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Tia Carrere (born Althea Rae Duhinio
Janairo on January 2, 1967) is an American actress, model, and singer,
perhaps most widely known for her role as Cassandra in the feature films
Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2 and as Sydney Fox in the TV series Relic
Hunter.
Carrere was born Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo in Honolulu, Hawaii, the
daughter of Audrey Duhinio Janairo, a computer supervisor, and Alexander
Janairo, a banker. She is of Spanish, Chinese and Filipino descent.
Carrere attended Sacred Hearts Academy, an all girls school. Carrere
longed to be a singer as a child. Although she was eliminated during the
first round of her 1985 Star Search appearance at the age of 17, she was
spotted by the parents of a local producer while shopping at a Waikiki
grocery store and was cast in the movie Aloha Summer.
Following this initial success, Carrere returned to Los Angeles and, after
working several months as a model, landed a first ever role in the U.S. TV
series Airwolf in early 1985. Her first major break though was in the
daytime soap opera General Hospital. She played the role of Jade Soong
Chung from 1985 to 1987. She also had a guest appearance on The A-Team,
which was supposed to lead to her joining the cast. Unfortunately, her
General Hospital obligations prevented her from joining the team. Her
character was dropped after one episode, and was never mentioned again.
She also made guest appearances on the shows MacGyver ("The Wish Child")
as a sexy karate instructor as well as a different assassin character in a
later episode ("Murderer's Sky"), on Anything But Love as the adopted
daughter of Marty Gold (Richard Lewis), and Married... with Children as
Piper Bauman, a rival of Kelly Bundy's who attempted to steal a modeling
job from her.
After appearing in the 1991 action films Harley Davidson and the Marlboro
Man and Showdown in Little Tokyo, she emerged into the public spotlight
when cast as Cassandra, a rock singer and love interest of Mike Myers'
character Wayne in Wayne's World (1992)—a role she reprised the next year
in Wayne's World 2. A trained singer, Carrere performed all of her own
songs in the two films, and the Wayne's World soundtrack features her
vocals. She turned down a role in Baywatch to audition for Wayne's World.
In 1992 People magazine named her to its annual "50 most beautiful people"
list.
On November 31, 1992, Carrere married Italian/Lebanese producer Elie
Samaha, and appeared in several of his films. Other roles in prominent
films include the parts of smuggler Juno Skinner in True Lies (a 1994
Arnold Schwarzenegger action film), a mixed African-Japanese computer
expert in Rising Sun (a thriller written by Michael Crichton starring Sean
Connery and Wesley Snipes), robber Gina Walker in The Immortals (1995),
and secretary Victoria Chappell in High School High (a 1996 parody). She
also starred as Ari, a space marine-turned pirate in the 1995
adventure/puzzle game The Daedalus Encounter. She also starred as the evil
witch/queen in the 1997 Universal Films picture Kull the Conqueror,
co-starring with Kevin Sorbo.
From 1999 to 2002, Carrere starred as archeology professor Sydney Fox in
Relic Hunter, a syndicated action-adventure series strongly reminiscent of
the Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider films and video games. At this time,
Carrere was featured in men's magazine Maxim magazine. Relic Hunter lasted
for a total of three television seasons before its cancellation. Carrere
then provided the voice of Lilo's sister "Nani" in the animated film Lilo
and Stitch (2002) and its spinoffs, as well as the voice of Queen
Tyr'ahnee from the 2003 Duck Dodgers animated series.
She participated as a contestant on the popular reality show Dancing with
the Stars but was eliminated, placing 6th overall.
Despite using a body double for her sex scenes in Showdown in Little
Tokyo, and her often expressed aversion to on-screen nudity, Carrere posed
nude for the January 2003 issue of Playboy magazine. It was the top
selling Playboy of 2003. The photos were re-published in the German
December 2006 issue of the magazine. In 2007, she did a brief, non-nude
lesbian kissing scene with Lindy Booth in Dark Honeymoon, which was not
released until 2008 due to the death of co-star Roy Scheider.
In 2007, she was set to have a recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm,
appeared in an episode of Back to You and in the season premiere of
Nip/Tuck.
Carrere has continued to nurture her singing career. In 1993, her first
solo album, Dream, was released, and went platinum in Mexico. That same
year, she was featured on the soundtrack of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm,
performing the ending theme, "I Never Even Told You". Her second album,
Hawaiiana, was released in June 2007 and takes Carrere back to her
Hawaiian roots with four-time Grammy Award winning record producer Daniel
Ho accompanying her on classic solo slack-key guitar and ukulele.
The album was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award under the category Best
Hawaiian Music Album. She won a Grammy Award in 2009, again teaming up
with Daniel Ho to produce her third album Ikena, and in 2010 for the album
He Nani.
Carrere divorced her husband Elie Samaha in February 2000.
On November 30, 2002, she married again, this time to photojournalist
Simon Wakelin. They have a daughter, Bianca, born September 25, 2005. At
present, she lives in Los Angeles. |
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You May Not Kiss the Bride
(2010)
Hard Breakers (2010) .... Jodie
"CSI: Miami" .... Jacqueline Parsons (1 episode, 2009)
... aka CSI: Weekends (USA: promotional title)
- Bolt Action (2009) TV episode .... Jacqueline Parsons
Wild Cherry (2009) .... Ms. Haumea
Dark Honeymoon (2008) (V) .... Miranda
"Untitled Liz Meriwether Project" .... Paula Poland (1 episode)
- Pilot (????) TV episode .... Paula Poland
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" .... Cha Cha (3 episodes, 2007)
- The Bat Mitzvah (2007) TV episode .... Cha Cha
- The Lefty Call (2007) TV episode .... Cha Cha
- Meet the Blacks (2007) TV episode .... Cha Cha
"Nip/Tuck" .... Mistress Dark Pain (1 episode, 2007)
- Carly Summers (2007) TV episode .... Mistress Dark Pain
"Back to You" .... Maggie (1 episode, 2007)
- A Night of Possibilities (2007) TV episode .... Maggie
"The O.C." .... Dean Torres (1 episode, 2006)
- The Gringos (2006) TV episode .... Dean Torres
Saints Row (2006) (VG) (voice) .... Lin
Leroy & Stitch (2006) (TV) (voice) .... Nani
"Lilo & Stitch: The Series" .... Nani (6 episodes, 2003-2006)
- Lax: Experiment # 285 (2006) TV episode (voice) .... Nani
- Slick: Experiment #020 (2004) TV episode (voice) .... Nani
- Sinker: Experiment #602 (2003) TV episode (voice) .... Nani
- Sprout: Experiment 509 (2003) TV episode (voice) .... Nani
- Fibber: Experiment 032 (2003) TV episode (voice) .... Nani
(1 more)
"American Dragon: Jake Long" .... Yan Yan (1 episode, 2005)
- Fu and Tell (2005) TV episode (voice) .... Yan Yan
"Duck Dodgers" .... The Martian Queen / ... (15 episodes, 2003-2005)
... aka Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (USA: long title)
- A Lame Duck Mind (2005) TV episode (voice) .... Martian Queen
- Too Close for Combat/Fins of War (2005) TV episode (voice) ....
Martian Queen
- The Kids Are All Wrong/Win, Lose or Duck (2005) TV episode (voice)
.... Cheerleader
- Of Course You Know, This Means War and Peace: Part 1 (2005) TV
episode (voice) .... Martian Queen
- Of Course You Know, This Means War and Peace: Part 2 (2005) TV
episode (voice) .... Martian Queen
(10 more)
Supernova (2005) (TV) .... Lisa Delgado
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005) (V) (voice) .... Nani
... aka Lilo & Stitch 2 (USA)
Aloha, Scooby-Doo (2005) (V) (voice) .... Snookie/Local Woman #1
Back in the Day (2005) .... Loot
Torn Apart (2004) .... Vicki Westin
"Johnny Bravo" .... Beautiful Woman / ... (1 episode, 2004)
- Wilderness Protection Program (2004) TV episode (voice) ....
Beautiful Woman/Female Elephant/Woman
"Megas XLR" .... Darklos (1 episode, 2004)
- Department of Megas Violations (2004) TV episode (voice) ....
Darklos
Stitch! The Movie (2003) (V) (voice) .... Nani
... aka Disney's Stitch! The Movie (USA: complete title)
Stitch Experiment 626 (2002) (VG) (voice) .... Nam
... aka Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 (USA: alternative title)
Lilo & Stitch (2002) (voice) .... Nani
"Relic Hunter" .... Sydney Fox (66 episodes, 1999-2002)
... aka Relic Hunter - Die Schatzjägerin (Germany)
... aka Sydney Fox l'aventurière (France)
- So Shall It Be (2002) TV episode .... Sydney Fox
- Fountain of Youth (2002) TV episode .... Sydney Fox
- The Warlord (2002) TV episode .... Sydney Fox
- Pandora's Box (2002) TV episode .... Sydney Fox
- Faux Fox (2002) TV episode .... Sydney Fox
(61 more)
Merlin: The Return (2000) .... Maxwell
The Night of the Headless Horseman (1999) (TV) (voice) .... Katrina
Van Tassel
Five Aces (1999) .... Karen Haggerty
Meet Prince Charming (1999) .... Samantha Feld
"Hercules" .... Marigold (1 episode, 1998)
... aka Disney's Hercules (USA: complete title)
- Hercules and the Golden Touch (1998) TV episode (voice) ....
Marigold
"Veronica's Closet" .... Kim (1 episode, 1998)
- Veronica's on the Herb (1998) TV episode .... Kim
Scar City (1998) .... Candy
... aka S.C.A.R. (New Zealand: English title)
... aka Scarred City
Dogboys (1998) (TV) .... D.A. Jennifer Dern
... aka Dressés pour tuer (Canada: French title)
... aka Tracked (USA: video title)
Top of the World (1998) .... Rebecca Mercer
... aka Cold Cash
... aka Showdown
Kull the Conqueror (1997) .... Akivasha
"Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" .... Mija (1
episode, 1997)
- The Little Mermaid (1997) TV episode (voice) .... Mija
Natural Enemy (1997) (TV) .... Christina D'Amelio
High School High (1996) .... Victoria Chapell
Hollow Point (1996) .... Diane Norwood
... aka Arsenal de pointe (Canada: French title)
... aka Rysk Roulette
"Murder One" .... Beverly Nichols (3 episodes, 1995-1996)
- Chapter Fourteen (1996) TV episode .... Beverly Nichols
- Chapter Six (1995) TV episode .... Beverly Nichols
- Chapter Two (1995) TV episode .... Beverly Nichols
Desert Breeze (1996) (TV)
The Immortals (1995) .... Gina
Nothing But the Truth (1995) (TV) .... Simone Gideon
Jury Duty (1995) .... Monica
The Daedalus Encounter (1995) (VG) .... Ari
My Teacher's Wife (1995) .... Vicky Mueller
True Lies (1994) .... Juno Skinner
Hostile Intentions (1994) .... Nora
Wayne's World 2 (1993) .... Cassandra Wong
Treacherous (1993) .... Dr. Jessica Jamison
Quick (1993) .... Janet Sakamoto
... aka Crossfire (UK: video box title)
Rising Sun (1993) .... Jingo Asakuma
Little Sister (1992) .... Adrienne
... aka Mister Sister (UK)
"Tales from the Crypt" .... Scarlett (1 episode, 1992)
... aka HBO's Tales from the Crypt
- On a Deadman's Chest (1992) TV episode .... Scarlett
Wayne's World (1992) .... Cassandra
Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) .... Minako Okeya
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) .... Kimiko
Intimate Stranger (1991) (TV) .... Mina
"Married with Children" .... Piper Bauman (1 episode, 1990)
... aka Married... with Children (USA: promotional title)
- Kelly Bounces Back (1990) TV episode .... Piper Bauman
"Quantum Leap" .... Chu-Hoi (1 episode, 1990)
- The Leap Home: Part 2 (Vietnam) - April 7, 1970 (1990) TV episode
.... Chu-Hoi
Instant Karma (1990)
... aka Almost a Virgin (UK: video title)
"Friday the 13th" .... Michiko Tanaka (1 episode, 1990)
... aka Friday the 13th: The Series
... aka Friday's Curse (UK: repeat compilations title)
- Year of the Monkey (1990) TV episode .... Michiko Tanaka
Fatal Mission (1990) .... Mai Chang
... aka Enemy (USA)
"Anything But Love" .... Cey (1 episode, 1989)
- Those Lips, Those Thais (1989) TV episode .... Cey
Oro fino (1989)
... aka Fine Gold (International: English title) (USA)
The Road Raiders (1989) (TV) .... Cyanne
"MacGyver" .... Lisa Chan / ... (2 episodes, 1986-1988)
- Murderers' Sky (1988) TV episode .... Tiu
- The Wish Child (1986) TV episode .... Lisa Chan
Aloha Summer (1988) .... Lani Kepoo
"Noble House" (1988) TV mini-series .... Venus Poon
... aka James Clavell's Noble House
"Tour of Duty" .... Lang (1 episode, 1987)
- Dislocations (1987) TV episode .... Lang
Zombie Nightmare (1986) .... Amy
"The A-Team" .... Tia (1 episode, 1986)
- The Sound of Thunder (1986) TV episode .... Tia
"General Hospital" (1963) TV series .... Jade Soong Chung, R.N.
(unknown episodes, 1985-1987)
"Airwolf" .... Kiki Tinabi (1 episode, 1985)
... aka Lobo del aire (USA: Spanish title)
- Annie Oakley (1985) TV episode .... Kiki Tinabi
Covenant (1985) (TV) .... Girl at Golden Calf
"Cover Up" .... Miss. Philippines (1 episode, 1985)
- Who's Trying to Kill Miss Globe? (1985) TV episode .... Miss.
Philippines |
