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Background:
“To allow people in the world to see me as I truly believe I see myself. I wanna
create a character that's really memorable...like Julia Roberts did in Pretty
Woman. I haven’t gotten to the essence of me...I have to be able to give up
these insecurities.” Kari Wuhrer
A sexy, eye-catching actress-singer who achieved appreciation as an MTV VJ and
used that as a springboard for an acting career, Kari Wuhrer came to the
mainstream fame with her role as Maggie Beckett in the FOX series “Sliders”
(1997-2000). The former Ford model also had a variety of roles in such shows as
the sitcom “Married...With Children” (1991), “Swampthing” (1991-93), the
short-lived “Class of ‘96” (1993), “Beverly Hills, 90210” (1994-95), and
“General Hospital” (2005).
On the silver screen, the graduate student from London’s Royal Academy of
Dramatic Arts and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts has a wide-ranging list of
movie credits since making her debut in the 1986 Fire with Fire although almost
none of them are too tremendous. She is maybe known to moviegoers for playing
roles in films like Sensation (1995), Higher Learning (1995), Sean Penn’s The
Crossing Guard (1995), Beyond Desire (1996, with William Forsythe), Stephen
King’s Thinner’ (1996), Anaconda (1997) and the comedy Kissing a Fool (1998).
Off screen, Kari Wuhrer was listed one of Maxim magazine’s “50 sexiest woman”
(1999) and one of FHM’s “100 sexiest women” (2001). She was once also ranked #
64 on Celebrity Skin’s “100 Sexiest Stars of All Time” and #4 in the Celebrity
Nudity Database most popular actresses (1999). The brown-haired, brown-eyed
beauty had her breast implant removed in 2002 while filming the 2002 movie Eight
Legged Freaks, an exposure she later shared with women’s magazine’s readers by
writing an article illustrating the lack of confidence that lead her to get
implants early in her career and the sense of self-acceptance she acquired. In a
more private note, Wuhrer has been married twice. She was married to rock
musician Daniel Salin from 1995 until 1999, and is now the wife of James Scura,
whom she married since 2003. She currently resides in Hollywood, California,
with her husband, Scura, and their two children, son Enzo (born in 2004) and
daughter Evangeline Lotus (born in 2006). Her romantic life has also been linked
to rock singer Dean Davidson (dated in the late 80s).
Dawaywe
Childhood and Family:
Born Kari Samantha Wührer, on April 28, 1967, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Kari
Wührer is the daughter of Andrew Wuhrer, an ex-police officer and car salesman,
and Karin Wuhrer, a payroll accountant. She knew she wanted to become a
performer as a child that led to her attending acting classes when she turned
13. She later studied drama at New York University, Columbia University, and
with renowned teacher Uta Hagen at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Aside from acting, the attention’s seeker Kari also developed a passion for
music. As a teenager, she sang with a band in nightclubs, and became the
youngest member of a punk rock band called Freudian Slip.
Is of German and Cherokee ancestry, Kari Wührer, who carried nicknames Dawaywe
and Crash, tied the knot with punk rock musician Daniel Salin in 1995, but the
couple divorced after a four year marriage. Four years after the split up, in
2003, Kari tried to start a new family with James Scura, and they welcomed their
first child, a son named Enzo in January 2004. They also have a daughter named
Evangeline Lotus, who was born on March 27, this year.
MTV VJ
Career:
To help fulfill her dream of becoming an actress, the Connecticut girl Kari
Wuhrer took drama classes at age 13 and headed to New York City to start doing
the rounds of auditions. Her attractiveness soon won Wuhrer attention from the
Ford Talent Agency that subsequently signed her as one of their models. Several
TV commercials followed, most notably appearance in Clairol ads, while also
beginning to perform on theater productions. Her first taste in front of the
film camera arrived in 1986 with a bit part in a drama-romance by Duncan Gibbins,
Fire with Fire.
Wuhrer’s TV career gained much boost in the following year when she was
recruited by MTV as a VJ for the network’s popular game show “Remote Control.”
Her VJ status helped the young performer started to get parts in Hollywood like
a two episodic guest appearances in the sitcom “Married...With Children” (1991)
and series’ regulars as Abigail in “Swampthing” (1991-93), as well as femme
fatale Robin Farr in the Fox short-lived “Class of ‘96” (1993). Her success on
MTV also gave Wuhrer opportunities to add her movie credits like in The
Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990, a cameo) and Beastmaster 2: Through the
Portal of Time (1991).
After relocating to Los Angeles, Wuhrer landed more major roles both on the big
screen and the small one. She costarred with Rae Dawn Chong in Boulevard (1994),
where she offered a notable performance as a young prostitute learning the
ropes, had a supporting role in the Lorenzo Lamas-starring vehicle Terminal
Justice (1995) and costarred with Stanley Tucci in the straight-to-video
sexploitation Sex and the Other Man (1995). She continued with fine turns in
films like John Singleton’s Higher Learning (1995), Brian Grant’s Sensation
(1995, starring Eric Roberts), Sean Penn’s The Crossing Guard (1995, starring
Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston), Beyond Desire (1996, co-starring as a sexy
call girl out to capture William Forsythe for the throng) and Stephen King’s
Thinner’ (1996, played a gypsy). On TV, Wuhrer joined the cast of the Aaron
Spelling popular sitcom “Beverly Hills, 90210” in the recurring role of Ariel
Hunter from 1994-1995 and guest starred in an episode of “The Marshal” (1995).
Next up, she played roles in An Occasional Hell (1996), The Undertaker’s Wedding
(1997), Vivid (1997), Red-Blooded American Girl II (1997), The Disappearance of
Kevin Johnson (1997), Touch Me (1997), Ivory Tower (1998), Phoenix (1998,
starring Ray Liotta and Anjelica Huston) and Kate’s Addiction (1999). However,
it was Wuhrer’s appearances in the thriller Anaconda (1997, alongside Jennifer
Lopez, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz and Owen Wilson) and the comedy Kissing a Fool
(1998, starred David Schwimmer and Jason Lee).
While an in-demand film actress, Wuhrer kept on her present on the small screen
by joining the cast of Fox’s sci-fi series “Sliders,” playing the regular Maggie
Beckett opposite Jerry O’Connell. For her role in the show, Wuhrer gained
mainstream popularity and cemented her position as one of Hollywood’s successful
young actresses. She stayed with the Maggie Beckett role until its final episode
in 2000.
After the end of Sliders, Wuhrer was even busier with her work on films.
2000-2002 saw roles in a number of movies such as Sand (2000), G-Men from Hell
(2000), Berserker (2001), Angels Don't Sleep Here (2001), Spider’s Web (2001),
Thy Neighbor’s Wife (2001), the independent The Medicine Show (2002), The Rose
Technique (2002), Killer Love (2002), the campy spider movie Eight Legged Freaks
(2002, starred with David Arquette), Malevolent (2002) and Do It for Uncle Manny
(2002). She made her return to television with two guest roles in “CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation” (2002) and the pilot episode of “CSI: Miami” (also in
2002).
The subsequent year, Wuhrer teamed up with director Damon Dash for the musical
Death of a Dynasty (2003), wherein she appeared as sexy woman No. 2, and was
cast in the starring role opposite Chris McKenna in the Stuart Gordon-helmed
thriller King of the Ants (2003). Vanishing from the big screen film for a
while, Wuhrer made her way back in 2005 with a small part in the thriller
4-Bidden (2005). Actually, in 2005, she made three more movies: Hellraiser:
Deader, The Prophecy: Uprising, and The Prophecy: Forsaken, but almost all went
straight to the video-release. As for TV, in February 2005, Wuhrer became one of
the casts of the long-running soap “General Hospital,” playing the FBI Agent
Reese Marshall and ex- girlfriend of hoodlum Sonny Corinthos (Maurice
Benard).Unfortunately, after only nine months, her role was written dead
following some slight injuries in a train wreck. Disappointed with the decision,
in January 2006, she declared she was taking legal action to General Hospital,
citing that she was fired because of her pregnancy.
“I went to work every day with my demo tape which was like a combo of Pat
Benatar crossed with Axl Rose. I looked like such an out of place Jersey Girl.
Back then I was so into ‘that 80’s heavy metal thing.’ It was so embarrassing, I
was like the Sunset Strip whore, but so was Rick Rubin. He listened to the tape
and was like...”the music sucks, but you were really hot on Remote Control, so
sign here. I was like ‘all right’. Kari Wuhler
Aside from acting, the former member of punk rock band Freudian Slip, Wuhrer,
whose favorite singers are Cat Stevens, Sonic Youth, Radio Head, Flava Flave,
NWA & Ice T, also enjoyed a successful musical career at the end of 1990’s,
thanks to her sensation in MTV’s “Remote Control.” Penning a record deal with
Rick Rubin, she launched her debut album titled Shiny in 1999, which spawned the
hit single “There’s a Drug.” Wuhrer is also capable for playing instruments like
the guitar and the flute.
Awards:
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