20 Facts About Jami Gertz

Jami Gertz was born in Chicago, Illinois, and lived in the suburb of Glenview.

Jami Gertz attended public schools, graduating from Maine East High School.

Jami Gertz's parents are Sharyn and Walter Gertz, who was a builder and contractor, and she has two brothers, Michael and Scott.

Jami Gertz was discovered in a nationwide talent search by Norman Lear and studied drama at NYU.

Jami Gertz had a recurring role on The Facts of Life as Blair's friend and schoolmate Boots St Clair.

Jami Gertz gained more significant attention with a starring role in 1987's Less than Zero, as the friend of a doomed drug addict played by Robert Downey Jr.

Jami Gertz starred in the 1987 film The Lost Boys as Star, the "half vampire" girlfriend, with Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric.

Jami Gertz appeared in films including 1986's Solarbabies and Crossroads, the 1989 film Listen to Me with Kirk Cameron, Don't Tell Her It's Me, and Jersey Girl.

Jami Gertz landed a key-supporting role, in the 1996 blockbuster Twister.

Jami Gertz later played the recurring character Dr Nina Pomerantz during the 1997 season of ER.

Jami Gertz reportedly was offered, but declined, the role of Rachel Green, during pre-production of Friends.

In 2000, Jami Gertz took up a recurring role on the Fox hit Ally McBeal as Kimmy Bishop, John Cage's love interest.

Jami Gertz was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

Jami Gertz returned to this role in one more episode as a guest star in the show's final season in 2002.

Still Standing, a television sitcom in which Jami Gertz co-starred with Mark Addy and which originally aired from 2002 to 2006, was her longest-running and most successful television show to date.

In 2003, Jami Gertz starred as Brandi, a wanted criminal's girlfriend, in Undercover Christmas, and in 2005 Jami Gertz played the lead role in the TV film Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story.

From 2012 to 2014, Jami Gertz starred in the ABC sitcom The Neighbors, in which she played the mother of a human family that moves into a neighborhood populated by residents from another planet.

Jami Gertz has been married to business executive Tony Ressler since 1989.

Jami Gertz represented the Hawks in the NBA draft lottery for the 2018,2019 and 2020 NBA drafts.

Jami Gertz serves as a board director for the Melanoma Research Alliance, the largest nonprofit funder of melanoma research.