Marissa Jaret Winokur

Marissa Jaret Winokur (born February 2, 1973),[2] sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress known for her Tony-winning performance as Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical Hairspray, an adaptation of John Waters's film, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked. Some of her other TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me!, Felicity, and Dharma & Greg.

Marissa Jaret Winokur
Winokur in 2010
Born (1973-02-02) February 2, 1973
New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1995–present
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2006)​
ChildrenZev Isaac Miller[1]
Websitehttp://officialmarissajaretwinokur.com

She was a contestant on the popular reality competition series Dancing with the Stars and went on to host the similar Dance Your Ass Off. From 2010-2011 she served as a co-host on the daily daytime talk show The Talk, ultimately leaving to focus on her clothing line and a new cable TV show.[3] The cable TV show in question, when it premiered, proved to be a late-night talk show titled All About Sex, whose co-hosting duties she shared with Margaret Cho, Heather McDonald, and Dr. Tiffanie Davis Henry, which aired on TLC at 11:00 PM Eastern time on Saturday nights.

In 2018, Winokur participated in the first U.S. season of Celebrity Big Brother, where she was crowned the winner.[4]

Early life

Winokur was born in New York City, the daughter of Maxine, a teacher, and Michael Winokur, an architect.[5] She is Jewish.[6] Winokur was a cheerleader and captain of her high school soccer team at Fox Lane High School.[7] She graduated from The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in 1993.[8]

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 Jan in the 1994 revival of Grease.

Winokur has also played roles in films such as American Beauty, Never Been Kissed, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, the send-up Scary Movie, Beautiful Girl (for ABC Family), Fever Pitch, and she provided one of the voices in Shrek the Halls.

Winokur co-starred in the TV series Stacked, which starred Pamela Anderson. 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 played the role of Theresa Loman on the UPN top-hit series, Moesha, as Brandy Norwood’s roommate.

She was set to star in a new comedy pilot for CBS titled Fugly, from Greg Garcia, the creator of My Name Is Earl.[9] The show was originally pitched to Fox as a vehicle for Pamela Anderson.[10] It was later revamped into a television film in 2007.

She returned to Hairspray on December 9, 2008, and played Tracy until the show's closing on January 4, 2009.[11]

Winokur hosted the reality competition series Dance Your Ass Off on the Oxygen Network. In October 2010 she joined Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, and Sara Gilbert in a new talk show, The Talk, that was intended to focus on stories of parenting, everyday life and events in the headlines. The program began airing on CBS on October 18, 2010.[12] On January 14, 2011, she announced via People Magazine[3] that she would leave The Talk to focus on her clothing line and a new cable TV show she was developing.

She reprised the role of Tracy Turnblad in the Hollywood Bowl production of Hairspray, which ran from August 5–7, 2011.[13]

Winokur joined the cast of TV Land's original sitcom Retired at 35, beginning in the second season. She acted out the role of Amy, David’s sister, a sharp-tongued, quick-witted successful saleswoman for a pharmaceutical company with a bubbly personality. The character was originated by Casey Wilson in the show's pilot, but made no other Season 1 appearances.[14]

In 2017, Winokur competed with her son Zev on Big Star Little Star, a U.S. version of the British game show Big Star's Little Star.

In 2018, Winokur was cast as one of the houseguests on the first American edition of Celebrity Big Brother.[15] She won Celebrity Big Brother over Ross Mathews on February 25, 2018, by a vote of 6-3. She also hosted Off the Block with Ross and Marissa on Facebook Watch.[16]

Recording and voice work

Winokur was working on recording a children's music album. Her rendition of the song "Baby Face" was featured on the soundtrack for the film Son of the Mask, and she performed "The Wish Song" on the 2006 charity album Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars. In 2007, she joined Nikki Blonsky and Ricki Lake in singing "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" on the Hairspray soundtrack; in director John Waters's original film, Lake had originated the role that Winokur (on stage) and Blonsky (on screen, in the film version of the musical) had respectively reprised, that of Tracy Turnblad.

Winokur has also lent her voice to several cartoon shows, including American Dad! and King of the Hill.

Dancing with the Stars

Winokur was 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, however, 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
Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Inaba Goodman Tonioli
1 Cha-cha-cha/"Low" 6 6 6 N/A
2 Quickstep/"Flip, Flop and Fly" 7 7 7 Last to be called safe
3 Jive/"Girlfriend" 6 7 6 Safe
4 Paso Doble/"My Family Is My Life" 8 8 8 Safe
5 Samba/"Tambourine" 8 8 8 Safe
6 Viennese Waltz/"Delilah" 9 8 9 Safe
7 Tango/"Champagne Tango"
Rumba/"Quando, Quando, Quando"		 9
9		 9
8		 9
8		 Bottom Two
8 Foxtrot/"New York, New York"
Mambo/"Ritmo De Chunga"		 9
8		 8
8		 8
9		 Safe
9
Semi-finals		 Quickstep/"Around the World"
Rumba/"Just the Two of Us"		 9
8		 9
9		 8
9		 Eliminated

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.[17]

On October 7, 2006, Winokur married longtime boyfriend Judah Miller (brother to Murray Miller), who was a writer on Stacked. In March 2008, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, a boy to be named Zev, via a gestational surrogate.[1] 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.[18]

She is the great-niece of two famous American writers: S. J. Perelman and Nathanael West.[19]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Never Been Kissed Sheila
1999 Teaching Mrs. Tingle Student Uncredited
1999 American Beauty Mr. Smiley's Counter Girl (Janine)
2000 Scary Movie Garage Victim
2001 Amy's Orgasm Radio P.A.
2002 Now You Know Lea's Friend
2005 Fever Pitch Sarah
2014 Muffin Top: A Love Story Elise
2019 Trouble Claire (voice)
2020 Feel the Beat Herself

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Step by Step Dork Dancer
1998 The Steve Harvey Show Kimmie
1998 Malibu, CA Melody
1999 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show Glenda
1999 Get Real Annie
1999 Felicity Nancy
1999 City Guys Marcy Lake
1999–2000 Dharma & Greg Anita
2000 Chicken Soup for the Soul Bella
2000 Moesha Theresa Loman
2000 Curb Your Enthusiasm Woman in Elevator
2000 Just Shoot Me! Dee Dee
2001 Nikki Lizzy
2001 The Ellen Show Tina
2001 Boston Public Courtney Schaffer
2003 Beautiful Girl Becca Wasserman
2004 Good Girls Don't... Mistress Persephone
2005 Higglytown Heroes Taxi Driver Hero (voice)
2005 Jack & Bobby Margaret
2005–2006 Stacked Katrina
2005–2018 American Dad! Various voices
2007 Shrek the Halls Bookstore Clerk (voice)
2007–2008 King of the Hill Various voices
2010–2011 The Talk Herself
2011 The Cleveland Show Full-Sized Woman (voice)
2011 Shake It Up Ms. Nancy
2011 Hot in Cleveland Kim
2011–2012 Yo Gabba Gabba! Barbara
2012 Retired at 35 Amy Robbins
2012 Guys with Kids Linda Allmendinger
2013 Bubble Guppies (voice)
2013 Major Crimes Karaoke Singer
2013–2014 Melissa & Joey Theresa
2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Principal Dawn Meadows
2014–2015 Playing House Candy
2016 Scream Queens Shelly
2016 Hairspray Live! Pinkette
2016 Not Today Bianca Becky
2017 Girls Patty
2018 The Bold and the Beautiful Wedding Planner
2018–2019 A Million Little Things Linda
2018–2019 Crashing Guinevere
2019 The Goldbergs Eileen Leffler
2019 Liza on Demand Herself
2019 Perfect Harmony Barb
2020 What We Do in the Shadows Charmaine

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result
2003 Tony Award Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Hairspray Won
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Actress in a Musical Won
Theatre World Theatre World Award Won

References
  1. Messina, Elizabeth (October 2, 2008). "Marissa Jaret Winokur on Her Miracle Baby, Zev Isaac". Celebritybabies.people.com. Time, Inc. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  2. "Marissa Jaret Winokur: Performer". Internet Broadway Database (The Broadway League). Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  3. "Marissa Jaret Winokur Is Leaving The Talk". People.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. Bloom, Mike. "Celebrity Big Brother: Melissa Jaret Winkour Takes A Bow" "Parade," February 26, 2018
  5. "Marissa Jaret Winokur Biography (1973-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  6. "ContactMusic.com". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  7. Pogrebin, Robin. "Big Hair and Personality to Match; For a Young Actress's Career, A Bouffant Moment in 'Hairspray'" The New York Times, August 21, 2002
  8. "Marissa Jaret Winokur", Masterworksbroadway.com, retrieved February 12, 2018
  9. Hernandez, Ernio. "Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur has been cast in the new CBS television comedy pilot "Fugly," according to The Hollywood Reporter." Playbill, February 27, 2007
  10. Nellie Andreeva. "CBS likes look of Garcia's 'Fugly' pilot" Hollywood Reporter, December 1, 2006
  11. The Beat Goes On: Winokur Is Back as Tracy in Broadway's Hairspray Archived 2008-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
  12. Marissa Jaret Winokur, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne and More To Host New CBS Talk Show Archived 2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
  13. Hollywood Bowl Hairspray to Feature Harvey Fierstein, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Drew Carey, Darlene Love, Nick Jonas Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Andreeva, Nellie. "Marissa Jaret Winokur To Co-Star On TV Land's 'Retired At 35'". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  15. Maher, Natalie (February 13, 2018). "Get to Know the 'Celebrity Big Brother' Cast: Mark McGrath, Omarosa & More". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  16. Rice, Lynette (June 17, 2018). "Ross Mathews and Marissa Jaret Winokur will host Big Brother recap show". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  17. Archived June 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  18. "Marissa Jaret Winokur Expecting Her First Child". People.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  19. "Tweens : Celebrities : Marissa Jaret Winokur". Jewish United Fund - Jewish Federation of Chicago. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
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