Elizabeth Berkley | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Elizabeth Berkley became famous as intelligent, outspoken Jessie Spano on NBC's "Saved by the Bell." She then made one of the most dramatic image changes attempted by a former teen television star when she took the lead role of Nomi Malone in Paul Verhoeven's 1995 film "Showgirls." The movie was savaged by critics and severely damaged Berkley's career at the time, but it subsequently became one of the most famous cult films of its era. Three decades later, "Showgirls" has undergone a substantial cultural reappraisal, with Berkley appearing at anniversary screenings and openly celebrating the audience that embraced it.

After surviving the "Showgirls" backlash, Berkley rebuilt her career with films including "The First Wives Club," "Any Given Sunday," and "Roger Dodger," along with television and theater work. She returned to Jessie Spano as both an actress and producer on Peacock's acclaimed "Saved by the Bell" revival from 2020 to 2021. Her more recent projects have included "Shell" and a guest appearance on the Hulu series "All's Fair."

Early Life

Elizabeth Berkley was born on July 28, 1972, in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Her mother, Jere, owned a gift-basket business, while her father, Fred, was an attorney. She grew up with an older brother named Jason in a Jewish family.

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Berkley developed a passion for dance while still young and trained extensively in ballet and other styles. She traveled to New York to study with professional dancers and performed in ballets and musicals while growing up. She also began modeling as a teenager.

Berkley attended Cranbrook Kingswood School before graduating from North Farmington High School in 1990. She has heterochromia, a condition that gives her eyes slightly different coloring: her right eye is green while her left iris contains both green and brown.

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Early Career

Berkley began auditioning professionally during her teens. Her early television appearances included guest roles on "Gimme a Break!," "Silver Spoons," and "Day by Day," as well as the television movie "Frog."

Her combination of acting ability and dance training eventually led to an audition for a new NBC youth sitcom. Berkley initially tried out for the role of Kelly Kapowski. That part ultimately went to Tiffani Thiessen, but producers were sufficiently impressed with Berkley that they created another principal character for her.

Saved by the Bell

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

Berkley joined "Saved by the Bell" in 1989 as Jessie Spano, one of the closest friends of Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski. Jessie was intelligent, ambitious, politically outspoken, and feminist at a time when those traits were not particularly common for a teenage girl on Saturday morning television.

Berkley starred alongside Thiessen, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, and Dustin Diamond. The series became one of the defining teen shows of the early 1990s and remained enormously popular through syndication long after its original run ended.

Jessie's best-remembered storyline came in the 1990 episode "Jessie's Song." Overwhelmed by schoolwork and other commitments, Jessie begins taking caffeine pills to stay awake and eventually breaks down while singing the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited." Her tearful declaration that she is "so scared" became one of the most frequently referenced and parodied moments in the show's history.

Berkley also appeared in "Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style" and returned as Jessie for the 1994 television movie "Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas."

Saved by the Bell Salary and Residuals

There is no reliable public record establishing Berkley's original per-episode salary for "Saved by the Bell." Comments from several of her co-stars, however, make clear that starring on the enormously popular series did not produce the sort of long-term financial windfall viewers might assume.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar has described the cast's contracts as extremely unfavorable and said the actors made very little from syndication. In 2026, Tiffani Thiessen similarly said the cast had essentially no negotiating leverage, earned little during the original Saturday morning run, and eventually saw their residual payments dwindle to almost nothing.

Those comments do not establish Berkley's individual compensation, but they provide important context. Like the other young actors on "Saved by the Bell," Berkley's financial success had to come largely from the career she built after Bayside rather than decades of lucrative residual checks.

Showgirls

After "Saved by the Bell," Berkley aggressively pursued roles that would allow her to move beyond her teenage television image. Nothing accomplished that more dramatically than "Showgirls."

Directed by Paul Verhoeven from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas, the 1995 film cast Berkley as Nomi Malone, a mysterious young drifter who arrives in Las Vegas and attempts to work her way from a strip club into a major casino production.

Berkley committed fully to the role, including extensive dancing and nudity. The film received an NC-17 rating, making it one of the rare major-studio productions released under that classification.

For starring in the roughly $40 million production, Berkley was paid just $100,000. Director Paul Verhoeven confirmed the figure to the "Los Angeles Times" shortly after the movie's release.

The response to "Showgirls" was brutal. Critics attacked virtually every element of the film, but Berkley absorbed a disproportionate share of the criticism. She was dropped by her agent, and other representatives who had previously expressed interest in signing her reportedly stopped returning her calls.

Berkley has since said the consequences lasted far beyond the initial bad reviews. For roughly two years, she struggled even to secure auditions and felt effectively shut out of an industry in which she had worked since her teens.

The treatment of Berkley eventually became an important part of the film's history. Verhoeven later acknowledged that she had unfairly borne much of the blame and said that, as the director, responsibility for the exaggerated performance style belonged with him.

The Showgirls Reappraisal

"Showgirls" did not disappear.

Instead, repeated cable broadcasts, home video, midnight screenings, drag performances, and an enthusiastic LGBTQ+ following gradually transformed the film into a cult phenomenon. What had once been discussed almost exclusively as an infamous failure began attracting more serious analysis of its satire, sexuality, excess, portrayal of show business, and deliberately heightened performances.

The movie's rehabilitation accelerated over the following decades. Filmmakers, critics, academics, and younger audiences increasingly reassessed "Showgirls," while Berkley's portrayal of Nomi became inseparable from the movie's cult appeal.

Berkley eventually began appearing at screenings and enthusiastically engaging with fans of the film. During its 30th anniversary in 2025, she participated in a series of events celebrating "Showgirls" and reflected on the striking difference between the hostility surrounding its release and the affection now directed toward it.

She has described meeting younger viewers who had no idea that the movie was once considered a career-destroying disaster because they had encountered it only as a celebrated cult film. Berkley has said that the enthusiasm of the film's fans helped transform what had once been an extremely painful experience into something she could celebrate.

Career After Showgirls

Berkley began rebuilding remarkably quickly considering the industry backlash. In 1996, she joined Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton in "The First Wives Club."

The comedy became a major commercial success, grossing more than $180 million worldwide. Berkley played Phoebe, the young girlfriend of Hawn's character's ex-husband, and the film helped demonstrate that she remained employable after "Showgirls."

She followed with movies including "The Real Blonde" and "Random Encounter." In 1999, she appeared in Oliver Stone's football drama "Any Given Sunday," starring Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, and Jamie Foxx.

During the early 2000s, Berkley appeared in Woody Allen's "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" and delivered a well-reviewed supporting performance in the independent film "Roger Dodger." She also made guest appearances on television series including "Titus" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Berkley increasingly pursued theater as well. She made her Broadway debut opposite Richard Dreyfuss in a 2004 revival of "Sly Fox" and subsequently appeared Off-Broadway in David Rabe's "Hurlyburly," earning strong notices for her performance.

She later had a recurring role on "CSI: Miami" as Julia Winston, the former girlfriend of David Caruso's Horatio Caine and mother of his son. Other television work included "The L Word," "New Girl," and hosting Bravo's dance competition "Step It Up and Dance."

Dancing with the Stars and Ask Elizabeth

Berkley returned to competitive dancing in 2013 when she joined Season 17 of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Partnered with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy, she finished in sixth place.

The appearance brought her back to a discipline that had shaped much of her childhood and early career.

Berkley had already begun using her experiences in Hollywood to work with teenage girls. In 2006, she launched Ask Elizabeth, initially as a series of workshops in which teenage girls could openly discuss issues involving self-esteem, body image, relationships, bullying, sex, and other pressures.

The program eventually expanded into a website and speaking initiative. In 2011, Berkley published "Ask Elizabeth: Real Answers to Everything You Secretly Wanted to Ask About Love, Friends, Your Body… and Life in General," incorporating questions and experiences gathered through her work with young women.

Return to Saved by the Bell

More than 25 years after leaving Bayside High, Berkley returned as Jessie Spano for Peacock's 2020 continuation of "Saved by the Bell."

The new series reimagined Jessie as a successful author and school guidance counselor with a teenage son attending Bayside. Berkley was heavily involved in determining who Jessie had become as an adult and was protective of ensuring that the character's intelligence and feminism remained central to her identity.

She also served as a producer on the series alongside Mario Lopez and later Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

Rather than pretending the original show had never happened, the new "Saved by the Bell" frequently made fun of its predecessor's most famous moments. Berkley even revisited the caffeine-pill storyline, while the second season incorporated an elaborate sequence referencing "Showgirls," allowing her to poke fun at both of the roles that had defined her public image.

The revival received much stronger critical reviews than many nostalgia-driven television reboots but was canceled after two seasons in 2022.

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Later Career

Berkley continued acting after the "Saved by the Bell" revival while becoming increasingly comfortable embracing the complicated legacy of "Showgirls."

She appeared in Max Minghella's body-horror satire "Shell," starring Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson. The film follows an actress drawn into the sinister world of a powerful wellness company.

In 2025, Berkley also guest-starred on Ryan Murphy's Hulu legal drama "All's Fair," whose ensemble includes Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, and Glenn Close.

Her return to higher-profile work coincided with the 30th anniversary celebration of "Showgirls." Rather than attempting to distance herself from Nomi Malone, Berkley spent the anniversary participating in screenings, discussions, and interviews about the film and the unusual trajectory it had taken from critical disaster to cultural institution.

Personal Life

Elizabeth married Greg Lauren on November 1, 2003, at the Esperanza resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Greg is an artist and fashion designer who previously worked as an actor and model. His uncle Ralph Lauren designed Elizabeth's wedding dress.

Although she continues using Elizabeth Berkley professionally, her legal name is Elizabeth Berkley Lauren. Elizabeth and Greg welcomed their son, Sky Cole Lauren, in July 2012.

Berkley has been active in animal-welfare causes and has worked with PETA, including appearing in one of the organization's vegetarian campaigns.

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Awards and Recognition

Berkley received multiple Young Artist Award nominations during her years on "Saved by the Bell." In 1996, she shared the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble with the cast of "The First Wives Club."

Her most famous movie originally brought a very different kind of recognition. "Showgirls" swept the 1996 Golden Raspberry Awards, with Berkley receiving Worst Actress and Worst New Star. In one of the film industry's stranger reversals, Paul Verhoeven became the first director to personally attend the Razzies and accept his awards.

Over time, the cultural story surrounding "Showgirls" changed dramatically. Berkley went from being ridiculed for the movie to being welcomed at sold-out anniversary screenings celebrating it. Thirty years after a performance that threatened to end her career, Nomi Malone had become arguably as enduring a part of Berkley's legacy as Jessie Spano.

Berkley

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