Hailing from Omaha, Nebraska, King was named after a character (Jamie Sommers) from the '70s TV show, The Bionic Woman. When she attended modeling school, she took up the stage name, James, and was discovered at the tender age of 14. By 15 she had already worked for Vogue, Mademoiselle, Allure and Seventeen. At her graduation fashion show she was hired on the spot and flew to New York to start her professional modeling career.

Work led her to more magazine shoots for Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Details, as well as walking down the catwalks of major fashion shows for such designers as Christian Dior, and Chanel. Succumbing to the pressures of modeling, King got hooked on drugs, becoming a steady heroin addict until her photographer boyfriend died from an overdose in 1997.

King started a second career on the big screen with small roles in films like Four Faces of God (1999), Slackers, Blow and Pearl Harbor (all 2001). She has also graced the small screen with occasional co-hosting spots with fellow model Rebecca Romijn-Stamos for MTV's House of Style, and appeared in a number of music videos including Filter's Take a Picture. In 2002, she went back to using her given name, Jaime, in films such as Bulletproof Monk (2003) and White Chicks (2004).

She is presently dating fellow model and personal trainer, Alex Burns. When not in front of the camera, King enjoys writing and photography.