She was known as an actress who had done a series of sexy shots in only a bikini.
Her parents are a special education teacher Gladdy Lou Ryder and a university dean, Leon Thomas.
She has admitted that she feels better and more connected to reality as a sober and recovered person.
Her most known role I was n the film was in Ford: The Man and the Machine in 1987, which won her a nomination for the Gemini Award.