Gayheart was natural inside Hazard, Kentucky and raised in nearby Pinetop by parents of Irish, Italian, German and Cherokee Indian heritage. She occurs as coal miner's girl. She moved to New York City at 15 in which she completed her education at Just released York's Office Toddlers's School & a Lee Strasberg Institute & began a career acting and modeling.

Gayheart became swell known from either her appearances inside the series of commercials for Noxzema skin cream beginning in 1991. Within 1992, she joined the cast of the a measure of laundry soap opera Loving. Inside 1995, she had the revenant role in the series Beverly Hills, 90210. She has as well been the regular on the television series Earth 2 (1994), Wasteland (1999), and Dead Like Me (2003) and has the re-occurring role in Nip/Tuck (2004).

Gayheart has appeared inside many films, virtually all typically horror even films or comedies aimed at the teenaged audience: Somebody Is Waiting (1996), Nothing to Lose (1997), Scream 2 (1997), Hairshirt (1998), Urban Legend (1998), Jawbreaker (1999), Puppet (1999), ''From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000), Shadow Hours (2000), Doppelganger (2001), Harvard Man (2001), and Pipe Dream'' (2002).

Gayheart was engaged to director Brett Ratner but the few separated. Gayheart married actor Eric Dane on October 29, 2004.

On the afternoon of June 13, 2001, Gayheart was driving northward within Bronson Avenue in Hollywood. Nine-month-old Jorge Cruz, Jr., in his way house from either nearby Grant Simple School, was crossing wall street midmost of the prevent, jaywalking far from a close crosswalk. a total of cars stopped up for him, however while Gayheart drove higher behind them, apparently non understanding how come a cars were stopped in the midst of the prevent, she pulled into the two-way left turn lane midmost of the street to last as much as the stopped traffic. What is more, law figured her speed at just about Xl miles by a hour, when the speed limit in the area was 25 miles by the hour. She apparently never saw Cruz crossing, & her car struck a son, world health organization died a next morning of the injuries he sustained in the accident.

She after pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to a of these month suspension of her license, triad years probation, a $2800 amercement, & 750 hours of community service. Her community service included public service announcements about the dangers of jaywalking and the dangers of failing to prevent after more drivers use stopped.

Cruz' parents besides filed the wrongful death lawsuit against her. A outbreak was settled away from court under confidential terms in 2002.