| Erika Eleniak was born on September 29, 1969 in Glendale, a small suburb of Los Angeles, California. Her father, who was of Ukrainian decent, had moved from Canada to Hollywood in the 1960s in an attempt to become an actor. There he married, and quickly divorced Erika's mother. Erika is the eldest daughter of a family of four girls and one boy. During the late 1970s, Erika's father introduced her to her future career in the movie industry when his then girlfriend got Erika a part to model children's clothing for TV commercials. As an adolescent she moved on to doing advertisements for hair-products and motorcycles. In 1982 she was an uncredited child in the Smash hit "ET: The Extra-Terrestrial." In high school her life took a turn for the worst, as she plunged into drugs and alcohol. Her redemption came in the form of Steve Ferguson: a young charismatic crippled man who became Erika's guiding light. He signed her up to Alcoholics Anonymous in 1988, and helped her through her detoxification. The situation became complicated when Steve's father (Robert) and Erika's mother were wed. Erika for a short period of time had contemplated marrying Steve, but never did. Erika went on to have several small roles in Television. She played Stephanie Curtis, Scott Baio's on-screen and off-screen girlfriend in "Charles in Charge," and Jamie Coburn in "Broken Angel." In 1989 Erika wanted to be in Playboy to help boost her career, and Steve helped her realize that dream when he contacted a Playboy photographer. Playboy featured her on two covers and later as the Centerfold in the July 1989 issue. Later that year Erika won her role in Baywatch as Shauni McClain. She was the lead female character for three seasons until Pamela Anderson replaced her in 1992. While working on the Baywatch series, Erika met Billy Warlock a former Soap Opera star and current Baywatch Co-star. Neither of them were single, but their friendship slowly changed into love. He was the reason why Erika ended up leaving the show after only two seasons. The relationship didn't last due to Billy's jealous nature. He later confessed in an interview, "I can't bear anyone else to see her body." Her return to the movie scene was memorable one. In 1992, she played Tate Jordan, a Playboy Playmate hired to do a striptease for the Captain of a Naval Ship. "Under Siege" with Steven Seagal was a huge success. She attempted to capitalize on this success by staring as Ellie May in the screen adaptation of "The Beverly Hillbillies", but the film flopped. She then starred in the Romantic Comedy by Dennis Hopper entitled "Chasers." William McNamara, her partner in this film, also became her partner in life. Erika went on to film another movie with William called "Girl in the Cadillac." The two seemed very happy together, and were engaged, but never married. Erika also tried her hand at making an interactive game during 1995. In "Panic in the Park", she played identical twins. The game never really took off. She continued to make several more independent films including "A Pyromaniac's Love Story", "Bordello of Blood", and "87th Precinct: Heatwave." In 1997 she met her future husband, Philip Goglia. They were wed on May 22, 1998 and resided together in Marina Del Rey, CA until their divorce. Since then Erika has kept herself busy by starring in several other films. These include, "The Pandora Project" with Daniel Baldwin, "Final Voyage" with Ice-T, Stealth Fighter also with Ice T, "The Opponent," "Vegas, City of Dreams" with Angelica Bridges, Second to die, Snowbound, Betrayal, and Shakedown. After filming Snowbound Erika was so enthralled by the city of Calgary that she purchased a home there. She is still making movies and a few more are slated to come out next year. Erika is a very friendly person and has recently opened up a website about herself. You can contact her at erika@erikaeleniaksofficialsite.com. |
