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Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy (born
November 1, 1972) is an American model, comedienne, actress, author, and
activist. She began her career as a Playboy magazine model in 1993, before
launching a television and film acting career. Most recently, she has
written books about parenting, and has become an activist promoting claims
that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy is effective against
autism, indirectly leading many children to become gravely ill.
McCarthy was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her middle-class Irish Catholic
family lived in the West Elsdon neighborhood of Chicago. She is the second
of four daughters; her sisters are named Lynette, Joanne and Amy. Her
cousin is Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls fame. McCarthy's mother,
Linda, was a housewife and courtroom custodian, and her father, Dan
McCarthy, was a steel mill foreman. She attended St. Turibius Grade School
on Chicago's South Side. As a teenager, McCarthy attended Mother McAuley
Liberal Arts High School (whose school sweater she donned in the pages of
Playboy) and was a cheerleader at both Brother Rice High School and St.
Laurence High Schools, although she has referred to herself as an
"outcast" at her school. After McCarthy graduated from high school, she
attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale to study nursing. She
needed money to pay for college, so she decided to submit her picture to
Playboy magazine to make money. She was accepted and became a model.
After getting accepted by Playboy in 1993, the magazine wanted her to pose
for the October issue. McCarthy was paid $20,000 for the photo shoot.
McCarthy became the Playmate of the Month and later the Playmate of the
Year. In 1994, thanks to this newfound attention and popularity, McCarthy
moved to Los Angeles and, for a time, hosted Hot Rocks, a Playboy TV show
featuring uncensored music videos.
In 1995, MTV chose McCarthy to be the host of a new dating show called
Singled Out, for which she left Hot Rocks. Her job as a host was a
success, and Playboy wanted her to do more modeling. That same year, she
also appeared at WrestleMania XI as a guest valet for Shawn Michaels. She
left after the match with the victor, WWF Heavyweight Champion Diesel. She
returned to the WWE on the August 2, 2008 edition of Saturday Night's Main
Event to thank the fans for supporting Generation Rescue. In 1996,
McCarthy landed a small part in the comedy The Stupids. In 1997, McCarthy
launched two shows. The first one was an MTV sketch comedy show The Jenny
McCarthy Show, which was sufficiently popular for NBC to sign her for an
eponymous sitcom later that year, Jenny. The latter show is generally
considered a disappointment and was quickly canceled. Also in 1997, she
appeared on one of two covers for the September issue of Playboy (the
other cover featured Pamela Anderson). McCarthy also released an
autobiography: Jen-Y.
In 1998, McCarthy starred in BASEketball. In 1999, she starred in
Diamonds, a movie which was directed by her husband John Mallory Asher.
The next year, she appeared in the horror movie Scream 3. Since 2001,
McCarthy has guest starred in such shows as Stacked, Charmed, The Drew
Carey Show, Wings, Fastlane, and Just Shoot Me!.
In 2003, McCarthy appeared in Scary Movie 3 along with model and actress
Pamela Anderson. In 2005, McCarthy produced, wrote, and starred in Dirty
Love along with Carmen Electra. The same year, McCarthy hosted a new show
on E! called Party at the Palms. The reality show, which is filmed at The
Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, features hotel guests, party goers, and
celebrities. In March 2006, she was given Razzie Awards for "Worst
Actress", "Worst Screenplay", and "Worst Picture" for her work on Dirty
Love, which also netted her then-husband, John Asher, a Razzie for "Worst
Director."
McCarthy has continued her work with Playboy over the years, both as a
model and in other capacities. She appeared on the cover of the magazine's
January 2005 issue wearing a leopard skin bunny suit and was featured in a
pictorial shot at Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in the same issue. She
was the second woman (Carmen Electra was the first) and first Playmate to
become a celebrity photographer for the Playboy Cyber Club, getting behind
the camera to photograph model Jennifer Madden, who is not a Playmate.
Jenny's younger sister, Amy, has also posed for Playboy. She was a Cyber
Girl of the Week and the Cyber Girl of the Month for January 2005.
She is the current voice of Six in the third season of Canadian CGI Sci-Fi
cartoon Tripping the Rift.
McCarthy currently stars in an online five episode series, called In The
Motherhood, along with Chelsea Handler and Leah Remini. The show is on MSN
and is based on being a mother where users could submit their stories to
have it made into real webisodes.
She also plays the role of Agent Tanya in the video game Command and
Conquer: Red Alert 3, replacing Kari Wührer. McCarthy's body was used for
a character in a video game called, Your Shape.
Though McCarthy initially rose to fame because of her sexual image, a
frequent source of her celebrity derives from toilet humor. McCarthy once
modeled for Candie's, a shoe company. In one magazine ad, McCarthy posed
on a toilet seat, with her underwear near her ankles. Cultural scholar
Collin Gifford Brooke wrote that the ad's "taboo nature" brought it
attention, while noting that the ad itself helped to weaken that taboo.
Another Candie's ad depicted McCarthy passing gas in a crowded elevator.
A sketch on her MTV show centered on her character, a well-coifed business
woman, answering the question of "What did you have for lunch?" by seeming
to force herself to vomit all over a table which she then ate on-screen.
This was faked using special effects. The direct contrast of McCarthy's
reputation as a sex symbol and this often grotesque humor is closely
associated with her image. This image was taken to a new extreme in her
film Dirty Love, which featured McCarthy's character sitting in a massive
pool of her own menstrual blood.
In 1993, McCarthy underwent breast augmentation to enhance her look as a
model for Playboy. McCarthy had the implants downsized in 1998.
McCarthy dated her manager Ray Manzella for a short time in 1998. After
breaking up with Manzella, McCarthy began dating actor/director John
Mallory Asher. The couple became engaged in January 1999, and married on
September 11 of that year. They have a son, Evan Joseph, born on May 18,
2002. Evan was diagnosed with autism. In August 2005, McCarthy and Asher
filed for divorce.
In a February 2006 interview with Howard Stern, adult actress Jenna
Jameson said she had two sexual encounters with McCarthy. When McCarthy
visited Stern's show in April 2006, she denied having sex with Jameson,
but said she "made out" with her during the two encounters. McCarthy also
took a lie detector test and passed the questions regarding Jameson.
In December 2005, McCarthy began dating Jim Carrey. They did not make
their relationship public until June 2006. She announced on The Ellen
DeGeneres Show on April 2, 2008 that she and Carrey are now living
together, but have no plans to marry, as they do not need a "piece of
paper." Carrey almost made a mock proposal to McCarthy as a promotion to
the film, Yes Man, in which Carrey's character has to say "yes" to
everything.
Her brother-in-law is former NHL hockey player Dan Hinote, now playing for
Modo Hockey. Dan is married to her younger sister, Amy McCarthy, a former
Playboy Cyber Girl. She is also an avid Chicago White Sox fan.
McCarthy is a vegan. |
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Around the World in 50 Years
3D (2009) (voice)
Santa Baby 2 (2009) (TV) .... Mary Class
"Chuck" .... Sylvia Arculin (1 episode, 2009)
- Chuck Versus the Suburbs (2009) TV episode .... Sylvia Arculin
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008) (VG) .... Special Agent Tanya
Adams
Wieners (2008) .... Ms. Isaac
"Two and a Half Men" .... Courtney (3 episodes, 2007-2008)
- Fish in a Drawer (2008) TV episode .... Courtney
- Look at Me, Mommy, I'm Pretty (2008) TV episode .... Courtney
- Shoes, Hats, Pickle Jar Lids (2007) TV episode .... Courtney
"In the Motherhood" .... Kelly (5 episodes, 2008)
- All's Fair in Love and War and Sibling Rivalry (2008) TV episode
.... Kelly
- Mother Dearest (2008) TV episode .... Kelly
- The Infamous '3rd Date' (2008) TV episode .... Kelly
- The Preacher, the Panties, and the Policeman (2008) TV episode
.... Kelly
- Just Shoot Me, Cupid! (2008) TV episode .... Kelly
Tripping the Rift: The Movie (2008) (V) (voice) .... Six of Nine
Witless Protection (2008) .... Connie
"Tripping the Rift" .... Six (13 episodes, 2007)
- The Need for Greed (2007) TV episode .... Six
- Chuckles Bites the Dust (2007) TV episode .... Six
- 23 1/2 (2007) TV episode .... Six
- To eBay or Not to eBay (2007) TV episode .... Six
- Skankenstein (2007) TV episode .... Six
(8 more)
Santa Baby (2006) (TV) .... Mary Class
"My Name Is Earl" .... Wendy (1 episode, 2006)
- Mailbox (2006) TV episode .... Wendy
John Tucker Must Die (2006) .... Lori
... aka John Tucker doit mourir (Canada: French title)
Untitled Patricia Heaton Project (2006) (TV) .... Hilary
"Stacked" .... Eve (1 episode, 2005)
- Two Faces of Eve (2005) TV episode .... Eve
"The Bad Girl's Guide" .... JJ (6 episodes, 2005)
- The Guide to in and Out (2005) TV episode .... JJ
- The Guide to Baby Talk (2005) TV episode .... JJ
- The Guide to Doing It Now (2005) TV episode .... JJ
- The Guide to Being in the Mood (2005) TV episode .... JJ
- The Guide to Switching Partners (2005) TV episode .... JJ
(1 more)
"What I Like About You" .... Michelle (1 episode, 2005)
- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to Be a Lesbian
(2005) TV episode .... Michelle
Dirty Love (2005) .... Rebecca Sommers
"Hope & Faith" .... Mandi Radnor (3 episodes, 2004)
- Stand by Your Mandi (2004) TV episode .... Mandi Radnor
- Natal Attraction (2004) TV episode .... Mandi Radnor
- Jack's Back (2004) TV episode .... Mandi Radnor
"One on One" .... Holly Spears (4 episodes, 2003-2004)
- Bright Lights, Big City (2004) TV episode .... Holly Spears
- The Play's the Thing (2004) TV episode .... Holly Spears
- He's Not Heavy, He's My Half-Brother (2004) TV episode .... Holly
Spears
- Tears of a Clown (2003) TV episode .... Holly Spears
"All About the Andersons" .... Lauren (1 episode, 2004)
- Face the Music (2004) TV episode .... Lauren
"Wild Card" .... Candy LaRue (2 episodes, 2004)
... aka Zoe Busiek: Wild Card (Canada: English title) (USA:
alternative title)
- Queen Bea (2004) TV episode .... Candy LaRue
- Candy Land (2004) TV episode .... Candy LaRue
"Less Than Perfect" .... Dani (3 episodes, 2003)
- Santa Claude (2003) TV episode .... Dani
- Breaking Up (2003) TV episode .... Dani
- High Maintenance (2003) TV episode .... Dani
"Wanda at Large" .... Leader (1 episode, 2003)
- Clowns to the Left of Me (2003) TV episode .... Leader
Scary Movie 3 (2003) .... Kate
... aka Film de peur 3 (Canada: French title)
... aka Scary Movie 3.5 (USA: DVD box title)
"Charmed" .... Mitzy Stillman (1 episode, 2003)
- The Power of Three Blondes (2003) TV episode .... Mitzy Stillman
"Just Shoot Me!" .... 'Blush' Magazine Covergirl / ... (3 episodes,
2000-2003)
- There's Something About Allison (2003) TV episode .... Burt.Brandi
- The Proposal: Part 1 (2001) TV episode .... 'Blush' Magazine
Covergirl
- Brandi, You're a Fine Girl (2000) TV episode .... Burt/Brandi
"Fastlane" .... Gretchen Bix (1 episode, 2003)
- Popdukes (2003) TV episode .... Gretchen Bix
Untitled Jenny McCarthy Project (2003) (TV) .... Portia
The Perfect You (2002) .... Whitney
... aka Crazy Little Thing (USA: video title)
"The Drew Carey Show" .... Jenny McCarthy / ... (3 episodes,
2001-2002)
- A Shot in the Dark (2002) TV episode .... Marlo Kelly
- Drew Carey's Back-to-School Rock 'n' Roll Comedy Hour: Part 1
(2001) TV episode .... Jenny McCarthy/Various
- Drew Carey's Back-to-School Rock 'n' Roll Comedy Hour: Part 2
(2001) TV episode .... Jenny McCarthy/Various
"Going to California" .... Amber Beamis (1 episode, 2001)
- The Big Padoodle (2001) TV episode .... Amber Beamis
Thank Heaven (2001) .... Julia
Honey Vicarro (2001) (TV) .... Honey Vicarro
Python (2000) (TV) .... Francesca Garibaldi
Scream 3 (2000) .... Sarah Darling
Live Girls (2000) (TV) .... Rebecca
Diamonds (1999) .... Sugar
... aka Der Gauner mit dem Diamantenherz (Germany: TV title)
"Home Improvement" .... Alex (1 episode, 1999)
- Young at Heart (1999) TV episode .... Alex
BASEketball (1998) .... Yvette Denslow
"Jenny" (1997) TV series .... Jenny McMillan (unknown episodes)
"Wings" .... Dani (1 episode, 1996)
- Maybe It's You (1996) TV episode .... Dani
The Stupids (1996) .... Glamorous Actress
"Baywatch" .... April Winters (1 episode, 1996)
... aka Baywatch Hawaii (USA: new title)
- Freefall (1996) TV episode .... April Winters
"Mr. Show with Bob and David" .... Rhonda (1 episode, 1995)
... aka Mr. Show (USA: short title)
- The Cry of a Hungry Baby (1995) TV episode .... Rhonda
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) .... Blonde Nurse
"Silk Stalkings" .... Totally Positive Rush Model (1 episode, 1994)
- The Deep End (1994) TV episode (as Jennifer McCarthy) .... Totally
Positive Rush Model |
