|
Maria Menounos (Μαρία Μενούνος in
Greek) (born on 8 June 1978 in Medford, Massachusetts) is an American
actress, journalist, and television presenter.
In 1995, Menounos began to compete in beauty pageants. The following year,
she won the title of Miss Massachusetts Teen USA and competed at Miss Teen
USA where she failed to place. That pageant was won by Christie Lee Woods,
who later competed on The Amazing Race 5.
Later Menounos attended Boston's Emerson College. During her senior year,
she was hired as a reporter for Channel One News, known as the top news
source for American students. Her work for Channel One's 10-minute
segments included traveling to El Salvador to report on the earthquake of
2001 and interviewing President George W. Bush.
Entertainment Tonight hired Menounos as a correspondent in 2002, where she
reported on movies, music and fashion. ET executives offered her a hosting
gig for ET on MTV & VH1; she left the program in 2005 to focus on her
acting career, though she would be joining rival program Access Hollywood
later that Fall as a special correspondent.
In 2003 Menounos appeared on the November 30 episode of Punk'd where she
was one of the poor celebrity saps caught in the awkward and embarrassing
"Red Carpet Interviews".
In the summer of 2005, she appeared in the comic book film Fantastic Four,
where she played a nurse who is romanced by the "Human Torch," played by
Chris Evans. Her likeness and voice was featured in the 2005 Electronic
Arts video game, From Russia with Love as Eva Adara, Red Grant's
henchwoman, which stars Sean Connery as James Bond. She is also the
spokesperson for Pantene hair products.
Menounos presented the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest (along with Greek
singer Sakis Rouvas) that took place in Athens.
Menounos is a correspondent for the "Today Show" as well as "Access
Hollywood" in an overall deal with NBC Universal to act in films and
television shows. She also has recurring roles on Without a Trace and as
Jules in the second season of the CW's (previously as The WB) One Tree
Hill.
In 2006, Menounos appeared in the music video for "A Public Affair" by
Jessica Simpson.
At the age of 17, Menounos produced "In the Land of Merry Misfits",
independent film's first fairy tale. The 35mm feature film was produced by
Menounos while attending Emerson College with director Keven Undergaro,
then head writer for MTV's Singled Out. The negative of the film was
stolen and the film was never completed but her work on the film, and the
film's director, helped her land her reporting job at Channel One News and
at MTV (ET on MTV). Menounos, however, never forgot the film or the film's
director. In 2005 Menounos personally funded the recovery and restoration
of the film. The movie is expected to be completed some time in 2006.
Menounos also directed "Longtime Listener" starring Wilmer Valderrama. The
film is an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival 2006.
Menounos appeared in FHM magazine and in People magazine in 2004 as one of
the "50 Most Beautiful People". In another poll conducted by askmen.com,
Menounos was voted one of the top five girls a guy would most want to
marry, along with Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Jessica Alba. She
has also beaten Jessica Alba and Charlize Theron for "Cyber Vixen of the
Year" on Spike TV's video game awards.
Menounos founded the charity "Take Action Hollywood!" after her trip to
South Africa. Reporting on the devastating effects of the AIDS crisis she
was inspired to create TAH!, a charity that utilizes the power of the
entertainment industry and the medium of film to affect for positive
social change. Maria also created the Cosmo Girl Cup, a national, annual
competition and award given to the group of teens who do the most in their
communities to affect for positive social change. |
|
n the Land of Merry Misfits
(2007) (voice) .... Risandra
Kickin It Old Skool (2007) .... Jennifer
Fwiends.com (2006) .... Gladys
"Scrubs" .... Tamara (1 episode, 2006)
- My Extra Mile (2006) TV Episode .... Tamara
James Bond 007: From Russia with Love (2005) (VG) (voice) .... Eva
Adara
Fantastic Four (2005) .... Sexy Nurse
... aka Fantastic Four (Germany)
"One Tree Hill" .... Jules (10 episodes, 2004-2005)
- Somewhere a Clock Is Ticking (2005) TV Episode .... Jules
- Unopened Letter to the World (2005) TV Episode .... Jules
- The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows (2005) TV Episode ....
Jules
- Between Order and Randomness (2005) TV Episode .... Jules
- The Heart Brings You Back (2005) TV Episode .... Jules
(5 more)
"One on One" .... Glinda (1 episode, 2004)
- We'll Take Manhattan (2004) TV Episode .... Glinda
"Without a Trace" .... Chris Sanders (1 episode, 2003)
... aka W.A.T (USA: short title)
- Trip Box (2003) TV Episode .... Chris Sanders
"Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" .... Reporter (1 episode, 2002)
... aka Sabrina (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Sabrina Goes to College (USA: promotional title)
- Free Sabrina (2002) TV Episode .... Reporter |
