Lark Voorhies is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her role as Lisa Turtle on the popular sitcom Saved by the Bell. But what has she been doing since the iconic 90s sitcom finished airing?
Voorhies was born March 25, 1974, in Nashville, Tennessee as Lark Holloway. When she was two years old, her family moved to Pasadena, California where her mother, Tricia, realized she had a natural talent for acting and found a talent agent for her. When she began acting, she adopted the stage name Voorhies and it has stuck ever since.
Early Career
She was 12 years old when she landed her first-ever role in a Universal Studios commercial to advertise the iconic King Kong attraction.
Shortly after, she booked an appearance in an episode of the 1980s sitcom Small Wonder. Following that role, she booked her most notable role yet, Lisa Turtle when it was a Disney Channel original called Good Morning, Miss Bliss.
Saved By The Bell
Disney Channel dropped the show and it was later picked up by NBC and repackaged as Saved by the Bell. The original show focused on the teachers at John F. Kennedy Junior High, but Saved by the Bell focused on the students instead, pulling the original cast from the Disney show to star in the new one.
Lisa Turtle was a wealthy, shopaholic who always had a knack for picking out the latest trends. She wanted to be a fashion designer when she grew up and was notably very talented. She was known for her popularity and always knowing the latest gossip throughout the school.
While the show was airing, they made a TV movie called Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style where the gang visited Kelly’s grandfather in Hawaii and helped him save his hotel from a rival business.
The series ended in 1992 and was reprised for its third iteration in 1994, Saved by the Bell: The College Years. That show only lasted one season and Voorhies only appeared in the season finale to attend Kelly’s wedding as her Maid of Honor. Before that, she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Saved by the Bell was remade two other times before 2020 when the streaming platform Peacock picked it up for a soft relaunch, bringing back most of the original cast. However, Voorhies was not invited. She explained on the Dr. Oz show that she felt slighted by her exclusion. Eventually, she was brought back for three episodes of the series before its cancellation.
What Did She Do After Saved By The Bell?
Aside from the Saved by the Bell franchise, Voorhies has made guest appearances on several television shows with minor stints. Some of those roles include Family Matters, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Robot Chicken.
She made a successful career starring in soap operas as well. She played Wendy Reardon in Days of Our Lives, starring in 51 of over 14,000 episodes. And in the series The Bold and the Beautiful she played the role of Jasmine Malone in 65 episodes.
Since the 2010s Voorhies had taken a hiatus from acting, only to reprise the role of Lisa Turtle for the last time in the 2020 reboot.
In 2011, Voorhies published an EP titled The Mixer featuring two R&B songs as well as three self-published books on Amazon.
What Is Lark Voorhies Doing Now?
Lark Voorhies has not acted in anything since her appearence in the Saved By The Bell reboot in 2021.
Since stepping away from the limelight, she has been working through her mental health struggles and has been vocal about them.
She was diagnosed with schizoaffective thought disorder which sometimes makes it difficult for her to vocalize the thoughts in her head.
She appeared on The Dr. Oz Show in 2020 and explained what the disorder is and how it has affected her acting career. She is an active advocate for mental health awareness and has made great strides toward taking care of her mental health.
According to her Instagram, she is active in the fan community and makes appearances at conventions to sign autographs and attend meet and greets. She has a Cameo account, but it is currently offline. So keep an eye out if you want a personalized message from her!
Personal Life
While she was filming the original 90s sitcom, Voorhies dated her co-star Mark Gosselaar (Zack on the show). The couple broke things off before Voorhies was briefly engaged to comedian Martin Lawrence in 1993.
Her first marriage was to an actor named Miguel Coleman in 1996, but they divorced in 2001.
In 2014 Voorhies met a music engineer named Jimmy Green and married him in Las Vegas less than a year later. Their relationship made headlines several times because of Green’s alleged gang involvement and threats to release intimate footage of the two of them.
They eventually divorced six months after their marriage, but the headlines had a lasting effect on Lark.
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