Lisa Rinna

Lisa D. Rinna (born Elizabeth Deann Rinna; July 11, 1963) is an American actress and television personality. As an actress, she is best known for her roles as Billie Reed on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and Taylor McBride on Fox's television drama Melrose Place. For eight seasons, Rinna was a main cast member on Bravo's hit reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Other television credits include being a contestant on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice and ABC's Dancing with the Stars, as well as guest-starring roles on series such as Entourage, The Middle, Veronica Mars, Community, and 8 Simple Rules. Rinna made her Broadway debut in Chicago as Roxie Hart in June 2007.

She was the host of Soapnet's talk show Soap Talk (2002–2006), for which she earned four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Show Host. Rinna has also written three books: Starlit; The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book; and The New York Times best-seller Rinnavation. Her other ventures include a fashion line for QVC named The Lisa Rinna Collection and the cosmetics collection Rinna Beauty.

Lisa Rinna was born July 11, 1963 in Newport Beach, California to Lois Irene (née DeAndrade) and Frank Rinna. She is of Italian, Portuguese, and English descent. When Lisa was seven, her older half sister Laurene passed away. During that same year, her family relocated to Medford, Oregon, when her father was transferred there for job-related reasons, and she spent the remainder of her childhood there. Rinna graduated from Medford Senior High School in 1981. After graduating, Rinna moved to San Francisco, California, to pursue a career as a model. She started her career by appearing in commercials. "I think I got my SAG card doing a Mervyn's commercial,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

Acting

At age 21, Rinna appeared in the music video for John Parr's single "Naughty Naughty," as the passenger in Parr's car. Rinna later appeared as the girlfriend of Jason Bateman's character in several episodes of The Hogan Family in 1990. In 1992, she first received national recognition when she originated the character of Billie Reed on NBC's Days of Our Lives. She departed in 1995, though she has reprised the role in 2002, 2012, and 2018. She later switched from daytime to primetime, portraying Taylor McBride on Aaron Spelling's Melrose Place from 1996 to 1998. Rinna has starred in two projects opposite husband Harry Hamlin, the teen crime-drama Veronica Mars, and the Lifetime television film Sex, Lies & Obsession which was based on a true story about her husband Harry Hamlin's sex addiction and alcoholism. Her previous Lifetime film, Another Woman's Husband, boasted one of the highest ratings for a movie on Lifetime since 1999. In 2001, Rinna played the role of Veronica Simpson in the comedy film Good Advice (2001) alongside Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards.

From June to July 2007, Rinna starred in the Broadway production of Chicago, in the role of Roxie Hart, alongside her husband, who played the role of Billy Flynn. In 2007, she portrayed Donna Devaney on HBO's Entourage, in the episode "Malibooty"'. In 2008, she appeared in Disney Channel's musical comedy television series Hannah Montana, in the role of Mr. Dontzig's cousin Francesca. She also guest-starred on an episode of Movie Stars for the WB, the first-ever on-screen appearance she shared opposite her husband. In 2009, Rinna stated that she would love to reprise her role of Taylor McBride on the CW's revival Melrose Place, if given the offer; however, the series was cancelled after only one season. In 2011, Rinna guest-starred on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush as Brooke Diamond. Later that year, it was confirmed that Rinna would again reprise the role of Billie Reed on Days of Our Lives. She reported to work in December, with her first scenes airing March 9, 2012. However, in August 2012, it was confirmed by The Huffington Post that Rinna would once again leave the soap to develop a panel-focused talk show. She had guest roles in several television series, including C.S.I., The Hotwives of Las Vegas, The Guest Book, Awkward. and This Close.

Hosting and reality television

From 2002 to 2006, Rinna was the host of Soap Talk, the daily lifestyle show that aired on Soapnet, for which she received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations. In 2006, Rinna competed in the second season of Dancing with the Stars with professional dancer Louis van Amstel. She was eliminated in round seven based on audience voting, despite having higher marks from the judges than fellow celebrity dancer Jerry Rice. In August 2007, Rinna replaced Joan Rivers as the host of TV Guide Network's red carpet coverage. In addition to subsequently guest-hosting Live with Regis and Kelly, Rinna also hosted the TV makeover program Merge on Lifetime.

In 2008, TV Guide reported that Rinna and Hamlin had signed a deal to create a reality television series based on their family life. The series, titled Harry Loves Lisa, premiered on TV Land on October 6, 2010, and ran for 6 episodes. In 2010, she was also featured as a guest judge on the fourth episode of the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In 2011, Rinna participated in season 4 of The Celebrity Apprentice. She was eliminated after being the project manager on the second task, writing and performing a children's book. Rinna returned to the show in its sixth season as one of the "All-Stars" contestants. After being eliminated from that roster, she appeared on the May 13, 2013 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with Lil Jon to talk about their time on the show. In 2014, she was one of the contestants on ABC's game show Sing Your Face Off.

In 2014, Rinna joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for the show's fifth season. Los Angeles Times wrote that since joining the show, "she's endeared herself to viewers with her self-deprecating attitude—poking fun at herself, including her enhanced lips and the haircut she's sported for decades. And she's had a hand in some of the show's most memorable moments." She departed the show after the twelfth season and cited it as a joint decision by herself and Bravo.

Modeling

In 1998, Rinna, while six months pregnant with Delilah Belle Hamlin, the first of Harry Hamlin's and her two daughters, posed for a nude pictorial ("Melrose Mom," its title, paid tribute to her role in Melrose Place) and cover shoot for the September issue of Playboy magazine. She later recounted the instructions given to her by Playboy photographer Deborah Anderson: "'I do not want you long and sinewy and angular and muscular. I want you soft...' This was really hard for me because being 35 years old and posing for Playboy, you want to amp it up." In May 2009, she posed again for Playboy and, this time, was also its cover model.

She has also graced the covers of CVLUX, Living Well, Soap Opera Magazine and Soap Opera Digest. Rinna has appeared in commercials and print ads throughout her career. In 2008, she appeared in print ads for Mars Inc's M&M candies with Joey Fatone as part of the "There's an M&M in everyone" advertising campaign. In 2012, Rinna appeared in an infomercial for abdominal muscle toner "The Flex Belt" alongside Adrianne Curry, Denise Richards and Janet Evans. She has appeared in a television commercial for Taco Bell and infomercial for Winsor Pilates. In 2012 to benefit the charity Dress for Success, she modeled an adult incontinence brief made by Depend under a tight-fitting evening gown. She appeared in print ads and commercials for Depend and, according to reports, Depend paid her $2 million to be their celebrity spokesperson. In September 2019, she walked the runway for Kyle Richards' and Shahida Clayton's new women's clothing brand at New York Fashion Week.

In 2008, she released a series of workout videos called Dance Body Beautiful.

Fashion

Rinna and her husband Harry Hamlin jointly owned the Belle Gray clothing boutique in Sherman Oaks, California in 2011. They closed the store in 2012 because, by then, both had grown too busy with their respective acting careers to manage it. In June 2019, Rinna launched an activewear collaboration with retailer Goldsheep. Proceeds from the collaboration benefited The Trevor Project, a national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide-prevention services to LGBTQ youth.

QVC

In April 2012, Rinna brought her collection to QVC as the Lisa Rinna Collection, which has been a success.

Cosmetics

In September 2020, Rinna announced that she will be launching Rinna Beauty, with its lip kits named Birthday Suit, Legends Only, and No Apologies.

Beverages

In August 2022, Rinna announced on an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills she is in the process of entering the alcoholic beverage industry with a product called Rinna Rosé.

In popular culture

Rinna's staple bangs-and-back hairstyle and her cosmetically enhanced lips have made her an easily recognisable figure in popular culture.

The introduction of Rinna on Season 5 of RHOBH is said to have 'saved' the series after significantly low ratings the previous season. She previously was considered to become an original cast member for its first season, however executive producer Andy Cohen stated that Rinna, as a famous public figure already, didn't need to be there from the start and first must let the other women establish themselves and the show first. It is one of the first examples pertaining to the Housewives trope of casting already publicly-established women, for example, coming after Kandi Burruss of Atlanta.

Rinna's hyperbolic and exaggerated communication style is synonymous with her character on RHOBH and screen-grabs and scenes from her time on the show have garnered extensive attention in meme-form, such as Rinna crying after a conflict with Kim Richards at a reunion show, and smashing a glass at a restaurant in Amsterdam after Richards threatened to expose some information about Rinna's husband. This scene is considered to be a defining moment from the show and the entire franchise and has been parodied, such as on RuPaul's Drag Race. Rinna has popularised phrases like "Own it!" and "Don't talk about my husband".

A running joke in the public sphere surrounding Rinna, sometimes dubbed the "QVC queen", is her willingness to try anything and everything to put her name out there and 'secure a check', whether that be on Housewives or within other brands, one popular one being the front-woman for adult diaper brand Depends. Additionally, in 2022, a resurgence of a promotional image from confectionary company M&M in collaboration with The Oscars depicted Rinna as an M&M on the red carpet of The Academy Awards. The 'Lisa Rinna M&M' became an instant meme of Twitter and TikTok, usually accompanied by the song "After Like" by K-Pop girl group Ive. Additionally, in her most recent appearing seasons on RHOBH, Rinna is the self-professed villain of the show, and has had multiple feuds with her cast members, famously including Brandi Glanville, Kim Richards, Yolanda Hadid, Lisa Vanderpump, Dorit Kemsley, Camille Grammer, Denise Richards, Garcelle Beauvais, Sutton Stracke and Kathy Hilton. Hilton has stated if Rinna and fellow cast member Erika Girardi star in the upcoming thirteenth season, she will not return.

Rinna married actor Harry Hamlin on March 29, 1997, in Beverly Hills, California. The couple have two daughters, Delilah Belle (born June 10, 1998) and Amelia Gray (born June 13, 2001). Rinna is also stepmother to Hamlin's son Dimitri Alexander from his relationship with Ursula Andress.

She has acknowledged having plastic surgery and having silicone, Botox and Juvéderm injections. Although she remains fond of Botox, she has said that using Juvéderm was a mistake.

In June 2021, Backgrid, a celebrity photograph agency, sued Rinna for copyright infringement after she posted eight of their photographs to her instagram, where she has almost 3 million followers. The company has requested damages of $1.2 million. Other celebrities, such as Emily Ratajkowski, Ariana Grande, Gigi Hadid, and Jennifer Lopez have also been sued for posting paparazzi photographs on their instagrams. Rinna has called the lawsuit "shocking" because she and the paparazzi have always been on good terms.

On November 15, 2021, Rinna announced that her mother Lois, who was featured in The Real Housewives franchise, had died after suffering a stroke.

Theater