Marissa Jaret Winokur (born February 2, 1973) is a Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning American actress known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' film Hairspray, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked. Some of her other TV Credits include Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me!, Felicity, and Dharma & Greg.
Biography
Early life
Winokur was born in New York City, the daughter of Maxine, a teacher, and Michael Winokur, an architect.[1] She is Jewish.[2] Winokur was a cheerleader and captain of her high school soccer team at Fox Lane High School. She later studied at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, graduating from the integrated program.
Career
Stage, screen and television
Winokur won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Drama Desk Award, Theatre World Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in Hairspray. She had previously appeared on Broadway as "Pink Lady Jan" in the revival of Grease.
Winokur has also played roles in films such as American Beauty, Never Been Kissed, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Scary Movie, Beautiful Girl (for ABC Family), Fever Pitch, Fugly, and Shrek the Halls.
Winokur co-starred in the TV series Stacked, which starred Pamela Anderson. Stacked ran for only 19 episodes, 5 of which never appeared on air. She also appeared on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where she lost a physical fight with Larry David over the first appointment at a doctor's office. She was called Marissa Winokur in the episode, but was credited simply as Woman In Elevator.
She was set to star in a new comedy pilot for CBS titled Fugly from the creator of My Name Is Earl. The show was originally pitched to FOX as a vehicle for Pamela Anderson, but was turned down in favor of Stacked. It was later revamped into a television film and aired to poor reviews in 2007.[3]
She returned to Hairspray on December 9, 2008 and played Tracy until the show's closing on January 4, 2009.[4]
Winokur hosted the reality competition series Dance Your Ass Off on the Oxygen Network. It is similar to the set up of Dancing with the Stars, but the contestant are also trying to lose weight and gaining points on how their dance performance is for that night. Contestants dance and 3 judges, Mayte Garcia, Lisa Ann Walter and Danny Teason. They judge ther performance and total the Weigh loss of that week with the nights performance, total the score and average it. The person with the least amount of points is sent home. She is scheduled to appear in the upcoming documentary Broadway: The Next Generation.
Recording and voice work
Winokur is working on recording a children's music album. Her rendition of the song "Baby Face" is featured on the soundtrack for the film Son of the Mask.
Winokur joined Nikki Blonsky and Ricki Lake in singing "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" on the Hairspray soundtrack. Winokur has lent her voice to several cartoon shows, including American Dad and King of the Hill.
Dancing with the Stars
Winokur is featured on Season 6 of Dancing With the Stars with professional dancer Tony Dovolani. Marissa scored an 18 for her Cha-Cha-Cha her first week and 21 for her Quickstep in week two giving her a combined total of 39 out of 60. In that week's elimination, Marissa was the last female contestant to be saved before Monica Seles was eliminated. In week three, Marissa scored 19 for her Jive to Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend, placing her last on the leader board, but was saved from elimination by the viewer's votes. In week four, Marissa performed a Paso Doble and was praised for her improvements, scoring 24 out of 30. She scored a second 24 out of 30 for her Samba in week five. In week six, Marissa earned a 26 for a Viennese Waltz, her highest score so far. The following week was another success learning two dances, scoring a 27 for her Tango in the Ballroom round and in the Latin round she received 25 for her Rumba. Marissa came third on the combined total leader board with a score of 52 out of 60, beating Shannon Elizabeth and Mario by one point and Cristian de la Fuente by 6 points. Despite being third Marissa found herself in the bottom two alongside Shannon. The following week Marissa performed a Foxtrot and Mambo scoring 25 for both dances scoring a total of 50 out of 60, placing her last on the leader board, but was again saved by the viewer's votes. During her last week on the show, she earned a 26 for both her Rumba and Quickstep. Winokur was eliminated after the semifinal round.
Performances
Personal life
During the early development stages of Hairspray, Winokur was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She underwent treatment for the disease, without revealing her condition to anyone except her immediate family out of fear that she would be replaced in the musical. Ultimately she made a full recovery and remained in the show.[5]
Winokur married Judah Miller, who was a writer on Stacked, on October 7, 2006. In March 2008, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, a boy to be named Zev, via a surrogate mother and that the pregnancy was five months along. Zev Isaac Miller was born July 22, 2008, weighing in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and measured 21 inches long. Winokur and Miller helped deliver their son.[6]
References
External links
