When Berkley auditioned for the show, she was only seventeen and she auditioned to be Kelly Kapowski, the head cheerleader. Instead, she got cast as Jessie Spano(as shown on the left), a smart and democratic girl who got to be A.C Slater’s (Mario Lopez) hubby! I think any girl would love to kiss Mario even if he did have crazy hair back then! Berkley had a good run on the show, playing Jessie from 1989 to 1993.

Two years later, in 1995, Berkley set off to find her tune in cinema with her first major film Showgirls. The movie’s plot centralized on a young girl, Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley), who hitchhikes to Las Vegas in the hopes of becoming a showgirl. The amount of sex and nudity in the movie gave it a controversial rating of NC-17. It was basically a porno! And a very bad one at that, considering the fact that the movie ratings and sales plummeted to rock bottom. It was considered such as bad movie that it was awarded two Razzie awards (the opposite of the Academy Awards, where awards are given out to the worst movies).

After embarking such a big project such as Showgirls and probably feeling as embarrassed as walking around naked in front of Barrack Obama and the Queen of England, Berkley decided to set back a bit and choose smaller roles in the film industry. She appeared in movies such as The First Wives Club, The Taxman, Roger Dodger and Wolly Allen’s The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. She even got to play a call girl for Oliver Stone (Al Pacino) in the movie Any Given Sunday.

So what has Berkley been doing lately? She has been auditioning for roles on Broadway. Her first Broadway debut was made in Sly Fox, a comedy, in 2004. She most recently made an appearance at the sixth annual 24 hour plays alongside Jennifer Aniston where the goal was to produce six ten minute plays in 24 hours. Also, in late 2003, Berkley got married to hunk Greg Lauren. Did I mention that her husband’s uncle is Ralph Lauren? Berkley has also been in several television shows such as: Without a Trace and Law& Order: Criminal Intent. She also plays Julia Winston, the ex of Horatio Caine (David Caruso) on CSI: Miami. Berkley also recently hosted the hit reality show, Step It Up and Dance (just like So You Think You Can Dance) on the Bravo network for one season.

You cannot be a true star unless you either have adopted a baby or have done charity work. Berkley's a definite star because she gives back to society! In 2006, Berkley established a website called Ask-Elizabeth where she helps girls build their self-esteem. It’s basically an advice column in a newspaper except this time your not asking some fat guy under the pseudonym of Raja. This time, it’s with a celebrity. In conjunction with MTV, Berkley has extended her Ask-Elizabeth site to her own reality TV show, called Ask-Elizabeth which will air sometime late 2009. Berkley also volunteers by teaching dance classes for young teens, and also does volunteer work for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Berkley is also currently developing her own production company in hopes of using it to expand her talent as a producer and actress. And to put to the cherry on top, Berkley is an animal rights activist and was in a PETA add to encourage vegetarianism (as shown by the picture at the top) by wearing a $600 dress made of collard beans.

So, in the end, Berkley who has been infamous for being the "Smart Gal Stripper" is really a down-to-earth woman married to an awesome guy and likes to helps society. The best part is, is that she's getting back on track to becoming a beloved celeb once again.

 You can check out her site, Ask-Elizabeth at http://www.ask-elizabeth.com

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