Christine Elise McCarthy

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of artists, she graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1983. She and fellow 90210 actor Jason Priestley lived together from 1992 to 1995.

Very early in her career, she had a recurring role in the final season of China Beach which she often cites as her best professional experience. She played the role of Kyle in the 1990 film Child's Play 2. In 1993, she played Jenn Platt in the horror film Body Snatchers. She had a recurring role as Emily Valentine on Beverly Hills, 90210 and also appeared on the second season of ER for 17 episodes as Harper Tracy.

McCarthy has also been a programmer of Michigan's Waterfront Film Festival since it was founded in 1999. She has also been involved in multiple capacities (juror, panelist, programmer, and moderator) with Sidewalk FF, Indie Memphis FF, Oxford FF, RxSM FF, Victoria Texas Independent FF, Kansas City Jubilee FF, Lady Filmmakers FF, and Portland Oregon Women's FF.

Under her birth name (Christine Elise McCarthy), she has worked as a professional photographer, once (February 2008) showing her work at the 2nd Cup Cafe in Boston. In 2008, her photographs were displayed at the Paris restaurant Pink Flamingo. In April 2009, she participated in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, exhibit called "Burlesque As Art".

McCarthy made her directorial debut with an award-winning short film she also wrote, produced, and starred in: Bathing and the Single Girl. Since December 2010, Bathing and the Single Girl has been screened at more than 100 festivals and has won 20 awards. Dystel & Goderich Literary Management represents her full-length novel of the same name, Bathing and the Single Girl, released in January 2014.

On February 11, 2015, McCarthy appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.

Elise is revisiting her role as Emily Valentine from Beverly Hills, 90210 in the reboot, BH90210 in 2019 playing a "heightened version" of herself on the series.