Actor / Director Profile

Stunningly gorgeous and charismatic husky-voiced brunette knockout Jewel Shepard was born on January 3, 1958 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. Upon first arriving in California in the early 80s, the 5'7" brown-eyed and brown-haired beauty supported herself by working as a stripper at various Los Angeles clubs and subsequently got a job modeling for car shoots. Jewel began her acting career with minor parts in the enjoyably lowbrow pictures Kung Fu Cannibals (1982), Zapped! (1982), The Junkman (1982) and My Tutor (1983). Shepard gave an excellent and spirited performance as the sassy and sarcastic "Casey" in the fantastic horror zombie comedy treat The Return of the Living Dead (1985). She was likewise quite funny and appealing as the endearingly vacuous "Crystal Landers" in both Hollywood Hot Tubs (1984) and Hollywood Hot Tubs 2: Educating Crystal (1990). Other memorable roles are luscious wealthy playgirl "Christina" in the steamy late night cable-TV soft-core favorite Christina (1984) (aka "Christina"), the sexy "Dyanne Stein" in the amusing Party Camp (1987), ditsy prostitute "Wanda" in Roots of Evil (1992) and feisty prison inmate "Amanda" in the sleazy babes-behind-bars opus Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (1994). More recently, Jewel popped up in a small part as a hooker in the terrific independent movie The Cooler (2003). Outside of acting, Shepard has had a very successful career as a writer. Jewel has penned articles for such publications as "Details", "Premiere" and "Cosmopolitan". She has also contributed special features to the Associated Press. Jewel Shepard authored the B-flick queen interview chronicle "Invasion of the B-Girls" -- 19 exploitation film actresses from both the past and present alike are interviewed in this book -- and the often hilarious tell-all autobiography "If I'm So Famous, How Come Nobody's Ever Heard of Me?".