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Name: Mimi Rogers
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Date of Birth:
January 27, 1956
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Place of Birth:
Coral Gables, Florida, USA
Mini-bio:
A versatile Hollywood actress, Mimi Rogers did not step before the camera until she was in her early twenties. As a civil engineer's daughter, Rogers had a peripatetic childhood, living in several dif... read moreferent states and England. Eventually she and her family settled in Southern California. An unusually bright person, Rogers graduated from high school at age 14. Instead of going straight to college, she spent the rest of her teen years involved with community service work. She debuted in television movies in 1982 and the following year appeared in her first film, the romantic Blue Skies Again opposite Harry Hamlin. It was an inauspicious debut and her next two films did little toward making her a star. Up until she played a seductive socialite who falls in love with a policeman in Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Rogers was considered a rather wholesome, even plain beauty, but in that film, done-up to the nines, she proved herself as sexy and alluring as any actress onscreen. She got some positive reviews for playing Christopher Reeve's lover in Street Smart (1987). Though she has appeared in many subsequent films, her ascension to stardom proved a slow one despite gaining some level of notoriety for her brief marriage to Tom Cruise.In 1991 audiences were treated to their first true taste of the actresses formidable dramatic talent when she essayed the role of a spiritually bankrupt swinger turned religious zealot in writer/director Michael Tolkin's religious-themed drama The Rapture. Her transformation and subsequent spiritual conflict was nothing short of devastating, and though she would only appear in supporting roles in the years that immediately followed, she had made her mark and it was only a matter of time until her star caught fire. Roles in Killer (1994) and Full Body Massage successfully balanced Rogers' smouldering sensuality with her undeniable dramatic talent, and in 1996 her breakthrough finally arrived with the Barbra Streisand drama The Mirror Has Two Faces. With a performance that threatened to steal the spotlight from a star as bright as Streisand, the dramatic role proved an unlikely precursor to her performance in the following year's blockbuster comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Though savvy filmgoers were well aware of her dramatic capacity at this point, few had pegged her as being a solid comedic actress - and her role as the snaggle-toothed secret agent's trusty sidekick revealed a heretofore unseen versatility. After taking the lead in a pair of respectable made-for-television features, Rogers blasted into space with the sci-fi misfire Lost in Space in 1998. Perhaps somewhat disenchanted with her blockbuster status, Rogers spent the next few years turning in solid performances in such low-budget fare as Ginger Snaps (2000) and moving into television on the short-lived sitcom The Geena Davis Show.A dedicated mother of two, Rogers earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Special as a result of her role in the Holocaust drama The Devil's Arithmetic before later appearing in the family adventure Cave In (2003). Following a somewhat forgettable role in the abysmal Dumb and Dumberer, Rogers was cast in a key role opposite Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger in the family drama Door in the Floor (2004). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Mimi Rogers mini-bio: It's fair to say that after 20 years and over 50 film appearances, Mimi Rogers
should be praised for her variety of roles and acting capabilities, not for a brief
marriage to a Hollywood star. In the early 1980s, she began to carve a niche for
herself in Hollywood, appearing on television and in films. It was her role in
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) that got her noticed and was her springboard to
stardom. Cemented by a marriage to Tom Cruise, an already established young actor,
Mimi went on to appear in Hider in the House (1989), Desperate Hours (1990), and
The Doors (1991). After her marriage to Cruise ended in 1990, she appeared in a
controversial movie analyzing religion in America. The Rapture (1991), directed by
Michael Tolkin, proved a hit and delighted audiences, creating many a debate over
the film's subject material. She played a bored telephone exchange operator who
swaps a sinful life of sex and swinging with other couples for a devout religious
one, ending unexpectedly in disaster. A subsequent photo spread and interview in
Playboy magazine in 1993 provided fans with an insight into her life with Cruise
and her film career so far. Despite her successes, few meaty, interesting roles
came her way in the '90s. Shooting Elizabeth (1992), opposite Jeff Goldblum, the
family movie Monkey Trouble (1994), Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog
(1995), and Full Body Massage (1995) (TV) were just a few of the films that she
appeared in. Working consistently, she rejuvenated her career in the unexpected hit
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), playing Miss Kensington, an
attractive female agent of 1960s London and the mother of Elizabeth Hurley's
character. Next, Mimi was seen in the big-screen remake of the '60s sci-fi TV
series Lost in Space (1998) and several guest appearances on the hugely popular
television series "The X Files" (1993), playing a scheming FBI agent. A role in the
Canadian indie-horror Ginger Snaps (2000) did her career no harm. Soon, she was
opposite Geena Davis in "The Geena Davis Show" (2000) from 2000-01 and playing an
extremely rich Manhattan socialite in the direct-to-video Cruel Intentions 2 (2000)
(V).
More recently Mimi has appeared on cable television, including leading roles in
Charms for the Easy Life (2002) (TV) (which she also executive produced) and Cave In
(2003) (TV) (a true-life disaster drama in which she played the Chief Superintendent
of a mine). In 2004, she gave a revealing performance in The Door in the Floor
(2004), a critical success. "The Loop" (2006), a Chicago-based sitcom, will soon be
airing in America, featuring Mimi as a flirtatious office worker. Also in 2006, Mimi
will be appearing in an original horror film, Penny Dreadful (2006), playing a
psychiatrist in peril. In 2003, she married her longtime partner Chris Ciaffa, with
whom she had a daughter in 1995. A poker novice, Mimi also travels around competing
in tournaments, some televised. A lengthy filmography and critically praised acting
reveal that there is far more to Mimi Rogers than a celebrity marriage. At the age
of fifty, she is still one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood, and looking as
good as ever.
