Ashley Hamilton

As the son of George Hamilton and stepson of Rod Stewart, actor Ashley Hamilton's entrance into the entertainment world was inevitable. Born on Sept. 30, 1974 in Los Angeles, CA, to his famous actor father and his mother, Alana Collins, Hamilton entered the public eye not via film or television, but through his marriage to tempestuous actress Shannen Doherty when he was only 19 years old. Because the two knew each other for all of two weeks when they walked down the aisle, the marriage was destined to be short-lived. Five months later, the couple separated and eventually divorced. But Hamilton had managed to gain a degree of notoriety, which he used to land a few movies and television shows. The same year he married Doherty, he had a sizable supporting role in "Beethoven's 2nd" (1993). He followed up with a starring role in "Lost in Africa" (1994), a foreign-made romantic drama that screened at a few international festivals, but received no domestic theatrical release. After one foray with a famous bride, Hamilton tried again, tying the knot with flame-haired supermodel, Angie Everhart in 1996. The marriage lasted four months.

Entering the soap opera world, Hamilton played Cole Deschanel, a jewel thief on the short-lived "Sunset Beach" (NBC, 1997-99), though he was replaced by another actor less than a month after his debut episode. Not to be deterred, Hamilton continued trying to make it as an actor, co-starring in "Not Even the Trees" (1999), a low-budget drama about a drug-addicted New York model trying to get clean and make it in the business. He raised his game several notches with a guest starring turn on the brutal prison drama, "Oz" (HBO, 1997-2003), playing a convicted marijuana dealer who gets killed by a gang leader (muMs da Schemer) for slipping pot brownies into the prisoner's lunch. In 2007, Hamilton began a stand-up comedy career, appearing onstage at noted clubs like The Improv and The Comedy Store, while also trying to kick start a music career with songs like "Takin' a Lifetime," "This Morning" and "Wimmin'." In 2009, Hamilton joined the season nine cast of "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ), following in the footsteps of his famous father, who was an audience favorite in season two.