Robia LaMorte
Encyclopedia
Robia Brett LaMorte, sometimes credited as Robia La Morte, (born July 7, 1970) is an American actress and former dancer. She is best known as a dancer and spokesperson for the musician Prince
, and for her role as Jenny Calendar
in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
and grew up in several locations including the Florida Keys
and Ocean City, Maryland
. She is named after her father, Robert LaMorte. After being inspired by the 1983 movie Flashdance
, she began dancing and taking after-school lessons in jazz dance
, ballet
, and tap dance
. She attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
as a dance major during the school's first year of operation, and then received a full scholarship to the Dupree Dance Academy in Hollywood. At sixteen, she began working as a backup dancer in music video
s, first appearing in Debbie Gibson's "Shake Your Love
".
, LaMorte was picked by the musician Prince to be one of two lead dancers for the music video for "Cream
", a single from his 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls
. Prince had originally sought identical twins, but chose LaMorte along with another dancer, Lori Elle, because of their similar appearance and the dance chemistry they had with Prince. Elle as "Diamond" and LaMorte as "Pearl" subsequently appeared in the videos for "Cream", "Gett Off
", "Strollin'", and the album's title track
, as well as on the album's holograph
ic cover itself. LaMorte then toured Europe with Prince, and when he temporarily refused to do any public speaking, she and Elle served as his spokespersons and conducted the main promotional efforts for Diamonds and Pearls.
At the age of 22, LaMorte retired from dance and turned to acting. After doing numerous television commercials, she landed the role of Jason Priestly's girlfriend Jill Fleming on Beverly Hills, 90210
in two episodes. Her first regular role was as high school teacher and technopagan Jenny Calendar on the first two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After her character was killed during the second season, she returned for two more episodes as a ghost. In the second season finale "Becoming, Part Two" she makes a brief appearance as a hypnosis induced suggestion by Drusilla to trick Rupert Giles into revealing the flaw in Angel's plan. Finally she returned during the third season episode "Amends" to play a false apparition of the dead Calendar, a guise assumed by the evil force known as "the First Evil
". However, LaMorte had become a born-again Christian after a highway encounter with a Christian biker gang
while she was praying for a sign from God. After having already accepted the guest appearance on her old show, she was upset to learn that she would be playing the equivalent of Satan
.
Since her role ended on Buffy, LaMorte has periodically accepted guest starring roles on various television shows. More recently she has retired from acting, focusing her efforts on other priorities such as Christian counseling, although she occasionally can be seen in commercials and smaller roles. She also spends some of her time preaching Christianity and selling audio CD
s on her website that give accounts of her religious conversion and beliefs. Though a former adherent of many New Age
ideas, LaMorte is now critical of "earth worship", and also views practicing witchcraft
as a dangerous opening for demonic influence.
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, and for her role as Jenny Calendar
Jenny Calendar
Jenny Calendar is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Played by Robia LaMorte, Jenny is the computer teacher at Sunnydale High School...
in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Early life
LaMorte was born in the New York City borough of QueensQueens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and grew up in several locations including the Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
and Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City, sometimes known as OC, or OCMD, is an Atlantic Ocean resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. Ocean City is widely known in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is a frequent destination for vacationers in that area...
. She is named after her father, Robert LaMorte. After being inspired by the 1983 movie Flashdance
Flashdance
Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...
, she began dancing and taking after-school lessons in jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, and tap dance
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
. She attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts is a Visual and Performing Arts high school located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1984, the public, tuition-free school offers both college preparatory courses and...
as a dance major during the school's first year of operation, and then received a full scholarship to the Dupree Dance Academy in Hollywood. At sixteen, she began working as a backup dancer in music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, first appearing in Debbie Gibson's "Shake Your Love
Shake Your Love
"Shake Your Love" is the second single by American singer-songwriter-actress Deborah Gibson, and the leadoff single for her album Out of the Blue...
".
Career
After having appeared in more than thirty music videos and toured in a six-dancer troupe with the Pet Shop BoysPet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
, LaMorte was picked by the musician Prince to be one of two lead dancers for the music video for "Cream
Cream (song)
"Cream" is a song by Prince and The New Power Generation, from the 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls. Prince states that he wrote the song while standing in front of a mirror....
", a single from his 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls
Diamonds and Pearls
Diamonds and Pearls is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released October 1, 1991, on Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. It is his first album to have The New Power Generation, his backing band at the time, receive co-billing...
. Prince had originally sought identical twins, but chose LaMorte along with another dancer, Lori Elle, because of their similar appearance and the dance chemistry they had with Prince. Elle as "Diamond" and LaMorte as "Pearl" subsequently appeared in the videos for "Cream", "Gett Off
Gett Off
"Gett Off" is the lead single by Prince and The New Power Generation from the 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls. The song was a last-minute addition to the album, replacing "Horny Pony", which became the song's B-side The cover uses a face drawn in...
", "Strollin'", and the album's title track
Diamonds and Pearls (song)
"Diamonds and Pearls" is the title track to Prince and The New Power Generation's 1991 hit album. The song is an upbeat ballad, given a rock edge with guitar and heavy drumming. The song also features the powerful vocals of NPG member Rosie Gaines. The ballad is an expression of love and not lust,...
, as well as on the album's holograph
Holograph
A holograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of the person whose signature it bears. Some countries or local jurisdictions within certain countries give legal standing to specific types of holographic documents, generally waiving requirements that they be witnessed...
ic cover itself. LaMorte then toured Europe with Prince, and when he temporarily refused to do any public speaking, she and Elle served as his spokespersons and conducted the main promotional efforts for Diamonds and Pearls.
At the age of 22, LaMorte retired from dance and turned to acting. After doing numerous television commercials, she landed the role of Jason Priestly's girlfriend Jill Fleming on Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
in two episodes. Her first regular role was as high school teacher and technopagan Jenny Calendar on the first two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After her character was killed during the second season, she returned for two more episodes as a ghost. In the second season finale "Becoming, Part Two" she makes a brief appearance as a hypnosis induced suggestion by Drusilla to trick Rupert Giles into revealing the flaw in Angel's plan. Finally she returned during the third season episode "Amends" to play a false apparition of the dead Calendar, a guise assumed by the evil force known as "the First Evil
First Evil
The First Evil is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The First Evil first appeared in the third season episode "Amends", and became the main antagonist of the 7th and final season.A being manifested from all evil in existence, the First is an...
". However, LaMorte had become a born-again Christian after a highway encounter with a Christian biker gang
Christian Motorcyclists Association
The Christian Motorcyclists Association is an international Christian, interdenominational, non-profit organization established in 1975. Its purpose is evangelizing to the motorcycling community.-History:CMA was started by Herb Shreve,...
while she was praying for a sign from God. After having already accepted the guest appearance on her old show, she was upset to learn that she would be playing the equivalent of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
.
Since her role ended on Buffy, LaMorte has periodically accepted guest starring roles on various television shows. More recently she has retired from acting, focusing her efforts on other priorities such as Christian counseling, although she occasionally can be seen in commercials and smaller roles. She also spends some of her time preaching Christianity and selling audio CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s on her website that give accounts of her religious conversion and beliefs. Though a former adherent of many New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
ideas, LaMorte is now critical of "earth worship", and also views practicing witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
as a dangerous opening for demonic influence.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 1988 1988 in film -Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice... |
Earth Girls Are Easy Earth Girls Are Easy Earth Girls Are Easy is a 1988 American musical comedy film directed by Julien Temple. It stars Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Michael McKean, Julie Brown, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans. The film is marketed with the tagline "An out-of-this-world, down-to-earth comedy adventure"... |
'I'm a Blond' Dancer | Uncredited Role |
| 1994 1994 in film 1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time... |
The Pros & Cons of Breathing | Mona | |
| 1996 1996 in film Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:... |
Fox Hunt | Lisa Gilroy | |
| 1997 1997 in film -Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*... |
Spawn Spawn (film) Spawn is a 1997 American superhero film loosely based on the comic book of the same name, by Todd McFarlane and published by Image Comics. Directed and co-written by Mark A.Z. Dippé , the film stars Michael Jai White in the leading role... |
XXN Reporter | |
| 1998 1998 in film -Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:... |
Deidre's Party | Robia | |
| 1999 1999 in film The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep... |
Chicks, Man | Kelly | |
| 12 Stops on the Road to Nowhere | Jenny | ||
| 2000 2000 in film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor .... |
Looking for Lois | Fran | Short film |
| 2002 2002 in film The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of... |
Robot Bastard! Robot Bastard! Robot Bastard! is a 17 minute short film and Rob Schrab's directorial debut.The film follows Robot Bastard on a mission to save the president's daughter, Catherine.... |
Catherine | |
| 2005 2005 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005... |
Pomegranate | Natalie | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | Blood Ties Blood Ties (film) Blood Ties is a made-for-television movie that was released in 1991. It is a story about a modern vampire family who hail from Carpathia. The family try to assimilate into American life in Long Beach, California, however, their lives are upset when a sinister group of hunters kill a member of their... |
Female Shrike | FOX Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the... TV-Movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to... |
| 1993 | Beverly Hills, 90210 Beverly Hills, 90210 Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise... |
Jill Fleming | Episode: So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye Episode: The Girl From New York City |
| 1995, 1998 | Silk Stalkings Silk Stalkings Silk Stalkings is a TV crime drama originally shown on CBS in 1991 as part of the network's late-night Crimetime After Primetime programming package, and rebroadcast on the USA Network. After CBS ended the Crimetime experiment in 1993, the series ran exclusively on USA until its finale in the... |
Denise Veronique Collins |
Episode: Brother's Keeper Episode: Do You Believe in Magic? |
| 1997 | Lawless Lawless (TV Series) Lawless was a detective television series starring former NFL star Brian Bosworth on the Fox Broadcasting Company that performed so poorly on television it was cancelled after one episode. -Cast:*Brian Bosworth ... John Lawless... |
Episode: Pilot | |
| The Sentinel The Sentinel (TV series) The Sentinel is a Canadian-produced television series that aired on UPN in the United States from 1996 to 1999. It premiered on March 20, 1996, and ran for 65 episodes . The series later reaired on Syfy.-Plot and characters:... |
Erika Lazar | Episode: The Inside Man | |
| 1997–1998 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Jenny Calendar Jenny Calendar Jenny Calendar is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Played by Robia LaMorte, Jenny is the computer teacher at Sunnydale High School... |
|
| 1999 | The Pretender The Pretender (TV series) The Pretender is an American television series that aired on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The series starred Michael T. Weiss as Jarod, a genius and former child prodigy with "the ability to become anyone he wants to be," i.e., to flawlessly impersonate anyone in virtually any line of work... |
Cindy Wells | Episode: Countdown |
| Rescue 77 Rescue 77 Rescue 77 is an American television series about the professional and personal lives of paramedics in Los Angeles, California. The show aired in the spring of 1999 on Monday nights on the WB network.... |
Megan Cates | ||
| Time of Your Life Time of Your Life (TV series) Time of Your Life is an American drama series starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. The series is a spin-off of Party of Five, and features the character Sarah Reeves Merrin whom Hewitt portrayed on Party of Five.-Plot:... |
Angela | Episode: The Time the Millennium Approached | |
| 2000 | 18 Wheels of Justice | Maureen Cummings | Episode: Con Truck |
| 2001 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer... |
Joan Marks | Episode: You've Got Male |