text: In June 2001, Gayheart struck and killed a young boy with her vehicle in Los Angeles, an event that was widely publicized, and was ultimately sentenced to probation and community service. She returned to acting several years later, appearing in recurring guest roles on the television series Dead Like Me (2003), Nip/Tuck (2004–2006), and Vanished (2006). In 2005, Gayheart made her Broadway debut in a production of Steel Magnolias. She returned to Broadway again in a 2008 production of Boeing-Boeing, opposite Mark Rylance and Christine Baranski. Gayheart's most recent screen credit is a minor supporting role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
  Early life
  Gayheart was born August 12, 1971 in Hazard, Kentucky, the third of four children born to Floneva "Flo" Gayheart (née Slone), who worked as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal-truck driver. She has two sisters, Elizabeth and Rachel, and one brother, Curtis Wayne Gayheart. She is of German, English, Scottish and Scots-Irish descent. Gayheart spent her early life in Pine Top, Kentucky. In her first year of high school, she starred in a stage play chronicling the life of Lizzie Borden, in which she played the titular Borden.
  At age 15, Gayheart won a local modeling contest, after which she relocated to New York City. There, she completed her high school education at the Professional Children's School and went on to attend the actors' conservatory of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Meanwhile, Gayheart earned a living appearing in commercials for Campbell's soup and Burger King, and also modeled for J. C. Penney catalogues.