Style Watch PollFashion lookbook

Biography

Vanessa Madeline Angel was born on November 10, 1966 in London, England. She began her career in modeling at the age of 14 and was later discovered by world-renowned agent Eileen Ford. After traveling around the world and finally settling down in New York, Vanessa continued to work as a model through her teenage years, making cover appearances on Cosmopolitan and Vogue. In 1985, director John Landis cast Vanessa as a Russian spy in Spies Like Us, a comedy starring Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd as two confused government employees.

After the film, Vanessa went on to study acting professionally under Sondra Lee. In 1987, she became a member of The Actors Studio; Frank Corsaro was her instructor. In the '90s, Vanessa took on small roles in films like King of New York (1990) with Christopher Walken and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) with Sylvester Stallone. She also played Megan on Baywatch in 1991 and 1992. Her crossover to television didn't do much for her exposure, but it helped her land a few more acting jobs on shows such as Reasonable Doubts (1992-1993) and Melrose Place (1993). In 1994, the USA Network began showcasing Weird Science, a television adaptation of the 1985 John Hughes film of the same name. Vanessa played the part of Lisa, the computer-generated ideal woman of two computer geeks; this role was originally played by Kelly LeBrock in the feature film. In 1995, after a year of work on the series, Vanessa became ill and missed the opportunity to accept the lead role in Xena: Warrior Princess.

Because she was unable to fly to New Zealand to train for the series, Lucy Lawless stepped in to take her place. While working on Weird Science, Vanessa also took a starring role in the Farrelly brothers' film Kingpin (1996), appearing opposite Randy Quaid and Woody Harrelson. It was during this time that she met fellow actor Rick Otto, and the two were married in April 1996. Weird Science continued its run, ending in 1997 after 88 episodes. After her success with Weird Science and Kingpin, Vanessa went back to playing small parts in television and film. She appeared on the television series Veronica's Closet for a couple of episodes in 1997 and worked on films like 1998's Kissing a Fool, with David Schwimmer. In 2000, Vanessa accepted a recurring role on Stargate SG-1. Her film roles, however, continued to garner little success; Sabretooth (2002), SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004) and the made-for-TV movie Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys (2004) all flew way under the radar.

 The only movie that had moderate success was The Perfect Score (2004), costarring Erika Christensen and Scarlett Johansson. In July 2005, Vanessa played herself in an episode of the HBO series Entourage. She will also be appearing in the 2005 made-for-television movie Raptor Island 2: Raptor Planet and the Halloween movie Trick or Treat, slated for a 2006 release. The actress currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Rick Otto; they have one daughter.