Mimi Rogers
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Since making her screen acting debut 25 years ago, statuesque actress Mimi Rogers managed to transcend her early roles which fixated on her physical attributes and segue gracefully into more substantial character roles, which she imbued with an appealing worldliness. In addition to improving with age as an actress, Rogers was able to make inroads into producing and developing projects.
Born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, FL, on Jan. 27, 1956, she spent much of her early childhood in transit, moving to various states (as well as a stint in the UK) before settling in Southern California. An exceptional student, Rogers graduated from high school at age 14, but traded college for considerable community service. A member of the Church of Scientology since childhood, Rogers married Church counselor Jim Rogers in 1977, but the couple divorced in 1980.
Shortly after that, she made her screen debut on a pair of "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87) episodes. More TV guest work soon followed, including gigs on "Quincy" (NBC, 1976-83) and "Magnum, P.I." (CBS, 1980-88). Her first acting notices came with a regular role on the short-lived fashion series "Paper Dolls" (ABC, 1984), which was followed by more substantial parts in TV-movies and features, including "Gung Ho" (1986) and "Street Smart," for which she received positive press as Christopher Reeve's love interest.
But it was Ridley Scott's neo-noir "Someone To Watch Over Me" (1987) that brought Rogers fully into the spotlight. Playing a Park Avenue socialite who witnesses a murder and, in the process of being protected by him, becomes the object of working class cop Tom Berenger's desire, Rogers lit up the screen. Her physical beauty and smoky delivery reminded several critics of classic Hollywood femme fatales like Barbara Stanwyck and Gloria Grahame. Also notable was the chemistry between the two leads from different worlds. While not a smash hit, the movie earned a sort of cult following in the years since its release.
Unfortunately, before Rogers was able to capitalize fully on her newfound leading lady status, she found herself gracing the gossip pages instead. In 1987, the Scientologist married newly-minted "Top Gun" star Tom Cruise - a union which ended in 1990 - somewhat acrimoniously, if one was to infer from her oblique references in interviews at that time. Rogers piqued the curiosity of many, when years after the split, she told Playboy, "Tom was seriously thinking of becoming a monk. And he thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument. It became obvious we had to split." As the person who first introduced Cruise to the Scientology, Rogers reportedly also led others to the church, including Sonny Bono and football player John Brodie, for whom she served as auditor.
Following the divorce from Cruise, Rogers' budding film career also faltered during this period, as her next three starring roles were all in middling to failed projects like "Hider in the House" (1989), "The Mighty Quinn," and the unfortunate remake of "Desperate Hours" (1990). But Rogers wisely took these developments in stride and shifted her focus to more character-driven parts and independent films, where she found her richest roles thus far. A small, dramatic part as a seductive photographer in Oliver Stone's "The Doors" (1991) first signaled her intentions. Rogers quickly followed this with "The Rapture" (1991), Michael Tolkin's ambitious drama about a woman swept up in born-again Christianity. Rogers received excellent reviews for her performance, and the second phase of her career - as a savvy, mature, and sexual woman, which was driven home in no uncertain terms by a 1993 Playboy pictorial - was essentially established. From this point on, she divided her appearances between television features (the 1992 thriller "Ladykiller;" the 1993 true-crime miniseries "Bloodlines: Murder in the Family"), indie movies (Nicolas R g's very sexy "Full Body Massage" (1995), which featured one of Rogers' first nude scenes; Steve Buscemi's "Trees Lounge" (1996)), and big-budget Hollywood features. Rogers scored the most positive ink from the latter medium, appearing in the film version of "Lost in Space" (1998) and Barbara Streisand's "The Mirror Has Two Faces" (1996), in which once again, Rogers provided the film's high point - this time of the comical sort. Though most of her films were dramas, Rogers began showing a knack for comedy, as illustrated in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997), where she played Austin's '60s-era partner, Mrs. Kensington.
That same year, Rogers began exploring moviemaking from the production side, and after shepherding a 1997 TV movie, "Tricks," she partnered with Chris Ciaffa to produce several excellent films for cable, including the Holocaust drama "The Devil's Arithmetic" (1999) with Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy; "Harlan County War" (2000) with Holly Hunter; and "Charms for the Easy Life" (2002) starring Gena Rowlands. In addition to their films, Rogers and Ciaffa produced a daughter, Lucy Julia, and a son, Charlie.
The last five years were exceptionally busy ones for Rogers. She found the time to make repeat appearances on shows like "The X-Files" (Fox, 1993-2002) in 1999, give challenging performances in Hollywood films like "The Door in the Floor" (2005), guest star on shows like "Las Vegas" (NBC, 2003-08), and even join series television with her comical role in the office sitcom "The Loop" (Fox, 2006). Rogers also found time to indulge a passion for competitive poker, and served on the board of directors of the World Poker Tour.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1979
Early acting credit, a guest spot on an episode of "Hart to Hart"
1981
Had recurring role on the NBC series "Hill Street Blues"
1982
TV-movie debut, "Divorce Wars" (ABC)
1983
First regular TV appearances on "The Rousters" (NBC)
1983
Film acting debut in "Blue Skies Again"
1984
Played Blair on the short-lived series "Paper Dolls" (ABC)
1987
Appeared in the film "Street Smart"
1987
Starred opposite Tom Berenger in the romantic thriller "Someone to Watch Over Me"
1990
Portrayed one of the hostages in the feature remake of "Desperate Hours"
1991
Played a religious seer in "The Rapture"; also featured was David Duchovny
1992
Made cameo appearance as herself in Robert Altman's "The Player"
1993
Posed nude in <i>Playboy</i> and gave a now infamous interview about her ex-husband Tom Cruise in which she claimed he was contemplating becoming a monk; Rogers was quoted as saying that "At least for that period of time, it looked as though marriage wouldn't fit into his overall spiritual need. And he thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument. ... My instrument needed tuning."
1994
Cast as the intended victim of a hit man (Anthony LaPaglia) in "Bulletproof Heart"
1996
Appeared as Barbra Streisand's sister in "The Mirror Has Two Faces"
1997
Executive produced and co-starred in the Showtime movie "Tricks"
1998
Cast as matriarch Maureen Robinson in the feature version of the 1960s TV series "Lost in Space"
1999
Executive produced and co-starred in the Daytime Emmy-nominated Showtime movie "The Devil's Arithmetic"
2000
Served as executive producer of the Showtime original "Harlan County War", starring Holly Hunter
2001
Executive produced and co-starred in the Showtime family movie "My Horrible Year!"
2002
Co-starred with Gena Rowlands and Susan May Pratt in the Showtime movie "Charms for the Easy Life"
2003
Cast in the comedy "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" based on the charaters from the Farrelly brothers hit movie "Dumb and Dumber"
2004
Featured in "The Door in the Floor" based on the novel by John Irving
2006
Co-starred with Rachel Minor, as a psychologist in the indie horror "Penny Dreadful"
Family
Companions
