Elizabeth Berkley (born July 28, 1972 in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA) is a Jewish-American television, film, and stage actress. Berkley gained prominence for her role as Jessica "Jessie" Myrtle Spano in the sitcom Saved by the Bell, which she played from 1989 to 1992. She is best known as Nomi Malone, the lead character in the controversial 1995 film Showgirls. The sex and nudity-laden movie, given an NC-17 rating in the United States, was a box office bomb, was widely panned, and is generally credited with ruining Berkley's promising movie career. As time has put distance between Berkley and the infamous film (and the fact that it had gained cult status among movie buffs), she has gained reasonable critical praise with her performances in smaller roles in independent films like The Real Blonde, Roger Dodger, and Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Berkley received much acclaim for her role as Honey Bruce in the 1999 London stage version of Lenny, opposite Eddie Izzard. She most recently got favorable reviews as Bonnie in the Off-Broadway production of Hurlyburly, which opened June 11, 2005.
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