Daughter of renowned English hair stylist Vidal Sassoon and American actress Beverly Adams, Catya Sassoon was born and spent her early years in Manhattan, New York, before relocating to Los Angeles, California.
At the tender age of 14, she dropped out of Beverly Hills High School to pursue a modeling career in New York, following the persuasion of talent agent John Casablancas. She signed with the Prestige Agency and quickly rose to prominence as one of their best junior models, renowned for her svelte figure, striking gray eyes, and luscious reddish hair.
She traveled to London with her father, where she made the city her new hometown and continued to model in Europe. During a visit to Los Angeles, she was invited to do a film test and soon earned the nickname that would become the title of her first big movie, Tuff Turf (1985).
Balancing her demanding schedules, she continued to work as a fashion model while taking on roles in various TV series, including Amazing Stories (1985),Out of This World (1987),Hardball (1989),and The Fanelli Boys (1990).
As her film career took off, she signed with producer Roger Corman for a series of five films, beginning with Angelfist (1993). Although the film was not her best work, it surprisingly became a popular cult classic, with Catara Lange, her undercover narcotics agent character, resisting two decades in video. To prepare for the role, she invested in studying tae kwon do and arnis de mano, but unfortunately, she did not fulfill her contract due to her untimely death during a New Year's Eve party.
Throughout her life, Catya Sassoon was married twice and had three children: a son born in London in 1995 and twin daughters Mycca and Syke born in the spring of 2000.
