Tall (5'9"), leggy and busty blonde bombshell Briana Banks was born Briana Bany to an American mother and German father on May 21, 1978, in Munich, Germany. Her family moved to Britain when she was four, and three years later moved to Simi Valley, California. The slender green-eyed beauty did some modeling when she was a teenager and graced the cover of "Teen" magazine. Briana and her younger sister moved out of their mother's house when Briana was 16, and she got custody of her sister when she was 18. Briana made pizzas and worked at an arts-and-craft store, was a file clerk at an insurance company and a secretary at a cosmetics company prior to becoming involved in the adult film industry.

She began performing in explicit hardcore movies at age 21, using the name Mirage in August 1999, and has worked for such major adult-film studios as Wicked, Metro, Elegant Angel and Adam and Eve, and signed an exclusive contract with Vivid Entertainment in April 2001. She was the Pet of the Month in the June 2001 issue of "Penthouse."

In 2002 Briana was one of the first ???? starlets to have an action figure made in her likeness by the Los Angeles-based company Cyber F/X and Sota Toys. She contributed to the 2004 book "How to Have a XXX Life: The Ultimate Vivid Guide." She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2009.