Jami Gertz is an American actress turned sports team owner best known for her roles in the teen black comedy The Lost Boys (1987), disaster adventure Twister (1996), and her character of Judy Miller in the CBS sitcom called Still Standing (2002–2006).
Born Name
Jami Beth Gertz
Nick Name
Jami
Sun Sign
Scorpio
Born Place
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Residence
- Beverly Park, Los Angeles, California, United States
- Malibu, California, United States
- Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Nationality
Education
Jami belongs to the class of 1983 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois.
Gertz shared in an interview that she missed out on her last 2 years of high school due to work and never really attended full-time college. However, she did study drama at New York University.
Occupation
Actress, Co-owner of the NBA team Atlanta Hawks, Owns a stake in the Baseball team Milwaukee Brewers / Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Family
- Father – Walter Gertz (Contractor)
- Mother – Sharyn Gertz
- Siblings – Michael Gertz (Brother), Scott Gertz (Brother)
- Others – Debra Ressler (Sister-in-Law) (Broadway Producer), Leon David Black (Brother-in-Law / Debra’s Husband) (Equity Firm Owner, Co-founder of Apollo Global Management), Richard Ressler (Brother-in-Law) (Founder of CIM Investment Management)
Manager
She is represented by –
- Innovative Artists Talent Agency, Santa Monica, California, United States
- Catherine Jeffery ID PR (Publicist)
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 5 in or 165 cm
Weight
58 kg or 128 lbs
Boyfriend / Spouse
Jami has dated –
- (1983)
- (1985-1986)
- Antony P. Ressler (1987–Present) – The actress met her husband on a blind date set up by her then publicist Susan Geller. He is an investment banker turned venture capitalist. Owing to his various investments, he became a billionaire private equity tycoon and gives back to society through philanthropy work. Tony and Jami got married in June 1989. Together they have 3 sons namely, Oliver Jordan Ressler (b. 1992), Nicholas Simon Ressler (b. 1995), and Theo Ressler (b. 1998).
Race / Ethnicity
White
She has American, French, and German ancestry.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Has a slender long face with high cheekbones
Brand Endorsements
- She was cast in the TV commercials for Diet Pepsi in the 1980s with and for a video game called Dungeons and Dragons in 1984.
- She also served as the brand ambassador of the Kathy Kaehler Workout System in 1992.
- Jami is also the public face and ambassador for the NBA team Atlanta Hawks.
Religion
Judaism, Member of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple (Jewish Congregation)
Jami Gertz Facts
- The actress originally wanted to become a figure skater.
- She started acting at the age of 16 and was first discovered by celebrated TV writer and producer, Norman Lear, through a nationwide talent search.
- She became passionate about acting after getting cast as Dorothy Gale in her school production of The Wizard of Oz.
- Her feature film debut Endless Love (1981) was also ’s first movie. Both the actors appeared in minor supporting roles.
- Gertz auditioned for the role of Rachel Green in the iconic sitcom Friends and was considered for it before it was bagged by .
- She also auditioned for the female lead roles in Pretty Woman (1990) and Speed (1994).
- In the early 1990s, Jami relocated to Paris, France to work as a scent designer for Lanvin.
- In 2010, she found Lime Orchard Productions but shut it down after 5 years due to losing millions of dollars of her money. Her production house had only one success, Chris Weitz’s A Better Life (2011).
- Jami remarked in an interview that people often presume that her billionaire husband was already rich when she married him. But as a working actress in the last 1980s, she earned a lot more money than he made as an investment banker. She was the one to pay for their first vacation as a couple and bought their first house. Nevertheless, Gertz fell in love with Tony because he was a nice guy with a stable job.
- The actress is a devout Jew since childhood. She shared that she had to miss tests and assignments in high school to observe Jewish Holidays. When she became an actress, she would implement clauses in her contracts stating that she would not work during Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana. Despite that, Jami stated that she never lost a job due to her religious convictions. In fact, it helped her visit synagogues all over the world.
Featured Image by Jeremiah Garcia / / CC BY-2.0
Facts of Jami Gertz
- full nameJami Gertz
- Date of Birth October 28, 1965
- Age 58 years 11 months
- Horoscope Scorpio
- Lucky Number 5
- Lucky Stone Garnet
- Lucky Color Purple
- Best Match for Marriage Capricorn, Cancer, Pisces
- weight58 kg
- height5 ft 5 in