedy family. Princess Elizabeth is the only daughter of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (who served as regent for his cousin's eldest son King Peter II of Yugoslavia) and Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark.[2] Elisabeth is a second cousin of Queen Sofía of Spain and Charles, Prince of Wales. Also, Catherine is a great-great-great-granddaughter of Karađorđe, who started the first Serbian uprising against the Turks in 1804.
Catherine Oxenberg's maternal grandmother Princess Olga was a legendary beauty and the sister of Princess Marina, who married the Duke of Kent (uncle of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom), and also a cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh (husband of Queen Elizabeth II). It has been claimed, on basis of portraiture evidence, that Catherine resembles very closely her grandfather's great-grandmother, the Finnish beauty and philanthropist lady Aurora Stjernvall.[citation needed] Catherine is in the line of succession to the British throne, though very low on the list.
Known as Kitty to her family,[citation needed] Catherine was educated at St. Paul's School and Columbia University.
[edit] Acting career
Oxenberg made her acting debut in the 1982 made-for-television film The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana, in which she played her real-life distant relative Princess Diana. In 1984 Oxenberg joined the hit ABC prime time soap opera Dynasty — then at its height of popularity[3] — in the role of Amanda Carrington, the second daughter of Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) and Alexis Colby (Joan Collins). Oxenberg was the guest host on the NBC late-night sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live on May 10, 1986 (because of her family history, she is the first [and so far only] royal figure to host SNL). She left Dynasty in 1986 and the role was recast.
Oxenberg starred in The Lair of the White Worm in 1988, and reprised the role of Princess Diana in the TV film Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After in 1992. From 1993 to 1994 she starred in the short-lived series Acapulco H.E.A.T..
Oxenberg was portrayed by Rachael Taylor in the 2005 telemovie Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, about the behind the scenes goings-on during the production of Dynasty. In 2006, Oxenberg appeared in the TV special, Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, in which she reunited with her former Dynasty castmates to reminisce about the series.
Oxenberg is signed to New York Model Management.
[edit] Personal life
Oxenberg dated John Kerry in 1989 after his first marriage ended and before he married Teresa Heinz Kerry. Her first marriage was to the producer Robert Evans, in Beverly Hills, California on July 12, 1998, but the marriage was annulled nine days later.
On May 8, 1999 in Las Vegas, Oxenberg married actor Casper Van Dien after the two starred together in The Omega Code. In 2005 the couple appeared in their own reality series, I Married a Princess, which aired on the Lifetime Television channel in the United States and on LIVINGtv in the United Kingdom.
Oxenberg is the mother of India Riven Oxenberg, (born June 7, 1991), whose father has never been publicly identified, and of two children with Van Dien: Maya (born September 20, 2001) and Celeste Alma (born October 3, 2003).
During the 2006-2007 TV season Oxenberg starred alongside Van Dien in the American drama series Watch Over Me on MyNetworkTV.
Conan O'Brien mentioned in a 2000 commencement speech that Oxenberg is listed directly ahead of him in the 1986 Harvard yearbook.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Catherine Oxenberg - Geneologics.com
- ^ Princess Elizabthe of Yugoslavia - Geneologics.com
- ^ 1984-1985 Ratings - ClassicTVhits.com Dynasty was the #1 American series during the 1984-1985 season.
[edit] External links
- Catherine Oxenberg at the Internet Movie Database
- Catherine Oxenberg's Watch Over Me profile at MyNetworkTV.com
- The Official Homepage
| Preceded by Prince Dushan of Yugoslavia |
Line of succession to the British throne | Succeeded by Maya Van Dien |
