Early life

Gertz was born in Chicago, Illinois, and lived in the city's nearby suburb of Glenview. Her parents are Sharyn and Walter Gertz, who was a builder and contractor, and she has two brothers, Michael and Scott. Gertz, who is Jewish, was raised in Conservative Judaism. She graduated from Maine East High School.

Career

She was discovered in a nationwide talent search by Norman Lear and studied drama at NYU. As a child actor, Gertz was in one episode of Diff'rent Strokes along with Andrew Dice Clay. She also had a recurring role on The Facts of Life as Blair's friend and fellow schoolmate Boots St. Clair. Gertz made her film debut in the 1981 romance film Endless Love, which was followed by a co-starring role in the 1982-83 TV series Square Pegs. After its cancellation, she appeared in the teen movie Sixteen Candles in 1984. She gained more significant attention with a starring role in 1987's Less Than Zero, as the friend of a doomed drug addict played by Robert Downey, Jr. She also starred in the 1987 film The Lost Boys as Star, the "half vampire" girlfriend, with Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric.

After working in Paris as a scent designer for Lanvin, Gertz returned to the United States and landed a key supporting role in the 1996 blockbuster Twister after other films including 1986's Solarbabies and Crossroads also the 1989 film Listen to Me with Kirk Cameron and 1992's Jersey Girl. In the 1994 episode of Seinfeld, "The Stall", she appeared as one of Jerry's girlfriends who works as a phone sex operator and can't "spare a square" of toilet paper to Elaine in the restroom. Gertz later played the recurring character Dr. Nina Pomerantz during the 1997 season of ER. She reportedly was offered, but declined, the role of Rachel Green, during pre-production of Friends.

In 2000, Gertz took up a recurring role on the Fox hit Ally McBeal as Kimmy Bishop, John Cage's love interest. Gertz was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She returned to this role in one more episode as a guest star in the show's final season in 2002. Also in 2002, she portrayed comedian Gilda Radner in the television movie Gilda Radner: It's Always Something. Gertz's character on Still Standing, Judy Miller, is named after a character Radner portrayed on Saturday Night Live. Still Standing, a television sitcom in which Gertz co-starred with Mark Addy and which originally aired from 2002 to 2006, was her longest-running and most successful television show to date.

In 2003 Gertz starred as Brandy, a wanted criminal's girlfriend, in Undercover Christmas, and in 2005 Gertz played the lead role in the TV film Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story. In 2009-10 she had a recurring role as Marlo Klein, wife of Ari Gold's newest business partner Andrew Klein, an agent at Miller-Gold Talent Agency, on HBO's Entourage. In 2011, she returned to broadcast television with a guest role in the Modern Family episode "Slow Down Your Neighbors". In 2011, she earned a producers' credit on the Academy Award-nominated film A Better Life which was put in limited release throughout the month of June and early July before arriving on DVD in October.

From 2012 to 2014, Gertz starred in the ABC sitcom The Neighbors where she played the mother of a human family that moves into a neighborhood populated by residents from another planet.

Personal life

Gertz and her husband Antony Ressler (b. July 16, 1959) have three sons: Oliver Jordan Ressler (b. May 6, 1992), Nicholas Simon Ressler (b. February 17, 1995), and Theo Ressler (b. 1998). Gertz and her husband are members of the investment group led by Mark Attanasio that purchased the MLB franchise Milwaukee Brewers. Gertz-Ressler High Academy, a member of The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, is named for Jami and her husband.

In 2011, the Giving Back Fund named Gertz and her husband the number-one donor to charity of any celebrity in 2010.

Gertz and her family currently reside in the exclusive Beverly Park community and have a vacation home in Malibu, California.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	On the Right Track	Big Girl
1981	Endless Love	Patty
1984	Alphabet City	Sophia
1984	Sixteen Candles	Robin
1985	Mischief	Rosalie
1986	Quicksilver	Terri
1986	Crossroads	Frances
1986	Solarbabies	Terra
1987	Lost Boys, TheThe Lost Boys	Star
1987	Less Than Zero	Blair
1989	Listen to Me	Monica Tomanski
1989	Silence Like Glass	Eva Martin
1989	Renegades	Barbara
1990	Don't Tell Her It's Me a.k.a., The Boyfriend School	Emily Pear
1990	Sibling Rivalry	Jeanine
1992	Jersey Girl	Toby
1996	Twister	Dr. Melissa Reeves	Nominated: Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress
1999	Seven Girlfriends	Lisa
2001	Lip Service	Kat
2006	Keeping Up with the Steins	Joanne Fielder
2013	Dealin' with Idiots	Rosie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981-1982	Square Pegs	Muffy Tepperman	Season 1 - 20 episodes
1983	Diff'rent Strokes	Lindsay	Season 5, Episode 24 "My Fair Larry"
1983	For Members Only	Monica Mitchell	Television film
1984	Dreams	Martha Spino	Season 1 - 12 episodes
1983-1984	The Facts of Life	Boots St. Claire	Season 5, Episode 3 "Gamma Gamma or Bust" Season 5, Episode 7 "Advance Placement" Season 5, Episode 16 "All or Nothing" Season 5, Episode 19"Star at Langley"
1984	Family Ties	Jocelyn Clark	Season 2, Episode 17 "Double Date"
1991-1992	Sibs	Lily Ruscio	Season 1 - 22 episodes
1994	Seinfeld	Jane	Season 5, Episode 12 "The Stall
1994	This Can't Be Love	Sarah	Television film
1994	Dream On	Jane Harnick	Season 5, Episode 1 "The Taking of Pablum - Part 1" Season 5, Episode 2 "The Taking of Pablum - Part 2"
1994	Related by Birth	Lily	Television short
1995	Dream On	Martin's Lover	Season 6, Episode 7 "Take Two Tablets, and Get Me to Mt. Sinai"
1995	Hudson Street	Allison	Season 1, episode 10 "Bells & Whistles"
1997	ER	Dr. Nina Pomerantz	Season 3, Episode 12 "Post-Mortem" Season 3, Episode 14 "Who's Appy Now?" Season 3, Episode 16 "Faith" Season 3, Episode 18 "You Bet Your Life" Season 3, Episode 19 "Calling Dr. Hathaway" Season 3, Episode 21 ""Make a Wish"
2001	True Love		Television film
2000-2002	Ally McBeal	Kimmy Bishop	Season 4, Episode 4 "Without a Net" Season 4, Episode 5 "The Last Virgin" Season 4, Episode 6 "'Tis the Season" Season 4, Episode 7 "Love on Holiday" Season 5, Episode 8 "Playing with Matches" Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2002	Gilda Radner: It's Always Something	Gilda Radner	Television film
2003	Undercover Christmas	Brandi O'Neill	Television film
2005	Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story	Marilyn Gambrell	Television film
2002-2006	Still Standing	Judy Miller	Leading role; 5 seasons - 88 episodes Nominated: Young Artist Award for Most Popular Mom & Pop in a Television Series
2006	Shark	Sara Metcalfe	Season 1, Episode 10 "Sins of the Mother"
2007	Lost Holiday: The Jim & Suzanne Shemwell Story	Suzanne Shemwell	Television film
2009-2010	Entourage	Marlo Klein	Season 6, Episode 2 "Amongst Friends" Season 6, Episode 4 "Running on E" Season 6, Episode 6 "Murphy's Lie" Season 6, Episode 8 "The Sorkin Notes" Season 7, Episode 10 "Lose Yourself"
2011	Modern Family	Laura	Season 2, Episode 11 "Slow Down Your Neighbors"
2012-2014	The Neighbors	Debbie Weaver	Leading role; 2 seasons - 44 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]