Jenny McCarthy Biography
This voluptuous blonde became a media phenomenon based on her co-hosting duties of “Singled Out”, the MTV Generation-X version of “The Dating Game”. Jenny McCarthy was able to parlay her success on that show into a sitcom career, beginning with the sketch series “The Jenny McCarthy Show” (MTV, 1996) and her own NBC series “Jenny” (1997-98).
The second of four daughters, McCarthy was raised in Chicago and had always harbored dreams of a showbiz career. When she ran out of tuition money for nursing school, she attempted to find work as a model but was rejected by the local agencies. According to McCarthy, she approached Playboy magazine in 1993 as a last ditch effort to earn some much needed cash. Within a few months she was Miss October and went on to earn the title of Playmate of the Year. Taking her earnings (about $100,000), she decamped to L.A. to pursue an acting career. On the West Coast, she eventually hooked up with manager Ray Manzella who had guided the early careers of Vanna White and Pamela Anderson Lee. He sent her to an audition at MTV where she was quickly hired. During her two-year stint (1995-97) as co-host of “Singled Out”, she quickly established her onscreen comic persona; rowdy and obnoxious and willing to make a fool of herself, particularly by making odd faces. McCarthy became an almost overnight sensation and MTV put her to work on other shows (i.e., “Beach House”).