Carol Ann Alt (born December 1, 1960) is an American model and actress.
Early life
Alt was born in
Flushing, Queens
Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, the daughter of Muriel, an
airline employee and model, and Anthony Alt, a fire chief in the
Bronx. She was noticed waiting tables in
East Williston, Long Island, and decided at age 18 to give modeling a try as a summer job to save money for college. She is the third of four children. She has an older brother, Anthony Jr. (1955–2005), an older sister Karen and a younger sister, Christine. Alt's maternal grandparents were German immigrants, while her paternal grandmother was Irish.
Career
Alt's first big break in modeling was in 1979, when she was featured on the cover of ''
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' magazine, but garnered publicity in 1982 when she was featured on the cover of the
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. During the 1980s, she appeared on over 500 magazine covers, becoming one of the most famous models of her era, attaining supermodel status. Alt graced the covers of ''
Vogue'', ''
Vogue Paris'', ''
Vogue Italia'', ''
Vogue UK'', ''
Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to:
* Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss"
Film and television
* ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson
* '' ...
'', ''
Elle'' and ''
Cosmopolitan''. She was referred to as The Face by ''
Life Magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
''. During the height of her popularity, she was the face of ad campaigns for
Diet Pepsi,
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
,
Cover Girl Cosmetics,
Noxzema,
Hanes,
Givenchy , Versace, Armani and numerous others. She was the first model to produce her own posters and calendars.
Since 1986, she has appeared in a variety of films, many of which were Italian productions. She played the character of Kelly LaRue in the TV series "Thunder in Paradise" in 1994. In 2004 she had a starring role in ''
Snakehead Terror'', a Canadian film. She played Agent Monica McBride in a 1997 action film ''
The Protector'', opposite
Matt McColm, and Karen Oldham in the television adaptation of
Peter Benchley's ''
Amazon'' (1999). She also had a few minor television roles, including one episode of ''
Wings'', and a voice role in an episode of ''
King of the Hill''.
She took on a number of model/spokesman projects, including becoming a consultant with the ''Le Mirador'' skin-care line and appearing on late night TV
infomercials. Alt has written two books, promoting her own
raw food diet plans. She was the cover girl for ''travelgirl magazine'' (in 2004 and 2008). She appeared on the cover and in a nude pictorial in Playboy's December 2008 issue. She placed #5 on
askmen.com's list of Top 10 Models of All Time.
In 2006, Alt was honored as Grand Marshal at the
German-American Steuben Parade in New York City, the largest celebration of German–American Friendship in the United States. She was greeted by thousands of fans alongside
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
. She was a contestant on
NBC's 2008 ''
The Celebrity Apprentice'', with
Donald Trump, competing for her charity, the Tony Alt Memorial Foundation (named for Alt's father), which raises funds for scholarships for young adults to continue their studies. She ended up in third place before being fired, but was brought back for the final task of the show and was chosen by finalist
Piers Morgan to help him to become the Celebrity Apprentice. Alt raised a total of $40,000 for her charity.
She starred in the Italian TV series ''Caterina e le sue figlie 2'' and in the TV movie ''Piper''; both were aired on
Canale5 in 2007. In 2009 she was one of the contestants of the Italian version of ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'' (
Rai Uno). She's also filming a new Italian TV series called ''Piper—The series'', a spinoff of the successful TV movie of the same title broadcast on
Canale5. In 2008 she founded Raw Essentials, a skin-care and beauty products line with her partners (Philip Masiello and Steven Krane).
In September 2013, Alt joined the
Fox News team with her own half-hour Saturday afternoon TV show, ''A Healthy You & Carol Alt'', which covers her own experience and knowledge about wellness and longevity. Each installment ends with a segment called Ask Carol, in which she answers questions she receives on Facebook and Twitter. In October 2013, Alt was inducted into the
Ride of Fame. A double decker New York City tour bus was dedicated to her and her career.
Personal life
Alt married former
New York Rangers defenseman
Ron Greschner at St. Aidan's Roman Catholic Church, in Williston Park, Long Island, New York, in 1983. They divorced in 1996.
Alt was then in a long-term relationship with former
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
forward
Alexei Yashin
Alexei Valeryevich Yashin (russian: Алексей Валерьевич Яшин; born 5 November 1973) is a Russian former professional ice hockey centre who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Ottawa Senators and New ...
.
Selected filmography
* ''
My First Forty Years'' (1987)
* ''
Bye Bye Baby'' (1988)
* ''
Monte Napoleone
''Monte Napoleone'' ( it, Via Montenapoleone) is a 1986 Italian film directed by Carlo Vanzina.
Cast
* Carol Alt as Margherita
* Luca Barbareschi as Guido
* Corinne Cléry as Chiara
* Renée Simonsen as Elena
* Renato Scarpa as Francesca's Husb ...
'' (1986)
* ''La più bella del reame'' (1989)
* ''
Mortacci'' (1989)
* ''
Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride'' (1990)
* ''
Beyond Justice'' (1990)
* ''
Un piede in paradiso
''Speaking of the Devil'' (Italian: ''Un piede in paradiso'', also known as ''Standing In Paradise'') is a 1991 Italian comedy film directed by Enzo Barboni. It is the last collaboration between Barboni and Bud Spencer with the pairs sons co-writi ...
'' (1991)
* ''Il principe del deserto'' (1991)
* ''
Millions'' (1991)
*''
Un orso chiamato Arturo'' (1992)
* ''
Anni 90: Parte II'' (1993)
* ''Ring of Steel'' (1994)
* ''
Thunder in Paradise'' (1994)
* ''
Private Parts'' (1997)
* ''Cracker Jack 2'' (1997)
* ''
The Protector'' (aka ''Body Armor''; 1997)
* ''Storm Trooper (film), Storm Trooper'' (1998)
* ''
Revelation'' (1999)
*''
Amazon'' (1999)
* ''
Snakehead Terror'' (2004)
* ''Signs of the Cross'' (2005)
* ''Fatal Trust (film tv)'' (2006)
* ''Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe'' (2007)
* ''Piper (film tv), Piper'' (2007)
* ''Caterina e le sue figlie 2'' (2007)
Bibliography
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*
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References
External links
*
*
*
*
Carol Alt's official FoxNews bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alt, Carol
1960 births
Living people
People from Flushing, Queens
People from East Williston, New York
Actresses from New York (state)
Female models from New York (state)
American film actresses
Hofstra University alumni
Participants in American reality television series
American people of Belgian descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
The Apprentice (franchise) contestants
21st-century American women