Darcy LaPier is an American former actress and model.[1]

Darcy LaPier
LaPier in 1993
Alma materPortland State University
University of Oregon
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active1989–1999
Spouses
Larry Ray Robertson
(m. 1984; div. 1993)
Ron Rice
(m. 1991; ann. 1993)
(m. 1994; div. 1997)
(m. 1999; died 2000)
Brian Snodgrass
(m. 2002; div. 2010)
Children3

Early life edit

LaPier graduated from Portland State University. She also studied drama at the University of Oregon and Huntington Film Institute in Florida.[2]

Personal life edit

She was first married, at the age of 19, to Larry Ray Robertson (from 1984 to 1993), but, while participating in a Hawaiian Tropic Beauty Pageant in 1985, she caught the eye of Ron Rice, Hawaiian Tropic's founder. After one date, they quickly became inseparable and were married in 1991. This union produced a daughter, Sterling. While still married to Ron Rice, she met and fell in love with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was married to bodybuilder Gladys Portugues at the time. After learning of Darcy's affair with Van Damme, Rice began divorce proceedings, but upon learning that at the time of their marriage she was not yet divorced from her first husband, he had the marriage annulled. (As a consequence, LaPier was entitled to child support, but not alimony, from Ron Rice.) She then married a now-divorced Van Damme in Bangkok, Thailand in February 1994; their marriage lasted until November 1997.[3] This marriage produced a son, Nicholas van Varenberg (born October 10, 1995). Van Damme later went on to remarry Gladys Portugues.

On Valentine's Day 1999, LaPier married Mark R. Hughes, founder of Herbalife, at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church. The wedding was attended by many of Herbalife's top distributors, and was broadcast on HBN (Herbalife Broadcast Network) to distributors worldwide. Hughes died in his sleep on May 21 the following year.[4] In the days following his death, LaPier had the grounds of their Malibu estate covered in 14,000 red roses.

After Hughes' death, LaPier moved back to Oregon. She married Brian Snodgrass (of the Seven Dees nursery family) in 2002, and had a daughter, Madison Snodgrass. On her ranch in Oregon with her family, LaPier transformed herself into a rodeo barrel racer. In 2013, she produced and starred in A&E's reality series Rodeo Girls.

Filmography edit

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1989 Think Big Donna Film Debut
1990 Dream Trap Unknown Role Extra
1991 Driving Me Crazy Girl with Taj
1992 Double Trouble David's Neighbor
1994 Street Fighter Guile's Date Guile played by husband Jean-Claude Van Damme. Filmed in Bangkok where they married. A couple of months later, while LaPier was pregnant with their child, Van Damme had an affair with their co-actor Kylie Minogue.[5]
1999 Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target Ariana

References edit

  1. ^ "Darcy LaPier, barrel racer and TV star". Statesman Journal. July 2, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  2. ^ Knoxville News Sentinel (TN)December 9, 1990
  3. ^ Friedman, Roger (May 14, 2010). "Cannes film festival 2010: Jean-Claude Van Damme plans to appear in reality TV show for A&E". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  4. ^ Heller, Matthew (February 18, 2001), "Death and Denial at Herbalife", Los Angeles Times
  5. ^ McKay, Hollie (March 26, 2015). "Darcy LaPier shocked by ex-husband Jean-Claude Van Damme's affair with Kylie Minogue". Fox News. Retrieved March 29, 2020.

External links edit