Lisa Marie Smith (
born December 5th, 1968 in
Piscataway,
New Jersey), more commonly referred to as simply
Lisa Marie, is an
American model and actress.
She was raised by her father and grandparents. Her grandmother died when
she was only
four years old and she attended
Catholic school as a child. She studied ballet for eight years at the New
Jersey Ballet and
learned classical
piano. Lisa moved to
New York City at age 15 to study theater,
dance and
music. She was a model for
Robert Mapplethorpe and was featured in photographer
Bruce Weber's ad campaign for designer
Calvin Klein's
Obsession perfume. She would
go on to appear briefly in Let's Get
Lost, Weber's documentary on the life of jazz trumpeter
Chet Baker, and had a small role in
one of
Woody Allen's film
Alice.
When She met film director Tim Burton at a nightclub on New Year’s in 1991, she had just quit modeling for Calvin Klein. According to a Boston Herald article, they claimed to have bonded over mutually witnessing two UFO sightings in California. She was engaged to him from Valentine's Day 1992 to 2001 and appeared in most of his productions made during this time.
Many of her early films emphasized her voluptuous physique (in particular Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood and Breast Men), but Lisa Marie has also given notable performances in numerous independent features.
She has appeared in numerous magazines, including Maxim and Esquire. she’s also had photographs that she’s taken herself exhibited and published in magazines such as Vanity Fair.
According to a June 2004 news story, Lisa claims that Burton owes her $5.4 million as part of a lucrative settlement he promised her. She ended up selling Burton-related memorabilia at a yard sale that she hosted.
--Wikipedia
