Best Known As: Mrs. Kensington (the elder) in Austin Powers
Name at birth: Miriam Spickler
Mimi Rogers is the statuesque leading lady who rose to stardom as the glamorous love interest in Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me (1987). Her most prominent roles since then have been as the troubled swinger in The Rapture (1991), the space-age mom in the big screen version of Lost in Space (1998, with William Hurt) and, perhaps most famously, Mrs. Kensington, mother of superspy Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) in the Mike Myers spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). Between acting jobs Rogers has managed to get steady press over the years, partly because of her background in Scientology and past marriage to actor Tom Cruise (1987-90), and partly because she has proudly exhibited her unclothed body in Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine (March 1993) and in films such as 2004's The Door in the Floor (with Kim Basinger). Like actress Jennifer Tilly, Rogers is a competitive poker player, and has at time played in World Poker Tour tournaments. Her other films include The Mighty Quinn (1989), Ginger Snaps (2000), and Frozen Kiss (2009).
On television, Rogers was Agent Diana Fowley in The X-Files in 1999, and from 200607 she co-starred in the comedy series The Loop... Rogers's father was a Scientologist, and she reportedly introduced Tom Cruise to the religion... Rogers has been married three times: to Jim Rogers (1977-80), to Cruise (1987-90), and to producer Chris Ciaffa (in 2003). She and Ciaffa have two children: Lucy (b. 1994) and Charlie (b. 2001).
Career Highlights: Reflections on a Crime, Killer, Street Smart
First Major Screen Credit: Blue Skies Again (1983)
Biography
A versatile Hollywood actress, Mimi Rogers did not step before the camera until she was in her early twenties. As a civil engineer's daughter, Rogers had a peripatetic childhood, living in several different states and England. Eventually she and her family settled in Southern California. An unusually bright person, Rogers graduated from high school at age 14. Instead of going straight to college, she spent the rest of her teen years involved with community service work. She debuted in television movies in 1982 and the following year appeared in her first film, the romantic Blue Skies Again opposite Harry Hamlin. It was an inauspicious debut and her next two films did little toward making her a star. Up until she played a seductive socialite who falls in love with a policeman in Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Rogers was considered a rather wholesome, even plain beauty, but in that film, done-up to the nines, she proved herself as sexy and alluring as any actress onscreen. She got some positive reviews for playing Christopher Reeve's lover in Street Smart (1987). Though she has appeared in many subsequent films, her ascension to stardom proved a slow one despite gaining some level of notoriety for her brief marriage to Tom Cruise.
In 1991 audiences were treated to their first true taste of the actresses formidable dramatic talent when she essayed the role of a spiritually bankrupt swinger turned religious zealot in writer/director Michael Tolkin's religious-themed drama The Rapture. Her transformation and subsequent spiritual conflict was nothing short of devastating, and though she would only appear in supporting roles in the years that immediately followed, she had made her mark and it was only a matter of time until her star caught fire. Roles in Killer (1994) and Full Body Massage successfully balanced Rogers' smouldering sensuality with her undeniable dramatic talent, and in 1996 her breakthrough finally arrived with the Barbra Streisand drama The Mirror Has Two Faces. With a performance that threatened to steal the spotlight from a star as bright as Streisand, the dramatic role proved an unlikely precursor to her performance in the following year's blockbuster comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Though savvy filmgoers were well aware of her dramatic capacity at this point, few had pegged her as being a solid comedic actress - and her role as the snaggle-toothed secret agent's trusty sidekick revealed a heretofore unseen versatility. After taking the lead in a pair of respectable made-for-television features, Rogers blasted into space with the sci-fi misfire Lost in Space in 1998. Perhaps somewhat disenchanted with her blockbuster status, Rogers spent the next few years turning in solid performances in such low-budget fare as Ginger Snaps (2000) and moving into television on the short-lived sitcom The Geena Davis Show.
A dedicated mother of two, Rogers earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children's Special as a result of her role in the Holocaust drama The Devil's Arithmetic before later appearing in the family adventure Cave In (2003). Following a somewhat forgettable role in the abysmal Dumb and Dumberer, Rogers was cast in a key role opposite Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger in the family drama Door in the Floor (2004). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Rogers was born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, Florida, the daughter of Philip J. Spickler, a civil engineer. Her father was Jewish and mother Episcopalian. She became a member of the Church of Scientology, but later left this belief. She married her first husband, Jim Rogers, in 1977 and divorced in 1980. Her second husband was Tom Cruise; they were married from 1987 until 1990.[1] In 2003, she married producer Chris Ciaffa; they have two children, Lucy (born 1994) and Charles (born 2001).
She posed nude for the March 1993 edition of Playboy magazine, and also appeared on that issue's cover[2].
Poker
Having played poker as a teenager, Rogers took up competitive poker in 2003 and finished in the money in her first major tournament at the World Poker Tour's 240 player Shooting Stars' main event No-Limit Texas hold 'em tournament in San Jose, California, on March 4, 2004. She is also on the board of directors of the World Poker Tour.
Rogers is one of the "famous faces"[3] due to being a regular player on the online poker website Hollywood Poker which is run in conjunction with Ongame Network. In July 2006, she finished in the money (33rd place) at the $1000 Ladies' No-Limit Hold 'em World Series of Poker event, winning $5,132.
She is now one of the celebrities playing on Hollywood Poker participating in promotional events.
References
^ Joe Neumaier, "Cruise Unshaken by His Role As Hit Man - Actor Says Killer Won't Sink His Good-Guy Image", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, August 10, 2004, p. 1E.
