Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy
(born November 1, 1972) [1] [2] is an American model, comedian, 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 on parenting issues and has become an activist promoting the awareness of vaccine safety.
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JENNY MCCARTHY TICKETS
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Early life
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.
[3] [4] 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,
[5] although she has referred to herself as an "outcast" at her school.
[6] 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.
Career
Modeling and acting career
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.
[7]
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.
[8] 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
.
Public persona
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.
[9] 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.
[10]
Personal life
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.
[11] 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 is
autistic. 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.
[12] 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 NHL hockey player
Dan Hinote of the
St. Louis Blues. Dan is married to her younger sister, also a former playboy model Amy McCarthy.
[13] She is also an avid
Chicago White Sox fan.
[14]
Activism and autism controversy
In May 2007, McCarthy announced that her son was diagnosed with
autism in 2005. The disorder of McCarthy's son began with seizures and his improvement occurred after the seizures were treated; these symptoms are more consistent with
Landau-Kleffner syndrome, which often is misdiagnosed as autism.
[15] McCarthy served as a spokesperson for
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) from June 2007 until October 2008.
[16] She participated in fundraisers, online chats, and other activities for the
non-profit organization to help families affected by
autism spectrum disorders. Her first fundraiser for TACA, Ante Up for Autism,
[17] was held on October 20, 2007, in
Irvine, California. Before claiming that her son's autism was caused by vaccination, McCarthy wrote that he was a "crystal child" and she an "
indigo mom".
[18]
McCarthy's book on the subject,
Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism
was published September 17, 2007. She has stated both in her book and during her appearance on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
that her husband was unable to deal with their son's autism, which led to their
divorce. She added that her relationship with
Jim Carrey has made it easier on her and that finding someone who loves her and her son is great. McCarthy also told
Oprah Winfrey that her son was developing normally until he received his
measles,
mumps, and
rubella vaccine (at 15 months of age) and claimed that they were the cause.
[19] McCarthy's claims on television that vaccines cause autism, despite being unsupported by the medical evidence, have contributed to parental concerns about a possible link;
[20] parental concerns have led to decreased immunization rates and increased incidence of
measles, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease.
[21] McCarthy has stated at many talk shows and rallies that
chelation therapy helped her son recover from autism; the underlying rationale for chelation, which is that
mercury in vaccines causes autism, has been roundly rejected by scientific studies, with the
National Institute of Mental Health concluding that autistic children are unlikely to receive any benefit to balance the risks of cognitive and emotional problems posed by the
chelating agents used in the treatment.
[22]
On April 2, 2008, she appeared on a
Larry King Live
special dedicated to autism arguing against scientists and doctors, despite little to no in-depth knowledge of science or medical credentials.
[23] In May 2009, she appeared on
The Doctors
regarding this same topic.
Publications
McCarthy began her writing career in 1997 with her first book,
Jen-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book
, an autobiography (
Harpercollins, ISBN 978-0060392338).
In recent years, McCarthy has written a successful series of books about her experiences with
pregnancy and raising her son, Evan:
- Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth
(ISBN 978-0-7382-0949-4)
- Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth about the First Year of Mommyhood
(ISBN 978-0-525-94883-4)
- Life Laughs: The Naked Truth about Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On
(ISBN 978-0-525-94947-3)
- Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism
(ISBN 978-0-525-95011-0)
- Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds
(ISBN 978-0-525-95069-1)
- Healing and Preventing Autism
Co-written with Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. Dutton Adult, March 31, 2009. (ISBN 978-0525951032)
McCarthy is also an occasional columnist for
FHM
magazine and has also recently appeared in a commercial for
Weight Watchers after successfully losing and maintaining her post-pregnancy weight by following the program. She is also the spokesperson for
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), and is a member of the board of
Generation Rescue.
Filmography
Year
| Title
| Role
| Notes
|
1995
| Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
| Blonde Nurse
|
|
1996
| The Stupids
| Glamorous Actress
|
|
1998
| BASEketball
| Yvette Denslow
|
|
1999
| Diamonds
| Sugar
|
|
2000
| Scream 3
| Sarah Darling
|
|
Python
| Francesca Garibaldi
| made for TV
|
2001
| Thank Heaven
| Julia
|
|
2002
| Crazy Little Thing
| Whitney Ann Barnsley
|
|
2003
| Scary Movie 3
| Katie
|
|
2005
| Dirty Love
| Rebecca Sommers
|
|
2006
| Lingerie Bowl
| -
| made for TV
|
John Tucker Must Die
| Lori
|
|
Santa Baby
| Mary Class
| made for TV
|
2008
| Witless Protection
| Connie
| made for TV
|
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
| Agent Tanya
| voice
|
2009
| Santa Baby 2
| Mary Class
| awaiting release
|
Television work
- Mr. Show
(1995)
- Singled Out
(host from 1995-1997)
- Wings
(1996)
- The Jenny McCarthy Show
(1997-1998)
- Jenny
(1997-1998)
- ''Home Improvement (Guest Star) (1998)
- The Big Breakfast
(1998)
- Honey Vicarro
(2001) (unsold pilot)
- Untitled Jenny McCarthy Project
(2003) (unsold pilot)
- Charmed
(2003)
- Hope & Faith
(2004)
- "What I Like About You" (2005)
- The Bad Girl's Guide
(2005) (canceled after 6 episodes)
- Party @ the Palms
(2005-2006)
- One on One
(2003-2004)
- My Name Is Earl
(2006)
- ''Tripping the Rift (Voice of Six) (2007-)
- Two and a Half Men
(2007)
- Just Shoot Me
(season 5 episode 6)
- WWE Saturday Night's Main Event
(Saturday Night's Main Event XXXVI, August 2, 2008, edition)
- Chuck
(Chuck Versus The Suburbs) (2009)
See also
- List of people in Playboy 1990–1999
References
- "Jenny McCarthy Profile" E! Online. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
- Playmate listing at uChicago
- Heroine Worship: Jenny McCarthy, The McCarthy Era
- Jenny McCarthy Biography (1972-)
- Austin, Michael and Jennifer Wehunt, "Before They Were Famous," ''Chicago'', pg. 76, February 2007, Volume 56, number 2.
- USA WEEKEND Magazine
- Amy McCarthy
- http://www.inthemotherhood.com/
- Sex in Advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal
- Glory At The Razzies For Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman - Hecklerspray: Music, Movies, TV, Celebs, Games and Gossip
- JENNY COME BACK
- MarksFriggin.com - Stern Show News - Archive
- [1]
- Famous faces among White Sox fans
- Fanning the vaccine-autism link
- TACA & Jenny McCarthy
- Ante Up For Autism : : Taca
- Insights of an indigo mom: a mother's awakening
- "Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete—Their Fight to Save Their Autistic Sons", Jenny McCarthy on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
- After vaccine-autism case settlement, MDs urged to continue recommending vaccines
- Rise in measles prompts concern
- Stalled trial for autism highlights dilemma of alternative treatments
- CNN Larry King Live: Jenny McCarthy's Autism Fight, Aired April 2, 2008