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Yasmine's earliest known acting role was in a Johnson & Johnson's No
More Tears baby shampoo television commercial at age six months at
the end of 1968 or the beginning of 1969. At age six, she appeared
in a Max Factor cosmetic campaign, along with the model, Cristina
Ferrare. Her work in this campaign caught the eye of fashion
photographer, Francesco Scavullo, who subsequently included her and
her mother, Carina, in his book entitled Scavullo's Women.
Total Film magazine, issue number 21, dated (October 1998), contains
a two-page interview with Yasmine Bleeth. In the article Yasmine
stated, "When I was a girl I used to have to force boys to kiss me.
My toughest friend had to hold them down."
Yasmine Bleeth in Hey Babe!, her 1st film at 12-years-oldYasmine
attended the United Nations International School in Manhattan, New
York, and she received a bilingual (French-English) education since
her mother was a French/North African. Although she was very
popular among the boys, the girls were frequently beating her up due
to jealousy. At one time when Yasmine was 14 years old, she had to
be away from school for a few months for her acting career. When she
returned to school, she was devastated to learn that the students
had been gossiping about her, and how they suggested that she was
pregnant, and that was why she was away from school for so long.
Yasmine Bleeth starred in her first movie at the age of 12. She was cast
opposite Buddy Hackett in the feature film Hey Babe! in 1980. The
movie was also known as Babe! and Rise and Shine. While other
children were learning musical instruments or were going to ballet
lessons, Yasmine was working as a model and actress.
When Yasmine graduated from high school, she had already been
working on the soap opera Ryan's Hope since the age of 16. She won
the role of Ryan Fenelli and won the hearts of millions on the ABC
soap opera. In 1991, staying in the ABC family, she created the role
as the sultry, misunderstood Lee Anne Demerest on the highly
acclaimed soap opera One Life To Live.
At the tender age of 20, Yasmine tragically lost her mother, Carina,
who suffered from inflammatory breast cancer, the deadliest type of
breast cancer. According to Yasmine, her mother had always been very
healthy and conscientious about not smoking or drinking, and eating
right and exercising, etc. Yasmine stated that her mother was the
strongest and bravest woman that she ever knew. Carina even traveled
up the Amazon River all by herself, spending nights under the stars.
She was Yasmine's hero.
Yasmine Bleeth said that she never accepted the fact that her mother was
dying until her mother, Carina, took her very last breath. Just two
months after Carina's 47th birthday, her fight with cancer was over.
After Carina died, Yasmine naturally became depressed, and she
turned down offers for acting or modeling work for about eight
months.
Then Yasmine Bleeth met Ricky Paull Goldin, a soap actor who helped Yasmine
with her feelings of depression, and she decided to work on another
soap opera, One Life to Live. The two lived in Manhattan, but after
Yasmine was cast for Baywatch, she moved to Los Angeles. Yasmine and
Ricky Goldin were planning to get married, and the wedding
invitations were all made out, but the marriage was called off.
Yasmine was arrested in September 2001 in Michigan after crashing a
rental car on Interstate 94 near Detroit. Police found four syringes
with an injectible form of cocaine in them, and a baggie with
cocaine residue on it. The next day police conducted a search of her
hotel room, and they found more cocaine and drug paraphernalia. In
November 2001, Yasmine pleaded guilty to possessing less than 25
grams of cocaine, and to driving while impaired. She was sentenced
in January 2002 to two years of probation and 100 hours of community
service.
Yasmine's lawyer, Jerry Sabbota, stated that the actress was
satisfied with the plea deal, noting that her record will be cleared
of any felonies after she fulfills the terms of her probation. "When
all is said and done she'll have a traffic ticket on her record. She
wasn't treated any better than anyone else, and she wasn't treated
any worse," he said.
Sabbota stated that Yasmine Bleeth underwent psychotherapy from the founder
of the Malibu-based Promises rehabilitation facility, where Yasmine
and stars such as Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Paula Poundstone and
Tim Allen have all sought treatment. She was treated for a cocaine
addiction beginning a few years ago, and she is apparently in
remission from cocaine, but her career has suffered from her former
unfortunate chemical-abuse behavior.
In an issue of Glamour from April 2003, Yasmine wrote a three page
article entitled "Back From my Drugs Hell" about her rocky path to
recovery, her drug addiction, and her struggle to stay straight. She
wrote that she had a cocaine habit that was so severe that she
collapsed at a photo shoot for Glamour magazine, and she went
without sleep for five days at a time.
Yasmine Bleeth married former bar owner, Paul Cerrito, on August 25, 2002.
They met each other at Malibu, California's rehabilitation facility
called Promises. They married in Santa Barbara, California and now
live in Los Angeles, California. In the (April 2003) edition of
Glamour, Yasmine stated, "They say you shouldn't get into any
relationship in the first year of sobriety—especially with someone
in the program, but Paul and I fell in love immediately."
Due to her mother's death from inflammatory breast cancer, Yasmine
made a decision to become an outspoken advocate of breast cancer
research and early detection. She agreed to be a sponsor of the Lee
National Denim Day campaign, which raised millions of dollars and
which benefits breast cancer research and education. Her primary
message to women was to pay attention to their bodies. Her mother
was initially misdiagnosed by a doctor who thought that her mother
was going through early menopause. Yasmine hoped to use her
celebrity status to expand breast cancer awareness, particularly to
young women who might overlook what an older woman would not.
Due to her role as Caroline Holden on Baywatch, Yasmine Bleeth was offered
many more roles, and it gave her the opportunity to work in films.
She continued to work as a model, frequently appearing in swimwear
or lingerine, but she refused to ever pose nude even though she had
many offers.
Yasmine Bleeth turned down roles in Aaron Spelling's Beverly Hills, 90210
(1990) and Pacific Palisades (1997) but accepted the starring role
in the short-lived series Titans (2000). Aaron Spelling was so
eager to cast Yasmine in the role of vixen on Titans that his
company convinced CBS to grant her an early release from her Nash
Bridges contract.
Guest appearances
Trivia
Film List
Television
Plays
This Yasmine Bleeth Biography Page is Copyright The Planets © 2004 - 2006 Chuck Ayoub