Beginning in 1989, Baywatch ran for a total of 12 years until its series finale in 2001, and it was a show that many of us 80s kids were massive fans of. The acting was weak, the set was a bit lame and the effects were pretty terrible, but who cares. We loved it all the same.
Below are 20 of the main stars of the iconic show, then and now – and as you’ll see, many of them still look amazing today. Who was your favourite cast member from this classic show about surf, sea, and – most importantly – running?
David Hasselhoff (Mitch Buchannon, seasons 1-9)
The massive success of Baywatch, which David Hasselhoff produced, combined with the actor’s royalties and other ventures, have placed Hasselhoff’s fortune at more than $100 million today. After Mitch Buchannon, David’s most famous role is as Michael Knight in Knight Rider, which ran from 1982 to 1986.
Post-heyday, Hasselhoff has been in many TV shows and movies, with a brief cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 as himself and numerous appearances as judge on a number of reality TV talent shows. He also cameoed in the 2017 Baywatch movie as ‘The Mentor’. As well as acting in movies and TV shows, the Hoff has also made a name for himself lately on the stage. Since 2000 he’s starred in several Broadway plays including Jekyll and Hyde, Chicago and The Producers.
Although his popularity has gone up and down over the years in his home country of the US and in the UK, the Hoff has surprisingly always been popular in Germany.
Today, Hasselhoff is now over 70 and lives in Wales with 39-year-old Welsh third wife Hayley Roberts (28 years his junior) whom he married in 2018.
Erika Eleniak (Shauni McClain, seasons 1–3)
Erika Eleniak starred in 44 episodes of the first and second seasons of Baywatch, and the first two episodes of the third season, and was the show’s main female character from 1989 until 1992. It was confirmed by both producers and Erika herself that she left the show because she disliked the direction it was taking.
Erika stayed very much in the limelight following Baywatch, appearing in films such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Under Siege, but in recent years has made fewer appearances on-screen. A former Playboy playmate, in the 2000s Erika started to take part in reality shows, and in 2005 the actress appeared in the second series of The Real Gilligan’s Island.
Eleniak has suffered with weight issues throughout her life, once being underweight due to an eating disorder and previously being hospitalised for laxative abuse.
However, by 2006 she was overweight, and chose to become a contestant on another reality show, VH1‘s Celebrity Fit Club, in which two celeb teams battle it out to see who can lose the most weight. Now in her fifties, Eleniak has been with partner Roch Daigle – with whom she has one daughter, born in 2006 – since 2001.
Billy Warlock (Eddie Kramer, seasons 1–3)
Billy Warlock left the show along with Erika Eleniak at the beginning of Baywatch’s third season, and like Eleniak it was due to his unhappiness with the direction the show had taken. This didn’t stop Warlock reprising his role twice however for Baywatch Nights and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
He has also appeared on screen in many smaller projects and found success in a couple of soaps: General Hospital and The Young and The Restless. Warlock was also engaged at one point to Eleniak, following his marriage to soap actress Marcy Walker from 1985 to 1987.
Now in his 60s, Warlock is currently married to actress Julie Pinson, best known for starring in Days of Our Lives.
Warlock has unfortunately been fairly quiet over the past eight years or so; it is at present unknown when he will next return to our screens.
Jeremy Jackson (Hobie Buchannon, seasons 2-9)
According to David Hasselhoff, the role of Hobie Buchannon almost went to Leonardo DiCaprio. Jeremy Jackson has also gone on to star on our screens on and off since Baywatch in a number of projects, and also had a music career which was all thanks to David Hasselhoff.
It was the Hoff who got Jackson in to music, and Jackson was able to support Hasselhoff on one of his tours to get his career started. Regrettably, it’s been downhill for Jackson, now 38, ever since. In 2015, Jackson was the centre of controversy when he was arrested after a woman was found with stab wounds to his chest, saying that ‘Hobie’ had stabbed him.
Following an investigation, Jackson managed to explain that the ‘attack’ was in self-defence following an attempted robbery, and all charges were dropped.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t Jackson’s only recent incident involving a stabbing: in 2017, he was sentenced to 270 days in jail for stabbing a woman while allegedly trying to steal her boyfriend’s car. Now retired from acting, Jackson maintains a social media profile covering his physical fitness and works as a personal trainer.
Pamela Anderson (Casey Jean CJ Parker, seasons 3–7)
Thanks to Baywatch, Pamela Anderson was one of the most famous faces of the 1990s, as well as one of the most popular women with teenage lads everywhere for years. Anderson went on to appear in a number of films too, including 1996’s disastrous Barb Wire and 2003’s Scary Movie 3.
One of Anderson’s most notorious screen appearances, however, came when a ‘honeymoon’ tape was leaked of herself and then-husband, Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee, in 1998. In recent years, Anderson has appeared on Dancing With The Stars, in 2010, and the UK’s Dancing on Ice in 2013.
Now in her fifties, Anderson is three times divorced, having most recently called things off with American poker player Rick Salomon, in 2015.
Along with her animal rights activism, Anderson is today also heavily involved in activism to raise awareness for AIDs, promote the legalisation of cannabis and the banning of the hunting of whales.
Michael Newman (Mike ‘Newmie’ Newman, seasons 1-9)
Originally hired as a consultant on the show, Michael Newman was the only real lifeguard to ever feature on Baywatch. Playing a character who shared his name, Newman began making appearances on Baywatch in 1989, before finally becoming a series regular in 1996.
Newman never acted again after Baywatch ended, but he brought a much-needed authenticity to the show. To try and make the rescues in Baywatch look as realistic as possible, Newman based many of them on real rescues he had had to make in his time as a professional lifeguard.
Having left Hollywood behind, Newman currently sells real estate in the Pacific Palisades where he resides with his family.
Sadly, Newman was in 2011 diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease after he sought medical advice regarding a tremor in his hand.
Alexandra Paul (Stephanie Holden, seasons 3–7)
Sadly for fans, Alexandra Paul’s Stephanie Holden died in season 7 of Baywatch from a lightning strike whilst out at sea. Paul did however later reprise the role as a hallucination in a second season episode of the spin-off series Baywatch Nights.
Since leaving the Baywatch universe behind, Paul has been busy, appearing in a number of films and TV shows including Mad Men and Sharknado: The 4th Awakens. A keen athlete (and a certified health coach!), Paul also took part in the Hawaii Ironman in 1997, ran the Boston Marathon in 2000 and has even done the Fiji 11 mile swim. She’s also a committed activist.
Childless by choice, Paul has co-written and produced two documentaries about the world population crisis and finding happiness in a materialistic world.
Paul has been married to Ian Murray since 2000. She is an outspoken advocate of gay rights, animal rights and environmental peace. In March 2023, she was found not guilty of theft after liberating two chickens bound for slaughter.
David Charvet (Matt Brody, seasons 3–6)
From 1992 to 1995, or between seasons 3 and 6, David Charvet played young lifeguard Matt Brody. The role was resurrected in the 2017 Baywatch movie, where Brody was played by Zac Efron.
After leaving Baywatch, and subsequently Melrose Place (on which he appeared from 1996 to 1998), Charvet chose instead to focus on a music career in his home country of France. Universal Music gave Charvet a five-album deal in the mid-90s, though to date he has completed only three.
Back in 2010, Charvet joined a group known as The Blue Seals, a non-profit organisation that provides rapid responses to environmental emergencies, focusing on ocean preservation.
Charvet, now in his late forties, is currently on the Blue Seals board of directors. He has two children with ex-partner Brooke Burke. In 2023, another of Charvet’s exes, Kate Boskovich, reported him to the LAPD after he allegedly threatened her life.
David Chokachi (Cody Madison, seasons 6–9)
Making his screen debut on the show, David Chokachi played Cody Madison from 1995 to 1999. This character had women throwing themselves at him, and he had full blown relationships with both CJ Parker and Lani McKenzie.
And who could blame them? Back in 1997, Chokachi was voted one of the top 50 most beautiful people in the world by People Magazine. David Chokachi is another actor from Baywatch who has gone on to appear in a few projects but none of them ever too major, with recent roles coming in Rage of the Yeti and Abner, The Invisible Dog.
Now in his early fifties, Chokachi – who graduated from Maine’s Bates College with a degree in political science prior to Baywatch – now raises awareness for environmental issues, as well as taking some acting roles.
His most recent credits include Last Call in the Dog House and As Long As I’m Famous.
Yasmine Bleeth (Caroline Holden, seasons 4-8)
Yasmine Bleeth played Caroline Holden for four seasons of Baywatch, from 1993 to 1997, briefly making her an international sensation. After Baywatch, Bleeth starred in shows such as Nash Bridges and Titans, but she has not acted in more than a decade.
Unfortunately, since her TV stardom was at its height, Bleeth has featured in the news far more for her personal troubles. Bleeth entered rehab for the first time in 2000, for a cocaine addiction that has seen the actress in court for dangerous driving.
Having previously had high-profile relationships with Matthew Perry and Don Johnson, Bleeth met current husband Paul Cerrito during her 2000 stint in rehab.
Now in her fifties, Bleeth lives a quiet life away from her former celebrity lifestyle in Scottsdale, Arizona, along with Cerrito.
Carmen Electra (Lani McKenzie 1997 – 1998)
Another actress who, alongside Pamela Anderson, was famous for baring all in Playboy magazine, Carmen Electra enjoyed only a brief stint on Baywatch. From 1997 to 1998, Electra played Lani McKenzie, for all of one season.
Since Baywatch, Electra has appeared in many films and TV shows, including a string of spoof films including Scary Movie 4 and Epic Movie. Electra is a fundraiser for Head to Hollywood, which raises awareness and offers support to brain tumour survivors, with Electra having lost her mother to a brain tumour in 1998.
Now in her fifties, Electra has had an eventful romantic life in her time, having been married to former basketball star Dennis Rodman for five months and to Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro from 2003 to 2007. She also briefly dated Simon Cowell from 2012 to 2013.
In a very unusual turn of events, because she apparently has an amazing “somal structure”, an extinct species of fly was recently named Carmenelectra Shechisme in honour of Electra.
Gregory Alan Williams (Garner Ellerbee 1989 – 1998)
Gregory Alan Williams played the LAPD’s Garner Ellerbee on Baywatch for almost ten years with a couple of gaps, including one where he appeared as the same character in the spin-off Baywatch Nights. Since Baywatch, Williams has gone on to be incredibly prolific, having continued to act tirelessly on both the big and small screens.
To pick just a few from his 100+ post-Baywatch titles, Williams has been seen in The Sopranos, The West Wing and Monk, and heard in Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Spider-Man on the small screen. On the big screen, Williams has lately been seen in Brightburn, Geostorm, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and The Accountant, among others.
Now in his sixties, Williams shows no signs of slowing down, having recently made a move into both directing and producing.
Williams has also got a side-gig in writing books, so far having published four, including A Gathering of Heroes: Reflections on Rage and Responsibility: A Memoir of the Los Angeles Riots.
Gena Lee Nolin (Neely Capshaw 1995 – 1998)
Playing Neely Capshaw, Gena Lee Nolin starred in Baywatch for three years towards the end of its time as a real force on television. Nolin went on to star as the title character in Sheena, from 2000 to 2002, and has continued to act sporadically since.
Nolin followed several of her Baywatch co-stars in posing nude for Playboy in 2001, and appeared in Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding in 2003. Nolin’s most recent credits include Sharknado: The 4th Awakens and the 2017 action-comedy Killing Hasselhoff.
Now nearly 50, Nolin has three children from two marriages, with a son, Spencer, born to first husband Greg Fahlman, and son Hudson and daughter Stella to current husband, former hockey player Cale Hulse.
Nolin has had some tough times over the years, even being misdiagnosed and mistreated for post-natal depression after the birth of Spencer, before eventually being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Nolin now campaigns for regular thyroid checks, and has even written an Amazon best seller about it.
Kelly Packard (April Giminski 1991 – 1999)
California native Kelly Packard played April Giminski on Baywatch from 1991 to 1999, through seasons 2 to 9 of the show. After appearing as April for eight years, Packard went on to star in a few other minor projects but has largely been quiet on the acting front since.
She spent a year as co-host of Ripley’s Believe it or Not, from 2002 to 2003, and most recently appeared in the TV movie Stalked by my Neighbour. Otherwise, Packard has largely remained off-screen, and has instead gone on to lead a very family-driven life.
Now in her mid-forties, Packard lives in the town of Newhall in California, with husband Darrin Privett and their four children.
Packard and Privett are both members of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, having had their marriage ‘sealed’ in a 1997 ceremony. Packard is a vegetarian and animal lover.
Brooke Burns (Jessie Owens 1998 – 2001)
From 1998 to 2001, Brooke Burns played Jessie Owens on the two seasons that composed Baywatch: Hawaii. Since her Baywatch stint, Burns has been fairly prolific, appearing in a lot of projects on both the big and small screen.
Burns’ films include Shallow Hal and Titanic II, while her TV work includes Ally McBeal, Melrose Place and Community. Burns also hosted the US version of the hit TV quiz show The Chase for a total of three years, with other hosting jobs including Hole in the Wall and Dog Eat Dog.
In 2005, Burns broke her neck in a driving accident, but managed to make a full recovery. She has a titanium fusion in her neck to this day, however, and has become involved with a charitable organisation that raises awareness and support for people with spinal injuries.
Now in her forties, Burns has two children, one with ex-husband Julian McMahon and another with current husband Gavin O’Connor, a Hollywood filmmaker.
Nicole Eggert (Summer Quinn 1992 – 1994)
Having already made her bones in TV shows like TJ Hooker, Who’s the Boss and Charles in Charge, in 1992 Nicole Eggert joined Baywatch, playing Summer Quinn through two seasons to 1994. After featuring in Baywatch for two years, Eggert went on to appear in a number of small projects on both the small and big screen, but never really managed to hit the big time.
Following guest roles in the likes of Boy Meets World, Married With Children and Gilmore Girls, Eggert starred in Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding in 2003. Since then, Eggert has been best known as a reality TV regular, appearing on Splash, Tattoo Nightmares and Celebrity Fit Club in 2010.
In 2014, Eggert began running a new family business from an ice cream truck, as the owner-operator.
Now in her late forties, Eggert has two children. She was briefly engaged to Corey Haim and was married to former actor Justin Herwick from 2000 to 2002. Recently, Eggert accused Scott Baio of abusing her when she was a minor.
Jason Momoa (Jason Ioane 1999 – 2001)
Now one of Hollywood’s biggest stars – literally and figuratively – Jason Momoa got his break starring in Baywatch: Hawaii from 1999 to 2001 as Jason Ioane. Following Baywatch, Momoa took lead roles in North Shore, Stargate Atlantis and, most notably, Game of Thrones, playing Khal Drogo in season 1.
Following Thrones, Momoa played the title character in Conan the Barbarian before bagging his most famous role: the DC Extended Universe’s Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman. In 2018, Momoa’s career reached new heights after DC standalone movie Aquaman grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
2023 saw Momoa join the Fast & Furious series as the villain of Fast X. Next up, Momoa has an Aquaman sequel, as well as a role in the upcoming Dune remake and the lead in dystopian sci-fi series See.
Now in his early forties, Momoa was been in a relationship with Cosby Show actress Lisa Bonet from 2005. They have two children together and wed in 2017, but amicably divorced in 2022.
Stacy Kamano (Kekoa Tanaka 1999 – 2001)
A beauty pageant-winning model and actress who was born and raised in Honolulu, Stacy Kamano was the ideal candidate to join Baywatch: Hawaii in 1999. Until its cancellation in 2001, Kamano played Kekoa Tanaka for Baywatch’s two final seasons.
Joining the show at the same time as Jason Momoa, Kamano hasn’t experienced the same success, having largely disappeared from screens post-Baywatch. Following Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding in 2003, Kamano has appeared on-screen just four more times, with her last TV appearance coming in The Bold and the Beautiful in 2007.
Now in her mid-forties, these days there’s not much information to be found regarding what Kamano is up to.
According to her IMDb bio, Kamano “enjoys surfing, body boarding, tennis, swimming, roller blading and water-skiing”, and now “spends every spare moment with her Maltese dog, Brando.”
Donna D’Errico (Donna Marco 1996 – 1998)
From 1996 to 1998, through seasons 7 and 8 of the show, Donna D’Errico was Baywatch’s Donna Marco. Following her time as Donna, D’Errico went on to star in a number of projects, including Candyman 3: Day of the Dead and Austin Powers in Goldmember.
Most recently, D’Errico has made guest appearances in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Cameron Crowe’s comedy-drama Roadies. Having been married from 1996 to 2007 to Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx, with whom she has one child (she also has another from a previous relationship), D’Errico is a little more chilled out these days.
Now in her early 50s, D’Errico is today a devout Catholic who attends Mass regularly, prays the Rosary each night with her children and, on occasion, goes searching for biblical artefacts.
In 2012, D’Errico climbed Mount Ararat in Turkey in search of the remains of Noah’s ark. She didn’t find the ark, but D’Errico did travel home early after suffering a fall during the expedition.
Kelly Slater (Jimmy Slade 1992 – 1996)
From 1992 to 1996, competitive pro surfer Kelly Slater played Jimmy Slade for a total of 27 episodes. Since Baywatch introduced him to a TV audience, Slater has stuck mainly to his original love: surfing.
Since 1992, Slater has held the title of men’s World Champion surfer on five different occasions, having held the title as recently as 2011. Slater is such a legend in the surfing world that he had a video game, Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer, built around his brand.
In the past, Slater has dated a number of high-profile women including Pamela Anderson, Cameron Diaz and Gisele Bundchen.
Now in his late forties, Slater is currently dating fellow pro surfer Kalani Miller. He has one daughter from a previous relationship.