Lisa Turtle was a beloved character on "Saved by the Bell," and Lark Voorhies's portrayal
of the fashionista catapulted her to fame right away.
But, since the show wrapped in 1992, she seems to have faded into obscurity.
What really happened to Lisa Turtle from "Saved by the Bell"?
"Saved by the Bell" was the opportunity of a lifetime for Lark Voorhies.
According to her IMDb page, it was one of her earliest acting credits.
As diehard fans of "Saved by the Bell" know, the show started off as "Good Morning, Miss
Bliss," which ran for 14 episodes from 1987 to 1989.
Voorhies starred on this show as rich girl Lisa Turtle and remained part of the retooled
version of the show, "Saved by the Bell."
After "Saved by the Bell" wrapped in 1992, it seemed like Voorhies would have a bright
career ahead of her.
The actress landed dozens of roles after the show was over.
She had a 28-episode arc on "Days of Our Lives" in 1993.
The following year, she appeared in "Saved by the Bell: The College Years," "Saved by
the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas," and "Saved by the Bell: The New Class."
She also made appearances in other shows and several movies.
For the first few years of the 2000s, Voorhies was still getting steady acting work.
From 2003 through 2007, though, there are no acting credits listed on her IMDb page.
And her career has been pretty quiet since 2012, when she appeared in "Little Creeps."
In 2005, a few years after Voorhies had all but disappeared from the public eye, The National
Enquirer reported that her absence was due to a drug problem.
The tabloid reported that Voorhies had been hospitalized due to a cocaine addiction.
Voorhies claimed the allegations were false and filed a lawsuit against The National Enquirer
the following year.
Voorhies included a letter from her doctor confirming that Voorhies did not have a drug
problem and that she had never been hospitalized for abusing drugs.
Voorhies later settled matters with The National Enquirer and dropped the lawsuit.
Part of the reason that Lark Voorhies's life is shrouded in so much mystery is that, unlike
many other celebs, she doesn't chat or post very much on social media.
While she does have social media accounts, she posts very few updates about her personal
life.
“This explains so much.”
While the social media pages provide a small peek into Voorhies's life, there's little
information to be gained from her pages.
It seems as if Voorhies wants to keep her fans updated while still remaining mostly
concealed from the public eye.
The fact that Lark Voorhies doesn't update her social media very often, plus all of the
rumors that circulated about her over the years, has made this former actress especially
prone to being the subject of internet hoaxes.
In 2015, an Instagram account claiming to belong to Voorhies said the star had lupus.
A representative quickly shut down the rumors, telling People,
"Lark has never been diagnosed with lupus.
It's upsetting her that people are coming out about it.
She doesn't want to be perceived as someone faking an illness."
The hoax made Voorhies consider leaving social media altogether.
Voorhies later created her own Instagram account, seemingly in an effort to squash the impersonators.
Lark resurfaced in 2012 with a new look that worried her fans.
On an appearance on "The Yo Show," Voorhies was virtually unrecognizable, with a new hairstyle
and a thick layer of makeup.
Voorhies not only looked completely different from her former self, but she also acted a
bit erratically, causing further concerns about what was going on with the former child
star.
Looks aside, Voorhies addressed rumors that she'd been romantically involved with Mark-Paul
Gosselaar, saying, "No, we were all that close.
We just had a great chemistry and it registers very powerfully (on-screen)."
After Lark Voorhies's appearance on "The Yo Show" went viral, her mother responded to
the concerns about the "Saved by the Bell" star's well-being.
Some fans were concerned that drugs were to blame for Voorhies's appearance and erratic
behavior.
Their concern for the star only grew greater after a series of interviews with People featured
Voorhies mumbling to herself and stopping several times mid-sentence to stare off in
the distance.
Voorhies's mother, Tricia, spoke to People, saying that her daughter was not doing drugs,
but that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
She explained, "There are things that have traumatized her.
I care deeply about my daughter and I want her to resume her life."
Voorhies, however, denied the diagnosis and claimed her mother was simply overprotective.
In 2015, the cast of "Saved by the Bell" was united on an epic episode of "The Tonight
Show."
Jimmy Fallon brought together most of the show's biggest stars.
Voorhies, however, was notably absent from the happy reunion, as was her fellow "Saved
by the Bell" cast member Dustin Diamond.
“Trust me it wasn’t in my date book, either.”
Voorhies's absence from the reunion led to speculation, with many fans wondering if it
was true that Voorhies was battling mental illness.
According to Voorhies's publicist, she simply did not have time.
She told E! News, "Lark would have loved to be part of the Jimmy
Fallon skit, as she is a big fan of the show, however due to an intense work schedule she
was not available."
Even though it seems like many of the members of the "Saved by the Bell" cast have maintained
a close relationship with each other over the years, it doesn't look like Lark Voorhies
has close ties to the old gang.
In 2019, she missed out on a second reunion with her castmates.
According to Radar Online, most of the core cast of "Saved by the Bell" got together for
dinner in Sherman Oaks, California.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, and Elizabeth Berkley were all present
at the dinner.
Lark Voorhies was noticeably missing from the reunion as was Dustin Diamond.
While no explanation was given for Voorhies's absence, the fact that she wasn't at the gathering
seems to suggest that, at the very least, her relationship could be either strained
— or simply nonexistent — between her and her former costars.
While it doesn't seem like Lark Voorhies has been spending a lot of time with her former
"Saved by the Bell" cast members over the years, she still seems to have a soft spot
in her heart for the beloved show.
During her notorious appearance on "The Yo Show," Voorhies expressed interest in a reunion
with the rest of the cast.
The actress said, "I really honestly believe if it did happen
it wouldn't be a bad thing.”
In 2017, GossTV asked if she'd be interested in doing a reboot of "Saved by the Bell."
She said, "I think so.
I think at some point the world will call for it again and we'll all be there."
As fans know, a "Saved by the Bell" reboot was released in November 2020, focusing on
a new group of students at Bayside High.
Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez appear as series regulars, and other stars like Tiffani
Thiessen have made appearances.
In 2015, TMZ reported that Lark Voorhies had married music engineer Jimmy Green a year
after meeting him on Facebook.
The couple married in Las Vegas, Nevada after having had a commitment ceremony earlier in
the month.
Voorhies told People, "We have known it was meant to be for a while
now and are so happy we found each other.
I look forward to all the wonderful moments and memories we will create together."
Not long after they married, though, People reported that there was a 2012 arrest warrant
for Voorhies's husband in Arizona for disorderly conduct and threatening to intimidate.
It was also reported that Voorhies' mother had filed a restraining order against her
new son-in-law just four days after the wedding.
Voorhies and Green's marriage was short-lived.
By September 2015, the couple separated and, by October, Voorhies filed for divorce.
Just because we haven't seen much of Lark Voorhies, doesn't mean she isn't keeping herself
busy.
One of the many ways in which Voorhies stays busy is through writing.
The actress has published three books, all of which are available to purchase on Amazon.
One book is 2011's "Trek of the Cheshire."
Oddly, the book's description is littered with commas.
The book about Voorhies's life is confusingly described on its Amazon page as,
"A, riveting, acclaim, into, the, tickertime, life, of, convexly, celebrated, Lark Voorhies.
A, sure-all, themed, computation, centered, square, amidst, the, halls, of, renown."
Voorhies also published "True Light" that same year.
This book's description is also punctuated unusually and formatted in all capital letters.
Her first book, 2010's "Reciprocity," is the most conventional of all her books and is
labeled as romantic erotica.
Just in case there were any concerns among fans that "Saved by the Bell" didn't still
hold a very special place in Lark Voorhies's heart, rest assured that she still has fond
memories of the show.
In 2018, she made it out to a "Saved by the Bell" event, a pop-up of The Max, the local
diner where the kids of "Saved by the Bell" would often hang out after school.
Saved By the Max's Instagram account posted a picture of Voorhies at the event.
Voorhies's appearance at the event delighted the show's fans.
Voorhies got dolled up for the special pop-up and brought along a pair of crutches in a
nod to a memorable storyline on "Saved by the Bell" in which Lisa put her crutches aside
and danced with a sprained ankle in a dance competition.
While she hasn't released many details of her life over the years, it's clear that Lark
Voorhies hasn't had the easiest time.
Fortunately, though, things seem to be turning around for the actress.
“I believe in myself.
I believe in myself.”
While it's unclear if she will be pushing forward in her acting career any time soon,
it appears that she is trying to inject some positivity in her life.
Her social media posts have shown that Voorhies is filled with hope for the future.
Voorhies doesn't usually reveal many personal details in her social media posts, but she
does post plenty of pictures of herself along with positive captions.
She wrote in a 2019 Instagram post, "I hope your week is filled with happiness!"
A couple weeks later, she posted a picture of herself ballroom-dancing with a partner,
captioning the post with the hashtag "selfcaresaturday."
While we may miss Lisa Turtle on our television screens, it's great that Lark Voorhies is
working to take care of herself and live her best life.
After years of speculation, Lark Voorhies finally opened up about her mental health
on an episode of "The Dr. Oz Show" in February 2020.
According to People, she had previously denied her mother's claims that she was living with
bipolar disorder, but on "Dr. Oz," she said that she had been diagnosed with schizoaffective
thought disorder—a condition which, per the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is
often misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder.
Voorhies chalked up her previous concerning behavior to her condition, telling Dr. Oz,
"That was a perfect example of what it does and how it behaves and what it creates around
and about it."
During her appearance on "The Dr. Oz Show," Lark Voorhies said she felt, quote, "a bit
slighted and hurt" that she wasn’t invited to be part of the "Saved by the Bell" reunion
as well as other cast events.
Although she admitted she understood what she described as her "puzzling disorder" could
have been at the root of it.
Voorhies was subsequently invited to reprise the role of Lisa Turtle on the "Saved by the
Bell" reboot, guest-starring in a Season 1 episode.
She credited Dr. Oz with being the turning point in her acting career, appearing in another
episode of his show in December 2020 with an update.
On the episode, Dr. Oz shared the letter of thanks she sent him.
Voorhies wrote, "I have you to thank for the wonderful exposure
on your show that contributed to the 'SBTB' producers rethinking my value to the production.
It's always so good to be understood and be able to come home!"
Per Us Weekly, stills from Season 2 appear to confirm that Voorhies will also be in future
episodes of the Peacock series.
Hopefully, more good things are in store for the talented actress!
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text
Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI
(6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.