Born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, FL, on Jan. 27, 1956, she spent much of her early childhood in transit, moving to various states (as well as a stint in the UK) before settling in Southern California. An exceptional student, Rogers graduated from high school at age 14, but traded college for considerable community service. A member of the Church of Scientology since childhood, Rogers married Church counselor Jim Rogers in 1977, but the couple divorced in 1980.
Shortly after that, she made her screen debut on a pair of “Hill Street Blues” (NBC, 1981-87) episodes. More TV guest work soon followed, including gigs on “Quincy” (NBC, 1976-83) and “Magnum, P.I.” (CBS, 1980-88). Her first acting notices came with a regular role on the short-lived fashion series “Paper Dolls” (ABC, 1984), which was followed by more substantial parts in TV-movies and features, including “Gung Ho” (1986) and “Street Smart,” for which she received positive press as Christopher Reeve’s love interest.
But it was Ridley Scott’s neo-noir “Someone To Watch Over Me” (1987) that brought Rogers fully into the spotlight. Playing a Park Avenue socialite who witnesses a murder and, in the process of being protected by him, becomes the object of working class cop Tom Berenger’s desire, Rogers lit up the screen. Her physical beauty and smoky delivery reminded several critics of classic Hollywood femme fatales like Barbara Stanwyck and Gloria Grahame. Also notable was the chemistry between the two leads from different worlds. While not a smash hit, the movie earned a sort of cult following in the years since its release.
Unfortunately, before Rogers was able to capitalize fully on her newfound leading lady status, she found herself gracing the gossip pages instead. In 1987, the Scientologist married newly-minted “Top Gun” star Tom Cruise – a union which ended in 1990 – somewhat acrimoniously, if one was to infer from her oblique references in interviews at that time. Rogers piqued the curiosity of many, when years after the split, she told Playboy, “Tom was seriously thinking of becoming a monk. And he thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument. … It became obvious we had to split." As the person who first introduced Cruise to the Scientology, Rogers reportedly also led others to the church, including Sonny Bono and football player John Brodie, for whom she served as auditor.
Following the divorce from Cruise, Rogers’ budding film career also faltered during this period, as her next three starring roles were all in middling to failed projects like “Hider in the House” (1989), “The Mighty Quinn,” and the unfortunate remake of “Desperate Hours” (1990). But Rogers wisely took these developments in stride and shifted her focus to more character-driven parts and independent films, where she found her richest roles thus far. A small, dramatic part as a seductive photographer in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” (1991) first signaled her intentions. Rogers quickly followed this with “The Rapture” (1991), Michael Tolkin’s ambitious drama about a woman swept up in born-again Christianity. Rogers received excellent reviews for her performance, and the second phase of her career – as a savvy, mature, and sexual woman, which was driven home in no uncertain terms by a 1993 Playboy pictorial – was essentially established. From this point on, she divided her appearances between television features (the 1992 thriller “Ladykiller;” the 1993 true-crime miniseries “Bloodlines: Murder in the Family”), indie movies (Nicolas Roeg’s very sexy “Full Body Massage” (1995), which featured one of Rogers’ first nude scenes; Steve Buscemi’s “Trees Lounge” (1996)), and big-budget Hollywood features. Rogers scored the most positive ink from the latter medium, appearing in the film version of “Lost in Space” (1998) and Barbara Streisand’s “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996), in which once again, Rogers provided the film’s high point – this time of the comical sort. Though most of her films were dramas, Rogers began showing a knack for comedy, as illustrated in “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” (1997), where she played Austin’s ‘60s-era partner, Mrs. Kensington.
That same year, Rogers began exploring moviemaking from the production side, and after shepherding a 1997 TV movie, “Tricks,” she partnered with Chris Ciaffa to produce several excellent films for cable, including the Holocaust drama “The Devil’s Arithmetic” (1999) with Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy; “Harlan County War” (2000) with Holly Hunter; and “Charms for the Easy Life” (2002) starring Gena Rowlands. In addition to their films, Rogers and Ciaffa produced a daughter, Lucy Julia, and a son, Charlie.
The last five years were exceptionally busy ones for Rogers. She found the time to make repeat appearances on shows like “The X-Files” (Fox, 1993-2002) in 1999, give challenging performances in Hollywood films like “The Door in the Floor” (2005), guest star on shows like “Las Vegas” (NBC, 2003- ), and even join series television with her comical role in the office sitcom “The Loop” (Fox, 2006). Rogers also found time to indulge a passion for competitive poker, and served on the board of directors of the World Poker Tour.