Alicia Silverstone

Born: October 4 1976
Where: San Francisco, California, USA

The former cheerleader's career soared after her portrayal of teen It Girl Cher Horowitz in Amy Heckerling's Clueless.

The role catapulted her into he big time and roles such as Batgirl, Mary Giordano in True Crime and Heather in Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed.

However, she is also known for her off-kilter lifestyle - she admits to trampolining nude and landed the Plain English Campaign's Foot in Mouth Award.

The daughter of an estate agent and former air hostess, Silverstone is the youngest of three children and attended San Mateo High School, where she was a cheerleader.

Encouraged by her father, she launched her career aged six as a child model and made her first screen appearance in an advert for Domino Pizza.

After a guest spot in 1988 in The Wonder Years as a "dream girl" she landed the big screen role of teen obsessed with an older man in 1993's The Crush.

Although not a box office success, it did land Silverstone the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and Breakthrough Performance.

Her appearance caught the attention of rock bad boys Aerosmith, who memorably cast her in the videos for the songs Cryin', Amazing and Crazy.

Next up was 1995's Clueless, which became a massive sleeper hit and landed her a deal with Columbia Tristar worth £7m.

(The Plain English Campaign awarded her the annual Foot in Mouth Award in 2000 for her 'baffling verbal statement:'

"I think that Clueless was very deep. I think it was deep in the way that it was very light. I think lightness has to come from a very deep place if it is true lightness".)

Subsequent appearances included the thriller The Babysitter and the part of a teenage detective in the thriller True Crime.

In 1997, director Joel Schumacher cast her as Batgirl/Barbara Wilson in the disappointing Batman & Robin with George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell.

Next up was the adventure-comedy Excess Baggage (made by her own production company First Kiss) and the romantic comedy Blast From The Past with Brendan Fraser.

She was back on track with the romantic role of Princess of France in Loves Labours Lost. (She denied rumours she was dating director Kenneth Branagh).

In 2002, she starred with Peter O'Toole in the little seen Global Heresy and also took to the Broadway stage in The Graduate.

The following year, she appeared in the crime comedy Scorched with Woody Harrelson and John Cleese.

In 2004, she played Heather in Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed and followed it up with a role as a stylist in the Queen Latifah comedy Beauty Shop.