Birthday:
29 September 1969, Glendale, California, USA
Height:
5' 6" (1.68 m)
Biography
Erika Eleniak was born in the Los Angeles suburb of
Glendale, California. Erika is of Ukrainian and Estonian descent. She is
the eldest daughter in a family of four girls and one boy. Erika began
her acting career at the age of 10, starring in numerous productions for
television, film, commercials and theater. Her first film role was in
the 1982 feature called E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), by Steven
Spielberg. Her film credit given was "Pretty Girl". Erika was spotted by
a talent scout working for Steven Spielberg in a performer's audition
showcase. Erika's mother was very determined for Erika to have a normal
childhood and finish school, so Erika worked a couple of jobs a year
throughout childhood and adolescence, until after graduating High
School. It was directly after this, that Erika joined the original cast
of "Baywatch" (1989) and stayed on the show for the first 2 years. Erika
decided to leave the show after it changed direction. She wanted to
venture out into other avenues and so began a successful film career.
Erika starred in such films as Under Siege (1992), The Beverly
Hillbillies (1993), Chasers (1994), Bordello of Blood (1996), A
Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995), among many others. In 2001, Erika did a
film called Snowbound (2001) (aka "White Lies"), in Calgary, Alberta
Canada, where she met and fell in love with a film technician. While
Erika lived in Calgary, she did many independent films and cable movies,
including some for Lifetime. Erika has dual citizenship with the U.S
and Canada. After 6 years, Erika and Roch split up and Erika moved back
home to the United States with Indyanna. Erika and her daughter reside
in the Greater Los Angeles area. Erika has come home to be with her
family and surround her young daughter, Indyanna, with loved ones. Erika
is also working very hard on her career. She is more focused and ready
to work than ever before. Erika's latest work includes a guest-starring
role on "CSI: Miami" (2002), which aired in October of 2010 and a
guest-starring role, rumored to be reoccurring, on "Desperate
Housewives" (2004), which aired in November of 2010
Eleniak attended Robert Fulton Junior High in Van Nuys, Los Angeles and graduated from Van Nuys High School. During her teenage years, She became a regular on the San Fernando Valley party circuit and began to use alcohol and drugs regularly. After a chance meeting with Steve Ferguson on a Santa Monica beach, he recommended that the 18-year-old Eleniak go to Alcoholics Anonymous and supported her in her recovery. Their relationship became complicated when Ferguson's father, Robert, married Eleniak's mother.[3]
Career
Modeling
In 1989 when Erika Eleniak was 19, she asked Ferguson to put her in contact with a Playboy photographer. As a result, Eleniak appeared in the July 1989 issue of the magazine in a pictorial with a nautical theme.[3]Television
In 1989, Eleniak had a recurring role on the TV series Charles In Charge as Charles's girlfriend, Stephanie Curtis. That same year, she won a role on Baywatch as female lead Shauni McClain, which she played from 1989 to 1992, leaving after the second episode of Season 3. She also played the high-school girlfriend of Jesse (John Stamos) in "One Last Kiss", the November 16, 1990 episode of Full House.Film
Eleniak's first feature film role was in the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial as the girl kissed by Elliott in the classroom scene. Her first film role as an adult was as Vicki De Soto, a victim of the creature in the 1988 horror remake The Blob.In 1992, Eleniak returned to film acting, playing Jordan Tate, a Playboy Playmate hired to do a striptease for the captain of the U.S. Navy battleship, USS Missouri, in Under Siege. In the film, she is described as "Jordan Tate, Miss July 1989"—which is the month that Eleniak was Playmate of the Month in real life.
She attempted to capitalize on this success by starring as Elly May Clampett in the screen adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies in 1993, but the film flopped. The next year, she starred in the Dennis Hopper-directed romantic comedy film Chasers. William McNamara, one of her co-stars in this film, also became her fiancé for a brief period. Eleniak went on to shoot another movie with McNamara, Girl in the Cadillac (1995). Eleniak also starred in an interactive game during 1995; she played identical twins in the 1995 video game Panic in the Park. She continued to make more independent films including A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995), Bordello of Blood (1996) and Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Heatwave (1997), The Pandora Project (1998) with Daniel Baldwin, One Hot Summer Night (1998) with Barry Bostwick, Final Voyage (1999) with Ice-T, Stealth Fighter (1999), The Opponent (2000), Vegas, City of Dreams (2001) with Angelica Bridges, Second to Die (2002), Snowbound (2001), Betrayal (2003) and Shakedown (2002).
Reality television
Eleniak appeared as one of the cast members of the reality television series The Real Gilligan's Island for its second season, which started in June 2005.[4]Eleniak suffered from weight issues throughout her life. At one point, she was underweight due to eating disorder and was once hospitalized because of laxative abuse.[5] By 2006, she was overweight, and became a participant on the fourth season of VH1's reality television series Celebrity Fit Club, on which two teams of celebrities compete to lose weight.
Other appearances
In 2006, she appeared on 80's Movie and Music Fest Cafe, a British comedy podcast on iTunes, in which she discussed her career with presenters Ross Dyer and Julian Bayes. She gave a lighthearted view of Baywatch and her challenge during filming of Celebrity Fit Club.[6]
Personal life
Eleniak married Philip Goglia on May 22, 1998, but that marriage ended in divorce.[7][8] After filming Snowbound in 2001 in Calgary, Alberta, Eleniak became enamored with the city. She also fell in love with Roch Daigle, a key grip who worked on the set. Having wanted to leave Los Angeles for years and finding commuting to and from Telluride, Colorado too difficult, Eleniak purchased a home in Calgary, where Daigle lived.[2] Eleniak became pregnant in 2005, but six and a half weeks into her term, the pregnancy was discovered to be ectopic,
which required emergency surgery days later. It ended in miscarriage,
but Eleniak soon became pregnant again. Her first child, daughter
Indyanna, was born in January 2006.[9]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Notes | |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | ||
| 1988 | Broken Angel | TV film | |
| The Blob | |||
| 1990 | Daughter of the Streets | TV film | |
| 1992 | Under Siege | ||
| 1993 | The Beverly Hillbillies | ||
| 1994 | Chasers | ||
| 1995 | Girl in the Cadillac | ||
| A Pyromaniac's Love Story | |||
| 1996 | Bordello of Blood | ||
| 1997 | Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Heatwave | TV film | |
| 1998 | Captive | ||
| One Hot Summer Night | TV film | ||
| The Pandora Project | |||
| Charades | |||
| 1999 | Stealth Fighter | ||
| Final Voyage | |||
| Aftershock: Earthquake in New York | TV film | ||
| 2000 | The Opponent | ||
| 2001 | Vegas, City of Dreams | ||
| Snowbound | |||
| 2002 | Second to Die | ||
| Christmas Rush | TV film | ||
| He Sees You When You're Sleeping | TV film | ||
| Shakedown | direct-to-video film | ||
| 2003 | Betrayal | ||
| The Librarians | |||
| 2004 | Caught in the Headlights | ||
| Brilliant | |||
| Fatal Lessons: The Good Teacher | TV film | ||
| Dracula 3000 | TV film | ||
| 2005 | Absolute Zero | TV film | |
| Fatal Reunion | direct-to-video film | ||
| 2009 | Imps* | ||
| Just a Story | |||
| 2010 | Desperate Housewives | ||
| 2012 | Holiday Spin | TV film | |
| 2012 | Meant to Be | ||
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