Jenny McCarthy Biography

Jenny McCarthy Biography 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”).

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Rachel McAdams Biography

rachel mcadams 4 Rachel McAdams Biography

Blonde for one role, brunette the next, actress Rachel McAdams has used more than appearances to conceal herself in the characters she has played. Though in her early career she often played the bitchy girl with a cruel streak to rival any teenaged pom-pommer—or third-world dictator—McAdams has also effectively played warm, genuine kind and high-spirited. And while still relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, McAdams possesses both the look and talent to become a major star.

Originally from London, Ontario—a picturesque Canadian town—McAdams craved the spotlight at an early age. At 4, she began competing as an ice skater, but over the years the pressure from competition, and her mother, soon wore the young McAdams out. All the while, McAdams was traveling to nearby Stratford to attend local theater and soon developed an interest in acting. At 12, she performed Shakespeare at the Original Kids Theatre in her hometown. She won her first acting award in 1995 for her role in I Live In A Little Town, a high school play that was featured in the Ontario Showcase of the Sears Drama Festival. After gaining valuable skills and experience as an Original Kid and in high school performances, McAdams attended York University where she performed in numerous student films and stage productions. She graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater.

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Valeria Mazza Biography

Valeria%20Mazza%20Biography Valeria Mazza Biography

Valeria Raquel Mazza (born February 17, 1972) is an Argentine fashion model. She was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, and discovered when she was only 16 years old by hairstylist Roberto Giordano. She rose to fame in 1996 when she appeared on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover with Tyra Banks, and presented the San Remo Music Festival in Italy. Mazza has also appeared on the covers of Glamour, ELLE, and Vogue. In 1998, she appeared in the movie Paparazzi. Later that year she married businessman Alejandro Gravier, with whom she has three sons: Balthazar (b. May 29, 1999), Tiziano (b. March 12, 2002), and Benicio (b. February 23, 2005).

Samantha Mathis Biography

Samantha%20Mathis%20Biography Samantha Mathis Biography

The pert, attractive, young Mathis is a third-generation performer (granddaughter of Austrian actress Gusti Huber, daughter of actress Bibi Besch). The New York and L.A.-raised teen got her first role–as an Amish girl–in the short-lived TV series “Aaron’s Way” (NBC, 1988). She continued to work in TV sporadically, her contributions consisting of the crime series “Knightwatch” (ABC, 1988-89) and supporting roles in the TV-movies “American Nuclear” (as James Farentino’s daughter, CBS, 1989), “Cold Sassy Tree” (TNT, 1989), and three 1990 movies, “Extreme Close-Up” (NBC), “82 Hours ‘Til Dawn” (CBS) and “To My Daughter” (NBC).

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Heather Matarazzo Biography

Heather%20Matarazzo%20Biography Heather Matarazzo Biography

In 1996, Heather Matarazzo delivered one of the year’s most striking film performances as the plain, bespectacled junior high student Dawn Weiner in “Welcome to the Dollhouse”. Only eleven years old when the film was shot, the Long Island native offered a compelling and touching performance of a misunderstood middle child, battered by the taunts of classmates (who call her ‘Weinerdog’) and the particular attentions of one boy (Brendon Sexton III) who demonstrates his affection with threats of rape. Despite subject matter that was at times painful to watch, the young actress never flagged, holding the audience’s sympathies even while displaying sibling rivalry. Like indie stalwart Lili Taylor, Matarazzo was willing to downplay her own unusual looks for the sake of the character.

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Mary-Louise Parker Biography

Mary Louise%20Parker%20Biography Mary Louise Parker Biography

A versatile and pretty theater veteran with a distinctive voice and delicate features, Mary-Louise Parker was a well-traveled “army brat” who began her stage career in New York City during the mid-1980s. She earned a 1990 Tony nomination for her performance as a young bride who accidentally swaps souls with an old man in Craig Lucas’ “Prelude to a Kiss” and later picked up an OBIE for her riveting portrayal of a victim of child abuse in Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “How I Learned to Drive” (1997). In between, she essayed roles as diverse as a woman driven to madness by the birth of a deformed child in “Babylon Gardens” (1991), a schemingly ambitious actress in the black comedy “Four Dogs and a Bone” (1993) and the vocally-challenged saloon singer Cherie in a 1996 revival of “Bus Stop”, opposite Billy Crudup. In 1998, Parker won critical kudos as a Cockney dominatrix who overhears a dying man’s confession and attempts to save his victims by traveling back in time in Alan Ayckbourn’s razor-sharp comedy “Communicating Doors”. The actress’ next stage appearance saw her offer an acclaimed turn (which netted her a Tony Award) as a mathematician coping with the legacy of her father in the Pulitzer-winning “Proof.”

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Mary Lynn Rajskub Biography

Mary%20Lynn%20Rajskub%20Biography Mary Lynn Rajskub Biography

A dark-haired performer who has made a her name in the industry with an original take on high-concept comedic stage productions as well as notable TV and film acting skills, Mary Lynn Rajskub proved a versatile and dynamic player. Appearing in extensive productions on stage in California, Rajskub started out as a San Francisco Art Institute student who found her comic side in performance pieces that played upon her skewed sense of humor and knack for bringing out the laughs in uncomfortable situations. Noticed by comedians Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, Rajskub was cast on their HBO concept comedy sketch series “Mr. Show with Bob and David” in 1995 and remained with the program until 1996 when she switched to the network’s “The Larry Sanders Show”, replacing friend Janeane Garofalo’s character as the show within a show’s new eager to please and often inappropriate booker.

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