Born Lisa De Anne Rinna on July 11, 1963 in Newport Beach, CA, Rinna enjoyed a normal childhood in Medford, OR, where her father was hired to work as an artistic director. After graduating from Medford Senior High in 1981, Rinna moved to San Francisco, CA and entered the brutal modeling world, which she navigated until 1987, when she relocated to Los Angeles to find work as an actor. Appearances on television commercials were soon followed by her feature debut in “Captive Rage” (1988), a low-budget exploitation title starring the late Oliver Reed. The following year, she landed the recurring role of Annie, girlfriend of Jason Bateman's David on the NBC sitcom, "Valerie” (NBC, 1986-89), which lasted until 1990.
Appearances on “Baywatch” (syndicated, 1989-2001) and several TV-movies preceded the role that launched her into national attention – that of damaged stripper/porn star/police detective/government agent Billie Reed on “Days of Our Lives” (NBC, 1965-). Her role as Billie – the bane of existence to Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) – earned her back-to-back “Soap Opera Digest” awards in 1994 and 1995. Rinna stayed with the venerable series until 1995, and starred in just one outside project during her entire tenure – the low budget science fiction title “Robot Wars” (1993).
Following “Days,” Rinna turned up in several TV movies and mini-series, including the Danielle Steel adaptation “Close to Danger” (1995), before moving to primetime with a two-year turn on “Melrose Place” (Fox, 1992-99). As Rob Estes’ venomous sister and restaurateur Taylor McBride, Rinna wreaked havoc on the life of Dr. Peter Burns (Jack Wagner), bringing even more bitchy, back-stabbing exploits to the famous address. During this period, Rinna met and fell in love with actor Harry Hamlin, a man still recovering from his abrupt and publicly acrimonious divorce from actress Nicolette Sheridan. The couple married in 1997 and had their first child a year later, coinciding with her departure from “Melrose Place” – but not before a six-months pregnant Rinna posed nude in Playboy.
A potpourri of post-baby television roles followed– several of them opposite Hamlin, including a turn on his short-lived series “Movie Stars” (The WB, 1999-2000), the comedic TV-movie “Oh, Baby” (2001) and the Lifetime movie “Sex, Lies and Obsession” (2001). Rinna’s solo efforts included the 2000 Lifetime feature “Another Woman’s Husband” (2000), which was one of the network’s highest rated productions, and her sole feature film credit, “Good Advice” (2001) – a movie best known as the project that introduced Charlie Sheen to Denise Richards.
In 2002, the highly animated Rinna was tapped to co-host the soap opera talk show “SoapTalk” (SOAPnet, 2002- ) alongside Ty Treadwell. Her easy banter with Treadwell helped her to earn several Daytime Emmy Award nominations. She was also the host of Lifetime’s reality series “Merge” (2003- ), and provided voice-overs for the network. In 2004, she and Hamlin played recurring roles on the UPN series “Veronica Mars” (2004- ) as the parents of Jason Dohring’s character, Logan Echolls. Rinna’s Lynn Echolls committed suicide by leaping from a bridge at the end of the series’ first season.
In 2006, a tan and toned Rinna competed on ABC’s astonishingly popular reality series, “Dancing with the Stars (2005- ). She and her partner Louis van Amstel were the seventh team to be eliminated during the second season. Her “Dancing” exposure helped her land several post-results show gigs doing fashion critiques on the red carpet for various shows and networks.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Rinna was also a successful businesswoman whose fashion boutique, belle grey (named after her two children), enjoyed success in two locations in Southern California. Her business acumen earned her an award from the NYC’s Laboratory Institute of Merchandizing in 2004.