Charisma Lee Carpenter (born July 23, 1970 is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character Cordelia Chase in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. She has been nominated for a Saturn Award and her most recent work was a guest role in the television show Legend of the Seeker that aired in November 2009
Early life:Carpenter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada to a Cherokee, Irish, Scottish, and Spanish mother and French and German father. Carpenter attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas. When she was 15, her family moved to Rosarito city, Mexico and then to San Diego where she attended Bonita Vista High School and Chula Vista School of the Creative and Performing Arts. After graduation, Carpenter traveled throughout Europe. Once she returned to San Diego again, she worked as a video store clerk, an aerobics instructor, and in property management. In 1991, she was a San Diego Charger cheerleader, before beginning her Hollywood career. In 1992, she moved to Los Angeles.
Personal life:Carpenter married Damian Hardy on October 5, 2002. On March 24, 2003, Carpenter gave birth to a son named Donavan Charles Hardy. In late 2007, the couple separated and their divorce was made final in July 2008. As a fitness enthusiast, her outdoor hobbies are biking, rollerblading, horseback riding, hiking, rock climbing, and sky-diving. Carpenter lives in Los Angeles.
Playboy:In the June 2004 issue of Playboy magazine, Carpenter appeared in a ten-page nude layout and on the cover. When asked by People magazine in 2005 about her nude pictorial and whether or not she would ever pose for Playboy again, she replied "I don't know. I did Playboy for a very specific reason. Not only was it a good financial move, but it was about the place I was at in my life. I had just had my son [Donovan] and I'd gained 50 lbs. during pregnancy. I wanted to get back to my old self. I wanted to feel desirable and sexy. So I thought, 'What if I went full throttle?'"
