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)
