Bridgette Wilson Sampras (born September 25, 1973) is an American former actress, singer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 1990. She began her career in acting, playing the character of Lisa Fenimore on the soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' from April 1992 to January 1993. She appeared in a number of films including ''

Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...

'' (1993) in her film debut, '' Higher Learning'' (1995), ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

'' (1995), and '' Billy Madison'' (1995). She had roles in '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1997), '' House on Haunted Hill'' (1999), '' The Wedding Planner'' (2001), and ''

Shopgirl ''Shopgirl'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Anand Tucker and starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman. The screenplay by Martin is based on his 2000 novella of the same title. The film follows a ...

'' (2005).

Early life

Wilson was born in Gold Beach, Oregon, a small coastal town north of Brookings, the daughter of Kathy and Dale Wilson. She grew up there and was on the

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team for Gold Beach High School. She won the

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

title in 1990 at the age of 16 in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, and was the second winner from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. She graduated from Gold Beach High School in 1991.

Career

After her reign as Miss Teen USA, Wilson appeared in ''Santa Barbara'', Ginger on ''

Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United ...

'', ''

'' (as Jack Slater's daughter Whitney), '' Higher Learning'' (a cameo as a university student), Billy Madison (playing Veronica Vaughn, the teacher and girlfriend of

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

's character, ''Mortal Kombat'' (playing Sonya Blade), '' Nixon'' (a cameo as a nightclub performer), '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (as Helen Shivers' sister Elsa), '' House on Haunted Hill'' (as Melissa Marr), '' Buying the Cow'', '' The Suburbans'', '' Love Stinks'', ''

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

'', ''Sweet Evil'' (as a psychopathic surrogate mother), '' Extreme Ops'' (as a world-champion

skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International ...

), and '' The Wedding Planner''. Wilson also appeared on an episode of '' CSI: Miami'' as a woman whose husband is killed by a package delivered to their house. Her last film role before retiring from acting was in '' Phantom Punch'' (2008). Wilson starred

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...

'' and was a judge for the 2006

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

competition. She is also a singer and was featured on Tommy Shane Steiner's debut album '' Then Came the Night'', performing a spoken-word part in "What We're Gonna Do About It". The song reached number 43 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts in 2002.

Personal life

Wilson married professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player

Pete Sampras Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player. One of the most successful tennis players of all time, he was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the A ...

on September 30, 2000 after they dated for nine months. On November 21, 2002, their first son was born. On July 29, 2005, the couple had their second son. The family lives in Lake Sherwood, California west of Westlake Village. In December of 2022, Wilson was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

Guest singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Bridgette 1973 births Living people 1990 beauty pageant contestants 20th-century American actresses 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Oregon American child actresses American child models American country singer-songwriters American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses American women country singers Country musicians from Oregon Female models from Oregon Miss Teen USA winners People from Gold Beach, Oregon Singer-songwriters from Oregon