Amber Evangeline Valletta (born February 9, 1974) is an American model and actress.
She began her career as a fashion model, landing her first of sixteen American ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' covers at the age of eighteen. During the 1990s, Valletta reached the status of supermodel, working as the face of
Giorgio Armani,
Chanel,
Escada
Escada SE is a luxury women's designer clothing company headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is owned by Regent, L.P., an international private equity firm led by investor Michael Reinstein.
The company was founded in 1978 by design ...
,
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...
,
Prada,
Valentino,
Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...
and
Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...
, and signing multimillion-dollar cosmetics contracts with
Calvin Klein and
Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham; December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966) was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. By 1929, s ...
.
From 1995 to 1996, Valletta and her friend and fellow model
Shalom Harlow
Shalom Harlow (born December 5, 1973) is a Canadian model and actress. She began working as a fashion model in the early 1990s, achieving supermodel status by the end of the decade. In 2007, she was listed by ''Forbes'' as thirteenth in the list ...
hosted the
MTV show ''
House of Style''.
In the 2000s, Valletta began to focus on her career as an actress. She had her first major film role as a
poltergeist in
Robert Zemeckis's supernatural thriller ''
What Lies Beneath
''What Lies Beneath'' is a 2000 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple who live in a haunted house. It was the first film by Zemeckis' production comp ...
'' (2000). She has since appeared in films such as ''
Hitch'' (2005), ''
Transporter 2
''Transporter 2'' (French: ''Le Transporteur 2'') is an English-language French 2005 action-thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. Written by Robert Mark Kamen and co-producer Luc Besson, it is the sequel to '' The Transporter'' (2002), as w ...
'' (2005), ''
Man About Town'' (2006), ''
Dead Silence
''Dead Silence'' is a 2007 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. The film stars Ryan Kwanten as Jamie Ashen, a young widower returning to his hometown to search for answers to his wife's death. I ...
'' (2007), ''
Gamer'' (2009), and ''
The Spy Next Door
''The Spy Next Door'' is a 2010 American spy action comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer and Gregory Poirier, produced by Robert Simonds with music by David Newman. The film stars Jackie Chan, with a ...
'' (2010). In 2011, she moved to television, appearing in a recurring role as the fallen socialite
Lydia Davis
Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes short (one or two pages long) short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of ...
on
ABC's drama television series ''
Revenge''. In 2015, Valletta starred as the scheming Carla Briggs in another ABC soap opera, ''
Blood & Oil
''Blood & Oil'' is an American prime time television soap opera created by Josh Pate and Rodes Fishburne, that premiered on ABC on September 27, 2015. The series follows a young couple that moves to fictitious Rock Springs, North Dakota, afte ...
''.
Early life
Amber Evangeline Valletta was born in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
and raised in
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
. Her mother, Theresa Malaby, worked at the post office. Her father is of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
descent, and her mother identifies as having
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and part
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
ancestry. She attended
Booker T. Washington High School.
Career
Modeling
Valletta got her start in the fashion industry when her mother enrolled her in modeling school at the age of 15 at the Linda Layman Agency. Valletta, along with the likes of
Kate Moss,
Eva Herzigová
Eva Herzigová (born 10 March 1973) is a Czech-Italian supermodel and actress.
Early life and career
Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), the daughter of an accountant mother and an electrician father. Growing ...
,
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...
,
Carolyn Murphy
Carolyn Murphy (born August 11, 1974) is an American model and actress.
Career
In 1998, Murphy was named VH1/''Vogue''s Model of the Year. She played Dubbie in Barry Levinson's film ''Liberty Heights''. She was one of the 'Modern Muses' on the No ...
and
Shalom Harlow
Shalom Harlow (born December 5, 1973) is a Canadian model and actress. She began working as a fashion model in the early 1990s, achieving supermodel status by the end of the decade. In 2007, she was listed by ''Forbes'' as thirteenth in the list ...
, was one of the most recognizable faces of the generation immediately subsequent to the original supermodels. During the 1990s she appeared 13 times on the cover of American ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', second only to
Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Maria Schiffer (; born 25 August 1970) is a German model and actress based in the United Kingdom. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, attaining supermodel status. In her early career, she was compa ...
's sixteen. Valletta was presented on the November 1999 Millennium cover of American ''
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' as one of the "Modern Muses".
She has appeared on the cover of several international fashion magazines, such as Germany's ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'' and ''
Glamour''; Spain's ''
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'', ''
Telva'' and ''
Harper's Bazaar''; UK's ''
Esquire'' and ''
Love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...
'' and US' ''
V'', ''
Porter
Porter may refer to:
Companies
* Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto
* Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets
* Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer
* H.K. Porter, Inc., ...
'', ''
Interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
'', ''Ocean Drive'', ''
Shape
A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type.
A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...
'', ''
Allure'', ''
Marie Claire'' and ''
i-D''.
Valletta has walked in fashion shows for
Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...
,
Lanvin,
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...
,
Balenciaga,
Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...
,
Valentino,
Prada,
Michael Kors
Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...
,
Alberta Ferretti
Alberta Ferretti (; ) is an Italian fashion designer and dressmaker. She designs for her namesake brand Alberta Ferretti, and designed for Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti until 2014. Her showroom is in Milan, Italy but her studio is in her na ...
,
Claude Montana
Claude Montana (29 June 1947 in Paris) is a French fashion designer. His company, The House of Montana, founded in 1979, went bankrupt in 1997.
Early life and Design career
Born in Paris in 1947 to a Catalan father and a German mother, Montana be ...
,
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
,
Pierre Balmain
Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain (; 18 May 1914 – 29 June 1982) was a French fashion designer and founder of leading post-war fashion house Balmain. Known for sophistication and elegance, he described the art of dressmaking as "the archite ...
,
Sonia Rykiel,
Versus,
Yohji Yamamoto
is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Considered a master tailor alongside those such as Madeleine Vionnet, he is known for his avant-garde tailoring featuring Japanese design aesthetics.
Yamamoto has won notable awards f ...
,
Anna Molinari,
Calvin Klein,
Christian Dior and
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and direct ...
.
She was the face of
NARS Cosmetics' Spring 2010 Collection.
Valletta also continued to work with photographer
Steven Meisel. Not only was she selected by Steven Meisel for the 2014 50th Anniversary Cover of Italian ''Vogue'' but one of her prior Italian ''Vogue'' editorials wit
super model Tracy Jamesan
was selected as one of
Italian ''Vogues'' most Iconic photos.
Valletta continues to work as a fashion model, closing the
Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...
Autumn/Winter 2017 fashion show.
She was also model for
Marks and Spencer. In 2018, Valletta appeared in advertisements for
Mango,
Blumarine,
Escada
Escada SE is a luxury women's designer clothing company headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is owned by Regent, L.P., an international private equity firm led by investor Michael Reinstein.
The company was founded in 1978 by design ...
,
Chanel Watches,
Prada and
David Yurman
David Yurman Enterprises LLC is a privately held American jewellery company founded by David Yurman (born October 12, 1942, in New York City) and Sybil Yurman (born December 10, 1942, in New York City). Its headquarters is situated in New York C ...
. In 2019, she appeared on the cover of ''Vogue'' Korea and U.S. ''Elle'', advertising campaigns for
Stella McCartney
Stella Nina McCartney (born 13 September 1971) is an English fashion designer. She is a daughter of British singer-songwriter Paul McCartney and the late American photographer and animals rights activist Linda McCartney. Like her parents, McCa ...
and
Holt Renfrew
Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (doing business as Holt Renfrew and known colloquially as Holt's) is a Canadian luxury department store chain founded in 1837 by William S. Henderson. It has been owned by the Weston family since 1986, and was previo ...
, and editorials for Italian, American and Arabian ''Vogue''.
Acting
Valletta's first role was in the comedy film ''Drop Back Ten'' (2000). Later that year, she played a supporting role in the thriller film ''
What Lies Beneath
''What Lies Beneath'' is a 2000 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as a couple who live in a haunted house. It was the first film by Zemeckis' production comp ...
'', starring
Harrison Ford and
Michelle Pfeiffer and directed by
Robert Zemeckis. She appeared alongside
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...
in ''
The Family Man''. In 2003, she played Celine in
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...
's ''
Duplex'', starring
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...
and
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...
, and in 2004, she played Martina in ''
Raising Helen
''Raising Helen'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, siblings Spencer and Abigail Breslin, and Helen M ...
'', opposite
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and businesswoman. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award and a Satellite Award, as well as nominations f ...
,
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series '' Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the ABC/ CMT musical drama serie ...
,
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an American actress. She rose to prominence with the comedy-drama film ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at ...
, and
Helen Mirren.
Valletta's first major film role was as Allegra Cole in
Andy Tennant's romantic comedy ''
Hitch''. The film was released on February 11, 2005, and was a box office and critical success.
She also had a role in ''
Transporter 2
''Transporter 2'' (French: ''Le Transporteur 2'') is an English-language French 2005 action-thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. Written by Robert Mark Kamen and co-producer Luc Besson, it is the sequel to '' The Transporter'' (2002), as w ...
'', playing the mother of the kidnapped child. She played the female lead in the 2006 independent film ''
The Last Time'', co-starring alongside
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in '' Beetlejuice'' ...
and
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
. In 2007, she had supporting roles in the horror film ''
Dead Silence
''Dead Silence'' is a 2007 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. The film stars Ryan Kwanten as Jamie Ashen, a young widower returning to his hometown to search for answers to his wife's death. I ...
'', as Ella Ashen, and as Claire in ''
Premonition
A premonition is a feeling that some event will happen, typically a forewarning of something unwelcome.
Premonition(s) or The Premonition may also refer to:
Film and television
* "Premonition" (''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''), an episode of ' ...
'', starring
Sandra Bullock. Also in 2007, Valletta played the leading role in the independent coming-of-age film ''
My Sexiest Year''.
[
]
In 2009, Valletta starred alongside Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film '' Tomorrow Never ...
in the science fiction action film '' Gamer''. The film was released in North America on September 4, 2009, to negative reviews from critics. In 2010, she starred in ''The Spy Next Door
''The Spy Next Door'' is a 2010 American spy action comedy film directed by Brian Levant, written by Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer and Gregory Poirier, produced by Robert Simonds with music by David Newman. The film stars Jackie Chan, with a ...
'', alongside Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
, George Lopez
George Edward Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has rece ...
, and Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...
; she played Chan's character's love interest, Gillian. In 2011, she appeared in the ensemble comedy film '' Girl Walks into a Bar''.
In 2011, Valletta was cast in the recurring role as the socialite Lydia Davis on the ABC television prime time soap opera '' Revenge''. In 2014, she was a regular cast member in the TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
crime drama series ''Legends
A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief.
Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to:
Narrative
* Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth
* A fictitious identity used in espionage
Books, co ...
'', playing Sean Bean
Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
's character's ex-wife. In 2015, Valletta starred in the short-lived ABC prime-time soap opera ''Blood & Oil
''Blood & Oil'' is an American prime time television soap opera created by Josh Pate and Rodes Fishburne, that premiered on ABC on September 27, 2015. The series follows a young couple that moves to fictitious Rock Springs, North Dakota, afte ...
''. She played Carla Briggs, the glamorous business partner and new wife of oil tycoon Hap Briggs (Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor, producer and singer. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series ''Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...
).
In 2016, Valletta starred in the video for Keith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...
's song " Blue Ain't Your Color", directed by Carter Smith. She also starred in the video for Fergie's song " M.I.L.F. $".
Other projects
Valletta serves as the spokesperson for Oceana's Seafood Contamination Campaign, to raise awareness of the dangers of mercury poisoning in various kinds of seafood. The decision to join Oceana's campaign was prompted by the mercury-poisoning experience of a friend and the fact that she is a mother.
Personal life
Valletta married Hervé Le Bihan in 1994, divorcing in 1996. In 2000, Valletta had a son, Auden, with Olympic volleyball player Chip McCaw. She married McCaw, in September 2003, and they divorced in early 2015.
Valletta endorsed incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
for re-election in 2012.
In July 2014, Valletta spoke out about her battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
References
External links
*
*
Amber Valletta
at MTV
Amber Valletta's work on the Oceana Seafood Contamination Campaign
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valletta, Amber
1974 births
Living people
American people of Portuguese descent
American people of Italian descent
American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent
American film actresses
American television actresses
American television personalities
American women television personalities
IMG Models models
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
American soap opera actresses
Female models from Arizona
Actresses from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Actresses from Phoenix, Arizona
Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni
The Society Management models