NEED TO KNOW
- Jami Gertz made a rare public appearance on Thursday, April 16, alongside her billionaire husband Tony Ressler
- Gertz and Ressler are the owners of the Atlanta Hawks
- Gertz was previously known for movies including The Lost Boys and Twister
Jami Gertz is supporting the arts.
Gertz, best known for movies like Sixteen Candles, The Lost Boys and Twister and TV shows like Square Pegs, made an appearance on Thursday, April 16, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s opening gala for its new David Geffen Galleries. Gertz was in attendance with her husband Tony Ressler, a private equity manager. Gertz and Ressler are owners of the Atlanta Hawks.
On Thursday night, Gertz, 60, opted for a chic coat dress with floral embellishments. She paired the dress with socks and heels, a white architectural bag, dangly earrings and her glasses. Ressler, 65, opted for a classic tuxedo.
Gertz and Ressler, according to The New York Times, donated $50 million to the museum to help fund the new David Geffen Galleries. The south wing will be named the Ressler Family Wing in the couple’s honor, per ArtDaily. Ressler joined LACMA’s board more than two decades ago.
Gertz began her career as a child actor. She appeared on one episode of Diff’rent Strokes and then on The Facts of Life. From 1982 to 1983, she starred in the sitcom Square Pegs, whose cast included Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Linker. In 1984, she starred in Sixteen Candles.
She also appeared in 1987’s Less Than Zero and The Lost Boys. She married Ressler in 1989 and they welcomed three sons together, Oliver, Nick and Theo. She began to focus on her family, telling PEOPLE in 1996, “I’d been working since I was 16. It was nice to have a home. I was aching for it.”
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In 1996, she was cast in Twister. She hadn’t auditioned for a feature film in four years and told PEOPLE, “I thought, I’ll just go audition to see what it’s like again.”
“I’m not going to Oklahoma for four months,” she told production. “I just had a baby.” But she went anyway.
Still, she mostly backed away from starring in movies, staying closer to home in Los Angeles. “I’m focused on being a wife and mom now,” she told PEOPLE in 2001. “My first question when I’m offered a part is, ‘Where’s it being shot?'”
She appeared on a recurring basis on Ally McBeal from 2000 to 2002, earning one nomination for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series at the Emmys. She starred in the CBS series Still Standing from 2002 to 2006. Later roles included appearances on Entourage, Modern Family and This Is Us. Her most recent role was in 2022’s I Want You Back.
Gertz opened up about her transition from acting to NBA ownership in a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone thinks I married a rich guy,” she told the outlet. “But I made more money — way more money — than Tony when I met him. I paid for our first house. I paid for our first vacation. I married him because I fell in love with him.” Ressler’s net worth is currently estimated at $10.8 billion, according to Forbes.
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She also remembered how the family ultimately bought the Hawks.
“And he looked at me, and I looked at him, and he’s like, ‘Jami, are we going to do this?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I’m so scared,’ ” she told THR. “And he’s like, ‘It would be so much fun!’ And then we were jumping and screaming, ‘Oh my God — we just bought a basketball team!’” They relocated to Atlanta in 2017.
“It just seemed like a natural moment for me to take a break from acting,” she said. “It’s hard to even say it out loud because I love what I do. It’s given me so many beautiful things in my life, taught me so many things about myself and the world around me.”
