When Kari was just three years old, she knew she would pursue show biz! She wanted to be Buffy on TV's "Family Affair" series. By the time she was 13, Kari was studying acting and making the rounds of auditions in New York City. In 1983, She was quickly signed by Ford's Model Talent Division. Commercials (for Clairol among others) and Off-Broadway came next and when Kari was 17, she was cast as Virginia Madsen's best friend in the film "Fire With Fire". article continued below....

She grew up in the Chicago area, until the family relocated to Oceanside, CA when Denise was 15. She began working as a model, and moved to L.A. after she graduated from high school. She landed parts in both TV and movies, and gave breakthrough performances in Wild Thing (1998) and The World is Not Enough (1999), in which she plays the latest Bond Girl.

In between her acting roles, Kari attended NYU's Drama Department and studied with the famed actress/teacher Uta Hagen and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Though she had recurring roles on the soaps Search For Tomorrow and As The World Turns, it was the Andrew Dice Clay film "Ford Fairlane" that gave her direction and her big break. She realized music was her real dream (and still is).

"I used to sneak into Manhattan and sing with bands at night. I was a rebel, but a focused rebel. I had a band with a bunch of guys much older than me. We formed an innovative punk rock group called Freudian Slip, and played in clubs like CBGB's. I'd sneak out of my house at night; they would pick me up and we'd play gigs in the city. Then they'd take me home; I would go to school and nobody would ever know the difference!"

Being hired as co-host of MTV's Remote Control and becoming a VeeJay for that music network was just the step her career really needed. While she's concentrated these days on Movies & TV, Music is very important to her and she has just completed recording an album with her producer, TK. You can hear a couple of.

• former MTV VJ
• (late 80's) Dated Rock Singer Dean Davidson of Britny Fox
• Has had her tattoos removed. These were: a peacock feather on her shoulder, and her ex-husband's name on her ankle.
• Her favorite hobby is pottery.
• Has 3 cats - Gato, Monkey, and Houdini.
• Education: Wooster school of dramatic arts. NYU. Tisch shool of the arts. Graduate classes at Columbia university.
• Released a album titled 'Shiny' in 1999.