Lisa Rinna

Lisa Rinna
Born	7/11/1963
Birthplace	Newport Beach, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress, television personality, model, author, entrepreneur
Known for	The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Days of Our Lives, Melrose Place, The Traitors
Children	2
Website	http://www.lisarinna.com/

Lisa Rinna (born July 11, 1963) is an American actress, television personality, model, author, and entrepreneur whose career has spanned four decades across daytime television, primetime drama, reality television, Broadway, and business ventures. She first gained widespread recognition for her portrayal of Billie Reed on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and later starred as Taylor McBride on the Fox primetime drama Melrose Place. Between 2014 and 2022, Rinna became one of the central figures of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which introduced her to a new generation of viewers and cemented her status as a prominent television personality. She hosted the Soapnet talk show Soap Talk from 2002 to 2006, earning four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Talk Show Host during that run. Beyond acting and television, Rinna has built a portfolio of business ventures including a fashion line for QVC, a cosmetics brand called Rinna Beauty, and the beverage company Rinna Wines. She has authored three books and made her Broadway debut in Chicago as Roxie Hart in 2007. In 2026, she published a memoir titled You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It, described by The New York Times as a frank account of the highs and lows of her career and personal life.

Early Life

Lisa Rinna was born on July 11, 1963, in Newport Beach, California. She grew up in the state of Oregon, where she spent her formative years before eventually pursuing a career in entertainment. In an interview with The Oregonian, Rinna discussed her Oregon upbringing and her path from the Pacific Northwest to Hollywood. Family has remained a significant part of Rinna's public identity; she has appeared in modeling campaigns alongside her daughters and her mother, Lois, who lived to the age of 93. In a 2019 feature for Today, Rinna modeled alongside her two daughters and her then-90-year-old mother in a multi-generational photo spread.

Rinna began her professional career in 1985, entering the entertainment industry as a young woman in her early twenties. She initially pursued modeling and small television roles before landing the parts that would define the early phase of her career.

Career

Daytime Television and Early Roles

Rinna's breakthrough came with her casting as Billie Reed on NBC's long-running daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. The role brought her considerable visibility within the daytime television audience and established her as a recognizable face in the soap opera genre. Her portrayal of Billie Reed became one of her most enduring credits and a role with which she has remained closely associated throughout her career.

Primetime Television: Melrose Place

Following her success on Days of Our Lives, Rinna transitioned to primetime television with a role on the Fox drama series Melrose Place, where she portrayed Taylor McBride. Melrose Place was one of the most popular primetime soap operas of the 1990s, and Rinna's casting on the show significantly expanded her audience beyond the daytime television viewership. The role of Taylor McBride further solidified her position in the television landscape of the era and demonstrated her ability to move between daytime and primetime formats.

Soap Talk

From 2002 to 2006, Rinna served as the host of Soap Talk, a talk show that aired on Soapnet. The program focused on the soap opera industry and featured interviews with actors, writers, and producers from the genre. Rinna's work on Soap Talk earned her four Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Talk Show Host, marking a significant achievement in her career and demonstrating her skills as a television host in addition to her acting credits.

Guest Roles and Competition Series

Throughout her career, Rinna has accumulated a substantial list of guest-starring roles across various television series. Her credits include appearances on Entourage, Veronica Mars, Community, The Middle, and American Horror Stories.

Rinna has also appeared as a contestant on several high-profile competition and reality series. She competed on NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice and ABC's Dancing with the Stars, the latter of which was covered by Bravo's media outlets.

Broadway: Chicago

In June 2007, Rinna made her Broadway debut in the long-running musical Chicago, taking on the role of Roxie Hart. The casting represented a significant milestone in her career, extending her performing range from television into live theater. Her appearance in the production was covered by CBS News and other media outlets at the time.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

In November 2014, it was announced that Rinna would join the cast of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for its fifth season. Rinna remained a full-time cast member of the series from 2014 through 2022, becoming one of the longest-tenured and most prominent members of the Beverly Hills franchise. Her tenure on the show was marked by her outspoken personality, frequent involvement in the show's central conflicts, and willingness to address controversial topics directly. The series brought Rinna to a substantially larger and younger audience than her previous television work and transformed her into a fixture of contemporary pop culture and social media.

During her time on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Rinna became known for her memorable moments and quotable statements, which frequently circulated on social media platforms. Her presence on the series also provided a platform for her various business ventures and kept her in the public eye throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s.

The Traitors

After departing The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Rinna appeared on the Peacock reality competition series The Traitors. Her daughter, model Amelia Gray Hamlin, discussed the experience in a 2026 interview with Variety, noting that the extended deception required by the show's format had a psychological effect on her mother. "Having to lie for that long does something to your brain," Amelia Gray said of Rinna's experience on the program.

Writing and Publishing

Rinna has authored three books over the course of her career. Her published works include Starlit, a novel; The Big, Fun, Sexy Sex Book; and Rinnavation, which focused on lifestyle and self-improvement topics.

In February 2026, Rinna published a new memoir titled You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It, released by Dey Street Books. In an interview with The New York Times published ahead of the book's release, Rinna was described as being frank about the highest, lowest, and most complicated moments of her life and career. The memoir covers her experiences across her decades in the entertainment industry.

Business Ventures

Beyond her entertainment career, Rinna has developed several business ventures. She launched The Lisa Rinna Collection, a fashion line sold through the home shopping network QVC. The line features clothing items marketed to a broad consumer audience. Rinna also founded Rinna Beauty, a cosmetics company, and Rinna Wines, a beverage company, further expanding her commercial portfolio beyond the entertainment industry.

Personal Life

Rinna is married to actor Harry Hamlin. The couple's marriage has been a subject of public interest, with Hamlin discussing the relationship in media appearances. In an interview with Fox News, Hamlin spoke about the factors behind the couple's lasting marriage. The couple's relationship was also featured prominently during Rinna's years on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where Hamlin made frequent appearances.

Rinna and Hamlin have two daughters together. Their younger daughter, Amelia Gray Hamlin, has pursued a career as a professional model and made her acting debut in the Ryan Murphy-produced series The Beauty, as reported by Variety in 2026. The family has appeared together in various media contexts, including the multi-generational modeling spread for Today that also featured Rinna's mother, Lois.

Rinna is known for her distinctive hairstyle, which has become one of her signature physical attributes. She has maintained variations of the same short, layered cut for much of her public career, and it has become a frequent point of discussion in media coverage. In March 2026, Rinna appeared at Elton John's Oscars viewing party wearing a dress designed by Christian Cowan that was constructed from 11 pounds of human hair, a fashion choice that generated substantial media attention. Rinna described the look as going "from my head to my toes."

Rinna has also been open about her approach to body image and aging, as evidenced by her social media presence. In 2016, E! News covered Rinna posting an unclothed selfie on her birthday.

Recognition

Rinna's work as host of Soap Talk on Soapnet earned her four Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Talk Show Host between 2002 and 2006. While she did not win the award during those years, the repeated nominations represented recognition from the television industry of her skills as a talk show host and interviewer.

Her role on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills made her one of the most recognizable figures in the reality television genre during the late 2010s and early 2020s. The show itself is one of the most-watched entries in the Real Housewives franchise, and Rinna's eight-season tenure placed her among the series' most prominent cast members.

Rinna's career longevity, spanning from 1985 to the present, has been noted in media profiles. Her ability to reinvent herself across different entertainment formats—from daytime soap operas to primetime drama, talk show hosting, Broadway, reality television, competition shows, and entrepreneurship—has sustained her public visibility for four decades. The publication of her 2026 memoir by a major publishing house and her continued coverage by outlets including The New York Times, Variety, E! News, and Us Weekly reflects her ongoing presence in American popular culture.

Legacy

Rinna's career trajectory illustrates the evolution of celebrity in the American entertainment industry from the late 20th century into the 21st. Her transition from soap opera actress to reality television personality anticipated a broader shift in the industry, as many actors from scripted television later found renewed or expanded fame through reality formats. Her willingness to engage with audiences on social media and to leverage her television fame into multiple business enterprises has made her a case study in modern celebrity brand management.

Her tenure on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills placed her at the center of one of Bravo's flagship franchises during a period of significant growth for the network. During her eight seasons, the show remained a consistent ratings performer, and Rinna's confrontational style and memorable one-liners contributed to the show's cultural footprint. Moments from her time on the series have been widely shared as internet memes and GIFs, extending her cultural reach beyond the show's traditional audience.

As a businesswoman, Rinna's ventures across fashion, beauty, wine, and publishing reflect the diversified approach to celebrity commerce that became standard in the 2010s and 2020s. Her QVC fashion line, in particular, demonstrated the commercial viability of leveraging reality television fame into retail partnerships.

Rinna's family has also become part of the entertainment landscape. Her daughter Amelia Gray Hamlin has established a modeling career and transitioned into acting, continuing a family presence in the industry.