Robia LaMorte

Date of birth : 7 July 1970

Location : Queens, New York, USA

Birth name : Robia Brett Cassandra LaMorte

Height : 5’ 6" (1.68 m)

Mini biography

Born on July 7, 1970, in Queens, New York, Robia LaMorte was taking dance instruction before she was ten years old. From that moment on she became a workaholic, practicing every day for hours, even in the backyard. Her big break could have come with her role as a young Victoria Principal in Mistress (1987) (TV), but the producers edited her part out of the film. Her main breakthrough came in 1991, when she was picked by Prince to dance with him for the "Diamonds and Pearls" album. A single from the album went to #1 and Robia was pictured on the cover.

In 1994 she appeared in the independent feature The Pros & Cons of Breathing (1994). Later on came a role in Spawn (1997) and, even more importantly, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).

Robia LaMorte was born in Queens, New York and grew up in the Florida Keys. At the age of twelve she moved with her family to Los Angeles, California.

Soon thereafter she saw the movie Flashdance (1983), and her life was forever changed. She immediately began to pursue a career as a dancer and began taking jazz, ballet and tap classes after school.

Robia was accepted to attend The Los Angeles County High School For The Arts as a dance major their first year in operation in Los Angeles. She left the school after one year to fulfill a full dance scholarship at the prestigious Dupree Dance Academy in Hollywood.

At the age of sixteen Robia began to work professionally. Her first job was the music video "Shake Your Love" by Debbie Gibson. You can see her looking very "Flashdance-esque" with her big 80s, ala Jennifer Beals permed hair!

Robia went on to appear in more than thirty music videos before Prince pursued her to play the role of "Pearl" on his hit album "Diamonds & Pearls."

She toured Europe with Prince and The Pet Shop Boys and also traveled extensively doing dance fashion shows with companies such as Reebok, Puma and Adidas.

At the age of twenty-two, Robia hung up her dance shoes and retired. She decided the next logical move would be acting. She began by doing television commercials before landing her first role as Jason Priestley’s girlfriend on "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990).

She went on to guest star on shows like "The Sentinel" (1996), "The Pretender" (1996) and "Time of Your Life" (1999), before she was hired to play "Jenny Calendar" on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997).

After three seasons on "Buffy", Robia recurred on the WB show "Rescue 77" (1999) and filmed several independent films such as 12 Stops on the Road to Nowhere (1999) and _Pomegranate (2001)_ . IMDb mini-biography by David W. Crenshaw (official bio provided with permission) Trivia

She studied at the LA School for the Performing Arts and the Dupree Dance Academy. She began dancing at the tender age of 12. She became a professional dancer at 16 and appeared in her first music video Shake Your Love for artist Deborah Gibson. She was paired with dancer Lori Elle and they became known as Diamond & Pearl - dancers for Prince. She and Lori Elle also appeared on the cover of Princes’ "Diamonds & Pearls" album.

Studied dance and traveled around the world with Prince

LaMorte means ’The Death.’ Where are they now

(October 2004) She spends much of her time attending fan conventions, as well as ministering and preaching the Gospel. She’s still very active in the entertainment business, frequently appearing in television commercials.

(February 2005) Appeared in an informercial for the Voom HD television service.