Early life

The daughter of professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player Russ Smith

Russ Smith (running back)

Russell Conway Smith was a professional American football player who played running back for four seasons for the San Diego Chargers...

 and Carol Smith, Smith started modeling by age 16. As a teenager she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as a model throughout Europe for four years. Her breakthrough came when her naturally blonde hair was dyed red, giving her a strong resemblance to 1940s and '50s movie star Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...

.

Modeling

Smith appeared in back-to-back issues of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....

, and became Esquire

Esquire (magazine)

Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...

magazine's first Vargas Girl of the 1990s. She also became the first model of the Wonderbra

Wonderbra

The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1935, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses Nadler, founder and majority owner of the Canadian Lady Corset Company, licensed the...

 campaign. She later posed for photographer  Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton

Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...

 for a Wolford

Wolford

Wolford AG, located in Austria, is a marketer and manufacturer of upscale hosiery and lingerie. In the late 1990s, it ran a famous advertising campaign featuring the work of photographer Helmut Newton.-External links:***...

 advertising campaign, and was the model for the 2002 lingerie campaign for Venus Victoria, the European sister company to Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...

.

Smith has appeared on the covers of the fashion magazines and women's magazines Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

, Elle, Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan (magazine)

Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...

and Marie Claire

Marie Claire

Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...

, among others, and was the cover girl

Cover girl

A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a magazine....

 for the March 1995 issue of Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

. She has appeared in advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 for L'Oréal

L'Oréal

The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...

 makeup, Buffalo Jeans, Camel

Camel (cigarette)

Camel is a brand of cigarettes that was introduced by American company R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in the summer of 1913. Most current Camel cigarettes contain a blend of Turkish tobacco and Virginia tobacco. Early in 2008 the blend was changed as was the package design.-History:In 1913, R.J...

 cigarettes, Kahlúa

Kahlúa

Kahlúa is a Mexican coffee-flavored rum-based liqueur. It is dense and sweet, with the distinct taste of coffee, from which it is made. Kahlúa also contains sugar, corn syrup and vanilla bean.-History:...

 liqueur, Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 automobiles, and Panama Jack, among others, and has walked the runway for such fashion designers as Chanel

Chanel

Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

 and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Acting

Smith was cast in her first film role in Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky

Paul Mazursky is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.-Personal life:He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean , a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer. Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from...

's Faithful

Faithful (film)

Faithful is a comedy film released in 1996 about a wife, her husband and a hit man. It was directed by Paul Mazursky and produced by Robert De Niro and written by Chazz Palminteri....

, on a referral from Robert DeNiro that stemmed from her Casino

Casino (film)

Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...

auditions. She also appeared in The Funeral, directed by Abel Ferrara

Abel Ferrara

Abel Ferrara is an American film screenwriter and director. He is best known as an independent filmmaker of such films as The Driller Killer , Ms. 45 , King of New York , Bad Lieutenant and The Funeral .-Early life:Ferrara was born in the Bronx of Italian and Irish descent...

, and Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand

Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

's The Mirror Has Two Faces

The Mirror Has Two Faces

The Mirror Has Two Faces is a 1996 American romance film produced and directed by Barbra Streisand, who also stars. The screenplay by Richard LaGravenese is based on the 1958 French film Le Miroir à deux faces written by André Cayatte and Gérard Oury, which focused on a homely woman who becomes a...

. She played Susan Lefferts, a Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...

 lookalike, in Curtis Hanson

Curtis Hanson

Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...

's L.A. Confidential

L.A. Confidential (film)

L.A. Confidential is a 1997 American film based on James Ellroy's 1990 novel of the same title, the third book in his L.A. Quartet. Both the book and the film tell the story of a group of LAPD officers in the 1950s, and the intersection of police corruption and Hollywood celebrity...

. Smith's resemblance to Hayworth came into play again with a role in HBO's cable telefilm The Rat Pack

The Rat Pack (film)

The Rat Pack is a 1998 HBO TV movie about the Rat Pack. The movie stars Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin, Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr., and Angus Macfadyen as Peter Lawford....

. She also had a role in American Beauty

American Beauty (film)

American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged magazine writer who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela...

. Her biggest role to date has been as the star of the Cinemax

Cinemax

Cinemax, sometimes abbreviated as simply "Max", is a collection of premium television networks that broadcasts primarily feature films, along with softcore erotica, original action series, documentaries and special behind-the-scenes features. Cinemax is operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a...

 TV series Sin City Diaries, which debuted in 2007. She played Angelica, a Las Vegas entertainment consultant who plans activities for casinos' high-roller guests. Overall, she has played various roles in several 1990's feature films and television series. Since 2000, she has appeared primarily in films.

Reality television appearances

Smith appeared as a cast member during the second season of the VH1

VH1

VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...

 television show Celebrity Rehab, which depicted her 16-year struggle with opiate

Opiate

In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...

 and alcohol addiction. She subsequently appeared in the 2009 series Sober House, a Celebrity Rehab spin-off focusing on a sober living environment

Sober living environment

Sober living environments are facilities used by addicts recovering from substance abuse, which serve as an interim environment between rehab and a return to their former lives. SLEs grew out of a need to have safe and supportive place for people to live while they were in recovery...

. She subsequently appeared in the 2009 VH1 series Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew

Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew

Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew is a VH1 reality television show that documents people being treated for sexual addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. Premiering on November 1, 2009, Sex Rehab is a spin-off of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, in...

. During these appearances, she recounted hers and her mother's histories with addiction and co-dependency, which began when Smith was a teenager, and how her experiences with date rape

Date rape

"Date rape", often referred to as acquaintance rape, is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by a new acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without mutual consent....

 and prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

 played a part in those addictions.

That same year, Smith and other alumni of Celebrity Rehab appeared as panel speakers to a new group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center. Her appearance, which marked a year and a half of sobriety for her, was aired in the third season episode "Triggers".

Personal life

In a January TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

story on Celebrity Rehab, Dr. Drew Pinsky

Drew Pinsky

David Drew Pinsky , best known as Dr. Drew, is an American board-certified internist, addiction medicine specialist, and radio and television personality. He has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show Loveline since the show's inception in 1984. On television, he hosts the talk show Dr...

 stated she was living with her mother in Los Angeles, and "doing stupendous work...She's someone who reaches out and is an inspiration and of service to other patients."

Legal matters

Smith's name surfaced in connection with the January 2008 bankruptcy of the entertainment payroll firm Axium. A lawsuit alleged the company's partners misused funds by renting a Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 apartment for Smith, paying for her car and issuing "numerous large payments" to Smith, which they explained by calling her a "consultant" to the company.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1996	Faithful	Debbie
	The Funeral	Bridgette
	The Mirror Has Two Faces	Felicia on video
1997	Laws of Deception Laws of Deception Laws of Deception is an erotic suspense thriller produced in 1997. Written by Rollin Jarrett and directed by Joey Travolta, it stars C. Thomas Howell, James Russo, Amber Smith, Nick Mancuso and Brian Austin Green.-Plot Synopsis:...	Elise Talbot
	Lowball	Paula
	Sleeping Together	Cathy
	Red Shoe Diaries 7: Burning Up	Alia	Segment: "Runway"
	Private Parts Private Parts (1997 film) Private Parts is a 1997 American biographical comedy film produced by Ivan Reitman and released by Paramount Pictures. Written by Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko, the film is an adaptation of the 1993 best-selling book of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, who stars as himself. It...	Julie
	L.A. Confidential	Susan Lefferts
	Def Jam's How to Be a Player	Amber
1998	Mars	Sheila
1999	American Beauty American Beauty (film) American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged magazine writer who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela...	Christy Kane
2000	Deception	Vanessa Rio
	The Midnight Hour	Alex	Alternative titles: In the Midnight Hour & Tell Me No Lies
	Dirk and Betty	Beautiful Canyon Girl
2001	Reasonable Doubt	Charlie	Alternative titles: Crime Scene & The Baptist
	Tomcats Tomcats (film) Tomcats is a 2001 American comedy film written and directed by Gregory Poirier.- Plot :The story concerns a group of guys who have made a deal to each invest in a fund, which would be paid to the last remaining bachelor of the group...	Gorgeous Redhead
	How High How High How High is a 2001 stoner comedy starring Method Man and Redman, written by Dustin Lee Abraham, and director Jesse Dylan's debut feature film. Entertainment Weekly rated it third in their "Best Stoner Movie" top ten list...	Professor Garr
2002	New Suit	Jennifer
2003	Dead End Dead End (2003 film) Dead End is a 2003 horror film directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa.-Plot:On Christmas Eve, a father named Frank Harrington is driving through California with his family consisting of his wife Laura , his son Richard , his daughter Marion and her boyfriend Brad , to have Christmas...	Lady in White
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Inferno		Television movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
1993–1995	Red Shoe Diaries Red Shoe Diaries Red Shoe Diaries is an erotic drama series that aired on the American cable television network Showtime from 1992 to 1997 and distributed by Playboy Entertainment overseas...	The Model	2 episodes
1997	Head Over Heels Head Over Heels (UPN TV series) Head over Heels is a 1997 TV series, that aired briefly on UPN.Jack and Warren Baldwin are two brothers who take over the operation of "Head over Heels", a South Beach, Florida, video dating service founded by their mother....	Rachel	1 episode
	Friends Friends Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...	Maria the Gym Lady	Episode: "The One with the Ballroom Dancing"
1998	The Rat Pack	Broad at casino	Television movie
	V.I.P. V.I.P. (TV series) V.I.P. is an American action/comedy-drama series starring Pamela Anderson. Created by J. F...	Davina	Episode: "Beats Working at a Hot Dog Stand"
	Pacific Blue Pacific Blue (TV series) Pacific Blue is an American crime drama series about a team of police officers with the Santa Monica Police Department who patrolled its beaches on bicycles. The show ran for five seasons on the USA Network, from March 2, 1996 to April 9, 2000, with a total of one hundred and one episodes...	Diane Verne	1 episode
1999	Silk Stalkings Silk Stalkings Silk Stalkings is a TV crime drama originally shown on CBS in 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package, and rebroadcast on the USA Network. After CBS ended the Crimetime experiment in 1993, the series ran exclusively on USA until its finale in the...	Virginia	2 episodes
2007	Sin City Diaries	Angelica	13 episodes
2010	Lingerie Lingerie (TV series) Lingerie is a softcore pornographic television series, created by John Quinn, that has been airing on Cinemax since its premiere in July 2009. The second season premiered in October 2010.-Synopsis:...	Giovanna	13 episodes

External links

• Amber Smith official site