Hollywood stalwart Elizabeth Berkley has had an incredibly varied career.
The blonde beauty shot to fame on Saved By The Bell as high school student Jessie Spano, a role tailored especially to her strengths.
And then she played Las Vegas stripper Nomi Malone in the racy 1995 movie Showgirls opposite Gina Gershon.
Her reputation took a hit as the film oozed cheesiness, but then the thespian came back in a Woody Allen movie – 2001’s The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion – and picked up supporting parts here and there.
And the leggy wonder with the winning smile also popped up the redo of Saved By The Bell.
This week the 53-year-old actress showed off her youthful looks and slender frame when at Paris Fashion Week when with her husband of 22 years, Greg Lauren, the son of design Ralph Lauren.
And the stylish star also talked to Vogue magazine about her favorite designers at the moment.
Remember when: Elizabeth rose to prominence on Saved By The Bell as high school girl Jessie Spano and is pictured on the show in 1991 alongside Mario Lopez
Remember when: Elizabeth rose to prominence on Saved By The Bell as high school girl Jessie Spano and is pictured on the show in 1992
Saved By The Bell was an instant classic that still has a strong fane base.
She and Tiffani Amber Thiessen had both auditioned for one of the other roles, and after Tiffani got that part, the character of Jessie was created for Elizabeth.
The show ran from 1989 to 1993, after which Elizabeth secured the most infamous gig of her career – the 1995 movie Showgirls.
Showgirls was directed by Paul Verhoeven from a script by Joe Eszterhas, after the two men collaborated on the hit erotic thriller Basic Instinct.
The script at the time was the most expensive ever sold – a sale that became infamous after the film was savaged by the critics and tanked at the box office.
Although the movie was a commercial bomb in theaters, hamstrung partly by its NC-17 rating, it wound up being a smash on home video.
Showgirls rapidly became a cult favorite thanks in part to Elizabeth’s over-the-top performance as stripper Nomi Malone and to such ridiculous lines as the character claiming she ‘used to love Doggy Chow’ in a memorable scene with Gina Gershon.
Elizabeth in the most infamous gig of her career, the 1995 movie Showgirls (pictured)
Berkley was effectively shut out of Hollywood after its release but Showgirls has rapidly become a cult favorite in the decades since – with the star sobbing as she appeared at a special screening of the film at Hollywood’s Academy Museum
Showgirls rapidly became a cult favorite thanks in part to Elizabeth’s over-the-top performance as stripper Nomi and to such ridiculous lines as the character claiming she ‘used to love Doggy Chow’ in a memorable scene with Gina Gershon
However at the time the film made Elizabeth persona non grata, after she had left Saved By The Bell specifically to break into the movies.
‘Of course it was disappointing that it didn’t do well, but there was so much cruelty around it. I was bullied,’ she told People two years ago.
‘And I didn’t understand why I was being blamed. The job as an actor is to fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do.’
She noted ‘no one associated with the film spoke up on my behalf to protect me. I was left out in the cold and I was a pariah in the industry I had worked so hard for.’
Berkley at the Mugler Womenswear Spring/Summer 2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 2
The diva posed with her husband of 22 years, Greg Lauren whose father is famed fashion designer Ralph Lauren
The lovebirds holding hands while leaving a hotel during the Womenswear Spring Summer 2026 as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 3
Two years ago Elizabeth returned to the Saved By The Bell franchise for the show’s Peacock reboot, which was canceled this May after two seasons.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s more recent appearances include the HBO drama miniseries The Idol, which also features the late Anne Heche.
Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose starred on The Idol, which is about a pop star who falls for a cult-leading nightclub owner.
Viewers saw Lily-Rose, Anne and Elizabeth amid a cast that includes Canadian pop idol The Weeknd and YouTube star Troye Sivan.
