Elizabeth Berkley

Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1972) is an American television, movie, and theatre actress. Her most notable roles were in the television series Saved by the Bell, as brainy feminist Jessie Spano, and the 1995 Paul Verhoeven movie Showgirls, as exotic dancer Nomi Malone.

During the press tour for Step It Up and Dance, Berkley appeared on various shows including various morning news programs, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Fuse TV's The Sauce, E!'s Chelsea Lately, CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, and ABC's The View. While on The View, she spoke of her admiration for co-host Whoopi Goldberg, calling her "an extraordinary being". Her appearance on the show was unique in that she brought the ladies of the show tap shoes and taught them a short dance routine. Despite the show's success, it was not renewed for a second season and its show page has since been removed from the Bravo website.

Berkley starred alongside Thomas Jane in the David Arquette directed short film The Butler's in Love which premiered at Mann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles in June 2008.

In 2009, Berkley starred in a multi-episode arc of the Showtime series The L Word, during its sixth and final season. She played Kelly Wentworth, the straight girl that got away from Jennifer Beals' character Bette Porter in college. Berkley and Beals are best friends in real life, having previously worked on the 2002 independent film Roger Dodger. She continued with television work, reprising her role as Julia Winston in CSI: Miami, appearing in three more episodes, including the season seven finale. She was cast as Trudy, a former drug addict turned born again Christian who becomes infatuated with her pastor in the sequel to cult hit Donnie Darko, S. Darko. She will also appear as Tracy in the upcoming comedy Women in Trouble.


While making an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in June 2009, Berkley's Saved by the Bell co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar - as Zack Morris - expressed his desire to take part in Fallon's "class reunion" of the show's original cast members and revealed that Berkley has also agreed to take part in the reformation. It is unclear whether the reunion will simply be an interview with the original cast on an episode of Fallon's show, or whether a new TV movie or series will be produced.

It was also confirmed that Berkley, in conjunction with MTV, is developing a reality series which focuses on her Ask-Elizabeth self-help program—and has the same name as its working title, Ask-Elizabeth—for teen girls. The show will follow the actress as she travels around the country and meets with girls of all ages to discuss various topics that are important to them. The show is expected to air in late 2009.