Ravishing San Francisco native Gina Ravera is part African-American, part-Puerto-Rican, all-talented and all gorgeous. Gina landed her first acting gig on an episode of In Living Color, which set her off on a prolific boob-tube run that included parts on series such as The French Prince of Bel-Air, Melrose Place, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Silk Stalkings (the heavy-breathing late-night CBS show that, thanks to the scorching presence of Gina and co-stars such as Holly Gagnier and Shari Shattuck, went by the accurate tagline, “It’s too hot to sleep!”). Leaping to the big screen, Gina Ravera lit up the dancesploitation classic Lambada (1990) — aka The Original Erotic Dance, as it’s translated from its Italian title — which may have prepped her, perhaps in part, for her signature role in The Breast Motion Picture Ever Made! Yes, we finally get a gander of Gina Ravera nude in the #1 Skin Classic of All Time, delightfully mad Dutch director Paul Verhoeven‘s way over-the-top(less) masterpiece (of ass), Showgirls (1995) In Showgirls, Gina Ravera plays Molly, the kind-hearted, generous, always upbeat G-string seamstress who takes in and lives with the cult classic’s volcanically antagonistic heroine Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley, whose naked explosive every millisecond she’s on-screen, setting loose the perv-formance of all our lifetimes). For all of Molly’s charity and goodwill in Showgirls, though, she ends up suffering a brutal assault at the hands of evil, Lurch-like rock star Andrew Carver (William Schockley). After Showgirls, Gina Ravera went on to roles in films such as Get on the Bus (1996), Soul Food (1997), Kiss the Girls (1997), Chasing Papi (2003), Gas (2004), and The Great Debaters (2007). Gina started out as a boob-tube beauty and she returned there for continuing success by way of series such as The Closer, ER, Private Practice, CSI, Castle, Arrow, and Station 19.
