Sin City Diaries

Background:

Amber Smith branched out to acting in 1992 following a respected career in the world of modeling. She got her big break in Paul Mazursky's “Faithful” (1996) and went on to appear in many movies, including Abel Ferrara's “The Funeral” (1996), Barbra Streisand's “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996), Betty Thomas' “Private Parts” (1997), “Laws of Deception” (1997), Curtis Hansen's “L.A. Confidential” (1997), Sam Mendes' “American Beauty” (1999), “Tomcats” (2001) and “Dead End” (2003). On the small screen, she is probably best known for her role of Angelica in the short lived series “Sin City Diaries” (Cinemax, 2007). She has also appeared in TV shows such as “Friends,” “Just Shoot Me,” “VIP,” “Silk Stalkings” as well as in VH1's reality show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” and its spin off, “Sober House.” The blue eyed, Tampa, Florida native began her modeling career as a teenager and quickly found a success in Paris and throughout Europe. During her heyday as a supermodel, she appeared in many publications, including “Playboy,” done a number of advertising campaigns and walked the runways for big names from Chanel to Jean Paul Gaultier.

Genius

Childhood and Family:

Amber Smith was born on March 2, 1971, in Tampa, Florida. Her father, Russell Conway Smith, was a former NFL player who played running back for the San Diego Chargers for four seasons. He died on April 11, 2001 at age 56. Her mother is model Carol Smith. Amber was a talented student in high school with a 'Genius Level' IQ of 155.

Playboy's Cover Girl

Career:

Amber Smith was spotted at an International Modeling Convention and by age 16, she had begun modeling professionally. She left her hometown for Paris at age 17 to further pursue her career and went on to spend the next four years traveling throughout Europe in search for a breakthrough. Smith's hard work paid off after she dyed her naturally blonde hair red, which gave her a substantial resemblance to '40s and '50s movie star Rita Hayworth. She subsequently appeared in consecutive issues of the “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition”, and was named Esquire's first Vargas Girl of the 1990. She also established herself as the first model of the “Wonder Bra” campaign.

Smith continued to enjoy success with a number of covers and appearances in magazines like “Elle,” “Cosmopolitan,” “Max,” “Vogue” and “Marie Claire.” In 1995, she gained notoriety when she became the cover girl of the March 1995 edition of “Playboy.” She also did advertisements for “L' Oreal Cosmetics,” “Buffalo Jeans,” “Camel” cigarettes, “Volkswagen” automobiles, “Kahlúa” liqueur and “Panama Jack,” among others, and strutted down the catwalks for top designers such as Chanel and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Already famous as a model, Smith began to try another opportunity, and she chose acting. In 1992, she made her debut in “Inferno,” a British TV film special directed by Ellen Von Unwerth and also featured fellow models like Kate Moss, Tyra Banks and Helena Christensen. She appeared in Showtime's erotic drama series “Red Shoe Diaries” in the episodes “Runaway” (1993) and “As She Wishes” (1995) before deciding to head to Los Angeles to more focus on her second career.

“My first year in Hollywood was a virtual comedy of errors. I was told I was too tall, and too beautiful. I found myself being cast to play dead bodies and scantily clad bimbos. My savings dwindling, I still refuse to capitalize on my supermodel status and downplayed it to anyone who recognized me.” Amber Smith

Smith's luck in acting started to change in 1996 with four different film projects under her belt. First appearing in a small role in the Slamdance Film Festival-premiered “Lowball,” directed and written by Demian Lichtenstein and starring Peter Greene, the stunning beauty was cast in her breakout role of Debbie, a womanizing husband's love object, in Paul Mazursky's “Faithful,” which was adapted to screenplay by actor Chazz Palminteri from his own play, and had small parts in the Abel Ferrara gangster movie “The Funeral,” which starring Christopher Walken and Chris Penn, and in the box office hit “The Mirror Has Two Faces,” directed and produced by and starring Barbra Streisand.

Smith further proved she was on the rise in the following year. Following a performance along side Cameron Bancroft, Caprice Benedetti and Manny Perez in the independent film “Sleeping Together,” from filmmaker Hugh Bush, she was cast in the high profile role of Julie in the biopic film “Private Parts,” directed by Betty Thomas and based on the 1993 best-selling autobiography of the same name by radio personality Howard Stern, won her first leading role in Joey Travolta's “Laws of Deception” (1997), opposite James Russo, and unforgettably portrayed Susan Lefferts, a Rita Hayworth lookalike, in Curtis Hansen's “L.A. Confidential,” opposite Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito and David Strathairn. In addition, she showed her comedic flair in Lionel C. Martin's “How to be a Player,” played Sheila in the action/science fiction film “Mars,” helmed by Jon Hess, as well as guested in the TV series “Head Over Heels,” “Friends” (as Maria the Gym Lady) and “Just Shoot Me” (as herself).

In 1998, Smith had an exciting role in the HBO telepic “The Rat Pack,” about the Rat Pack with Ray Liotta playing Frank Sinatra, Joe Mantegna Dean Martin, Don Cheadle Sammy Davis, Jr., Angus Macfadyen Peter Lawford and Bobby Slayton Joey Bishop, and appeared in episodes of Pamela Anderson's “VIP” and USA Network's police drama “Pacific Blue.” Also in that same year, after a two year hiatus from modeling, she was hired to appear in the influential “Wolford” campaign, for which she worked with world class photographer Helmut Newton. Smith closed up the decade with a recurring performance in “Silk Stalkings” (as Virginia) and a small but memorable part of Christy Kane in Sam Mendes' dark comedy film, “American Beauty,” starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and Thora Birch.

Smith costarred with Nero Campbell in the independent film “Deception” and played the leading role of Alex Shepard in the thriller movie “The Midnight Hour,” directed by Emmanuel Itier (both 2000). She also supported Robert Bauer and Maria Pitillo in the indie comedy “Dirk and Betty” (2000), was cast in Eric DelaBarre's thriller “Reasonable Doubt” (2001), appeared with Method Man, Mike Epps and Hector Elizondo in “How High” (2002), a great hip hop film directed by Jesse Dylan and written by Dustin Abraham, and had a memorable part as gorgeous redhead in “Tomcats” (2001), a comedy film helmed by Gregory Poirier and starring Jerry O'Connell, Shannon Elizabeth and Jake Busey. In the comedy film “New Suit” (2002), which won President Award for Best American Indie at the 2002 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, and “Dead End” (2003), an outstanding low budget horror film helmed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, she played the roles of Jennifer and Lady in White, respectively. Costars in the latter film include Ray Wise, Mick Cain, Alexandra Holden, Lin Shaye and Steve Valentine.

After “Dead End,” Smith took a break from acting and did not resume her career until 2007 when she took on the starring role of Angelica in the Cinemax TV series “Sin City Diaries,” opposite Justin Bethancourt and Elena Talan. Debuted on January 1, 2007, the show lasted for a single season of 13 episodes until August 24, 2007. In The next year, she made appearances on 10 episodes of the VH1 reality television show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” where she described her battle with narcotic addiction, and later, in the early 2009, she appeared in the spin off show “Sober House,” which focuses on a sober living environment.

Awards:
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