Jaime King

Jaime King

Active - 2001 - Present  |   Born - Apr 23, 1979 in Omaha, Nebraska, United States  |   Genres - Comedy, Drama, Romance

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Biography by AllMovie

A successful model (and, despite her masculine-sounding first name, most certainly not a man), James King has gone from gracing the pages of the world's leading fashion magazines to a promising career as an actress. Jaime King (James is a stage name) was born in Omaha, NE, in 1979; King's statuesque beauty became evident at a young age, and in her early teens, she began attending a local modeling school. When King was 14, a representative from a New York modeling agency saw her in a show, and a year later King's career was in high gear. King's picture had appeared in Vogue, Glamour, Allure, Harper's Bazaar, and Mademoiselle before she'd reached the age of 17, and she'd also become an in-demand runway model, with her lean good looks being used to promote the latest designs from Christian Dior, Marithe and Francois Girbaud, and Chanel. However, after rising to fame, King succumbed to the pressures and temptations of the high-pressure world of modeling, and she began to abuse alcohol and drugs, leading to a brief addiction to heroin; King had also become romantically involved with photographer David Sorrenti, and after he died of a drug overdose in 1997, King was inspired to get clean and sober and has remained drug-free since then.

King's acting career really took flight, with appearances in the biopic Blow, the blockbuster Pearl Harbor, and the teen-horror satire Happy Campers. The actress would spend the 2000's cementing her role as an in-demand starlet, appearing in films like Sin City, Two for the Money, and Fanboys, as well as numerous TV shows, like The Class, Gary Unmarried, and Heart of Dixie.

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Factsheet

  • Named for Jaime Sommers, the main character on the 1970s TV show Bionic Woman.
  • Attended a local modeling school where, at 14, she was discovered by a New York agent; soon began appearing in magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Cosmopolitan.
  • Went by the name James (her nickname) for a period of time because there was another model in her agency named Jaime. 
  • Was ranked No. 16 on Maxim's 50 Sexiest Women list in 1999.
  • First major acting job was the big-screen crime drama Blow (2001), in which she played the estranged daughter of Johnny Depp's character.
  • Was a regular on several '00s TV series, including Kitchen Confidential, The Class and Gary Unmarried.