Lisa Rinna

In the realm of television, few can boast such an enduring and prolific career as small-screen queen Lisa Rinna. From a pair of successful runs on the long-running daytime drama Days of Our Lives to a two-year stint on Aaron Spelling's wildly successful prime-time soap Melrose Place, Rinna's high-class sensuality and unwavering professionalism have served her well in a wide variety of roles ranging from grief-stricken mother to scheming vixen. Following her feature debut opposite Oliver Reed in the revenge-minded girls-and-guns opus Captive Rage, the Medford, OR, native flirted with small-screen stardom with a recurring role on the short-lived Valerie Harper sitcom Valerie before hitting her stride as scheming beauty Billy Holiday Reed on Days of Our Lives in 1992. A pair of stand-alone Days of Our Lives dramas entitled Night Sins and Winter Heat were quick to follow, and a year after leaving the show proper, Rinna made a name for herself among the Gen-X set as a regular cast member of Spelling's nighttime guilty pleasure Melrose Place. Her sturdy fan base by then encapsulating everyone from TV-happy housewives to hip teens, Rinna wed L.A. Law star Harry Hamlin in 1997. She later appeared opposite her husband in 2001 in the made-for-television sex-addiction drama Sex, Lies and Obsession. A return to her old Days of Our Lives role the following year found Rinna warmly welcomed back into the daytime fold by both her fellow stars and loyal fan base, with small-screen work on such popular shows as Veronica Mars and 8 Simple Rules...for Dating My Teenage Daughter also keeping her very busy and very much visible. Additionally, Rinna found time to co-host the talk show SoapTalk with fellow soap star Ty Treadway on SoapNet. By the time she served hosting duties for the 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards in 2004, her star status was well-cemented. Another hosting job, this time on Lifetime's popular home decoration and improvement reality series Merge, offered an entertaining outlet for Rinna's natural onscreen charm and easygoing attitude -- presenting a softer and warmer side of the actress, who was usually cited for her vamped-up soap roles. - Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide