Jenny McCarthy

Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy (born November 1, 1972) 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 about parenting, and has become an activist promoting controversial claims that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy is effective against autism.

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. 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.

Career

[edit]Modeling and acting

Jenny McCarthy

Playboy centerfold appearance

October 1993

Preceded by Carrie Westcott

Succeeded by Julianna Young

Playmate of the Year

1994

Preceded by Anna Nicole Smith

Succeeded by Julie Lynn Cialini

Personal details

Born 1 November 1972

Measurements Bust: 38 in (97 cm)

Waist: 24 in (61 cm)

Hips: 34 in (86 cm)

Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)

Weight 120 lb (54 kg)

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-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book.

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 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.

Public persona

April 4, 2005

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.

Personal life

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 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 were then living together, but had no plans to marry, as they did not need a "piece of paper."[citation needed] Carrey almost made a mock proposal to McCarthy as a promotion to the film, Yes Man for Ellen's Twelve Days of Holidays. McCarthy and Carrey announced that they had split up in April, 2010.

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.

Activism and autism controversy

In May 2007, McCarthy announced that her son Evan was diagnosed with autism in 2005. Evan's disorder began with seizures and his improvement occurred after the seizures were treated; these symptoms are more consistent with Landau–Kleffner syndrome, which is often misdiagnosed as autism. McCarthy served as a spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) from June 2007 until October 2008. 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, was held on October 20, 2007, in Irvine, California. She is a prominent spokesperson and activist for the Generation Rescue foundation.Before claiming that her son's autism was caused by vaccination, McCarthy wrote that he is a "crystal child" and she an "indigo mom".

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. In 2008, she appeared on a Larry King Live special dedicated to the subject, and argued that vaccines can trigger autism. No scientists were invited to speak in response. McCarthy is also the spokesperson for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), and is a member of the board of Generation Rescue.

Although McCarthy's claims on television that vaccines cause autism are not supported by the medical evidence, they have contributed to parental concerns about a possible link;parental concerns have led to decreased immunization rates and increased incidence of measles, a highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease. Producer and post production supervisor on various television programs, Derek Bartholomaus maintains "body count" statistics, with her being held "indirectly responsible for at least some of these illnesses and deaths."McCarthy has stated at many talk shows and rallies that chelation therapy helped her son recover from autism; however, 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.

McCarthy's public presence and vocal activism on the vaccination-autism controversy, led to her being awarded The James Randi Educational Foundation's Pigasus Award (awards granted by Randi for contributing to pseudoscientific ideas) for the 'Performer Who Has Fooled The Greatest Number of People with The Least Amount of Effort'. Randi stated in a video on the JREF's website that he did sympathize with the plight of McCarthy and her child, but admonished her for using her public presence in a way that may discourage parents from having their own children vaccinated.

In an April 27, 2010 PBS Frontline documentary, she was interviewed about the controversy.

Publications

Jen-X: Jenny McCarthy's Open Book, an autobiography (Harpercollins, ISBN 978-0-06-039233-8).

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 978-0-525-95103-2)

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.

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

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Agent Tanya video game

2009 Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe Mary Class made for TV

Television work

Mr. Show (1995)

Singled Out (host from 1995–1997)

Wings (1996)

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 (2007-2008)

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)