| Michele Merkin | |
|---|---|
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| Date of birth | June 25, 1975 |
| Place of birth | San Francisco, California, USA[1] |
| Occupation | model, television host |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] |
| Agency | NEXT Model Management |
Michele Merkin (born June 25, 1975)[2] is an American model and television host.
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Early life
Merkin was born in San Francisco of Swedish and Russian Jewish descent,[3] but attended boarding school in England. Her mother was from Sweden, and had been a model for twenty years, including an appearance in the first Victoria's Secret catalog in the late 1970s. Merkin grew up tall and slender, reaching 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) by the age of 14. This helped her play basketball, but gathered her some abuse in school, where she was called nicknames such as "Giraffa" and "Manute Bol".[1][4][5]
Modeling career
Merkin began modeling part time from the age of 15, while she was in high school. She attended UCLA, aiming to study medicine, specifically plastic surgery, but left during the first quarter to become a professional model.[4][5] She modeled for 15 years, living in Paris, Milan, New York, and Los Angeles, appearing in such magazines as ELLE, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, and over 60 commercials, most notably campaigns for Clairol and the Nintendo video game Perfect Dark.[1]
For Perfect Dark, Merkin appeared as the lead video game character Joanna Dark in commercials[6] and in-store promotions[7] for the N64 cartridge; Merkin's hair was cut short and dyed black for the appearances.[6]
Merkin was selected for the Maxim "Hot 100" list of attractive women in 2006 (at #74)[8] and 2007 (at #56).[9]
Television host
Merkin co-hosted the cable television program Foody Call with Rossi Morreale, which began to air on June 2005 on the Style Network. This was a reality show which combined cooking and romance, by teaching men to seduce women with food.[10] It was the second highest rated show on the Style Network.[11] After the program was canceled in 2006, Merkin admitted that the premise was faulty, saying, "... most girls I know don’t really eat. The way to a woman’s heart is definitely not through her stomach."[5][6]
Concurrently, Merkin was a sideline reporter on the third season of Extreme Dodgeball which aired starting July 19, 2005 on the Game Show Network.[11][12]
In May 2007 she ventured off cable television to host the The Next Best Thing television series, which aired on American Broadcasting Company.[5]
She is now co-hosting Party Monsters Cabo on E!, a reality television show where participants compete to determine who is the best party event planner.
In March 2008 she hosted Sand Blasters III: The Extreme Sand Sculpting Championship on the Travel Channel.
She has also hosted individual episodes of E! News Daily, NBC's For Love or Money, VH1's Red Eye, The Movie Fan Show, The Love Report for Studios USA, Close-up Hollywood, Buy TV, Movie Watch and Attack of the Show!.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d Creative Management Entertainment Group. "Michele Merkin". http://www.cmeg.com/index.cfm/talent/Michele%20Merkin/userid/50/id/4/talentpage/detail. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ "Michele Merkin". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580933/. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ Drew Pinsky & Stryker. Dr. Drew and Stryker with Michele Merkin. Loveline Uncensored. Podcast accessed on 2007-11-10.
- ^ a b "Hot and Fresh". Maxim. November 2005. http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=6802. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ a b c d "Michele Merkin: Wild at Heart". Maxim. http://www.maxim.com/MicheleMerkinWildatHeart/articles/4978.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ a b c Meyer, Frank (2006-06-01). "Man Talk With Michele Merkin". Attack of the Show. G4. http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/features/53919/Man_Talk_With_Michele_Merkin.html. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ IGN Staff (2000-05-24). "Joanna Sees off Perfect Dark". IGN. http://uk.ign64.ign.com/articles/079/079992p1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ Maxim (2006-05-15). "MAXIM Magazine Unveils Their 'Hot 100' for 2006". Press release. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-15-2006/0004361818&EDATE=.
- ^ "Maxim's 2007 Hot 100". Maxim. May 2007. http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=%207564&src=RSSArticles. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ E!: Entertainment Television. "Foody Call". http://www.stylenetwork.com/ssms-site/style.do?showId=6200. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ a b c TBS. "TBS Movie Extra - Michele Merkin". http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,117418,00.html. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ "Extreme Dodgeball coming soon!", Michele Merkin Newsletter, official site, June 12, 2005. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
External links
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