Michele Merkin

Not to be confused with Michelle Malkin.
Michele Merkin
Born (1975-06-25) June 25, 1975
Santa Clara County, California, U.S.[1]
Nationality United States
Occupation Model, television host
Website www.michelemerkin.com

Modeling information

Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Hair color Blonde
Eye color Blue
Manager NEXT Model Management

Michele Merkin (born June 25, 1975)[2] is an American model and television presenter.

Early life and beginnings

Merkin was born in Santa Clara County, California,[1] of Swedish and Russian Jewish descent[3] as the youngest child and only daughter of four children. She attended boarding school in England. Her mother was from Sweden, and had been a model for twenty years, including an appearance in the debut 1977 Victoria's Secret catalog. Merkin was a tall child, 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]

Merkin began modeling part-time from the age of 15, while she was in high school. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, aiming to study medicine, specifically plastic surgery, but left during the first quarter to become a professional model.[4][5]

Career

Merkin in a 2006 glamour shoot

Modeling

Merkin 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 models a monokini.

Merkin was selected for the Maxim "Hot 100" list of attractive women in 2006 (at #74)[8] and 2007 (at #56).[9]

Television

Beginning in June 2005, Merkin co-hosted the cable television program Foody Call with Rossi Morreale, 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 the following year, she 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 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]

In March 2008, she hosted Sand Blasters III: The Extreme Sand Sculpting Championship on the Travel Channel.[13][14]

From 2008 to 2009 she co-hosted Party Monsters Cabo on E!, a reality television show where participants compete to determine who is the best party event planner.[14][15][16]

Merkin 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][14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Profile". Michele Merkin. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Michele Merkin". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  3. ↑ Drew Pinsky & Stryker (June 6, 2007). "Dr. Drew and Stryker with Michele Merkin.". Loveline Uncensored. (Podcast). Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  4. 1 2 "Hot and Fresh". Maxim. November 2005. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Michele Merkin: Wild at Heart". Maxim. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 Meyer, Frank (June 1, 2006). "Man Talk With Michele Merkin". Attack of the Show. G4. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  7. ↑ IGN Staff (May 24, 2000). "Joanna Sees off Perfect Dark". IGN. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  8. ↑ "MAXIM Magazine Unveils Their 'Hot 100' for 2006" (Press release). Maxim. May 15, 2006.
  9. ↑ "Maxim's 2007 Hot 100". Maxim. May 2007. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  10. ↑ E!: Entertainment Television. "Foody Call". Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  11. 1 2 3 TBS. "TBS Movie Extra - Michele Merkin". Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  12. ↑ "Extreme Dodgeball coming soon!", Michele Merkin Newsletter, official site, June 12, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Sand Blasters III: The Extreme Sand Sculpting Championship". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 De Leon, Kris (November 5, 2008). "'Next Best Thing' Host Revels on 'Party Monsters: Cabo'". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010.
  15. ↑ Hard, Rob. "E! Channel Sensationalizes the Event Planning Profession with Reality Show". About.com. p. 5. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Full Cast & Crew". Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014.
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