Cynthia Dawn Margolis (born October 1, 1965) is an American glamour

spokesmodel A promotional model is a model hired to drive consumer demand for a product, service, brand, or concept by directly interacting with potential customers. Most promotional models are conventionally attractive in physical appearance. They serve to m ...

and actress.

Personal life

Margolis was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the daughter of Karyn O. (née Cleere) and William C. Margolis. According to an interview in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', her career began with a business class project on

greeting cards A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays ...

at the

California State University at Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge, Los Angeles, Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it h ...

, where she produced cards with a photograph of herself wearing

lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fashio ...

and including her phone number. Margolis was raised

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. She was married to restaurateur Guy Starkman. Following

in-vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology and ...

fertility treatment, she gave birth to son Nicholas Isaac in 2002. Twin daughters Sabrina and Sierra were born in 2005 with the incubation of a

surrogate mother Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...

. Margolis and her husband separated in 2008.

Career

Margolis’ modeling career took off when agents started asking about the woman on the cards. She has modeled in advertising for companies such as

Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...

Vidal Sassoon Vidal Sassoon (17 January 1928 – 9 May 2012) was a British hairstylist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the bob cut, worn by famous fashion designers including Ma ...

, Coors,

Frederick's of Hollywood Frederick's of Hollywood is an American lingerie brand formerly with stores in shopping malls across the United States. In 2015, all 111 retail stores were closed in advance of a bankruptcy filing. The brand was acquired by Authentic Brands Gro ...

Hanes Hanes (founded in 1900) and Hanes Her Way (founded in 1985) is a brand of clothing. History Hanes was founded in 1900 by John Wesley Hanes (one of Winston-Salem's wealthiest and most influential business men) at Winston, North Carolina under th ...

, and Sunkist. She was Miss

Makita () is a Japanese manufacturer of power tools. Founded on March 21, 1915, it is based in Anjō, Japan and operates factories in Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Romania, the United Kingdom, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Canada and th ...

Power Tools 1986 and did appearances at woodworking trade shows. Among late night television viewers, she is best known as an

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

co-presenter including work with

Tony Robbins Anthony Jay Robbins (né Mahavoric, born February 29, 1960) is an American author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist. He is known for his infomercials, seminars, and self-help books including the books '' Unlimited Power'' and ''Awaken the G ...

and

Don Lapre Donald D. Lapre (May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American multi-level marketing and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets". Lapre was criticized as ...

. Margolis also appeared briefly as one of

Barker's Beauties The American television game show ''The Price Is Right'' has, since its 1972 relaunch, employed a number of models to showcase the prizes and items that are given away on the show. From 1972 to 2007, the group was referred to as "Barker's Beauti ...

in 1995 on the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

''. She also appeared as a

fembot A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Name A gynoid ...

in the movie '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery''. On September 16 1999 she appeared on an episode of

WWE Smackdown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

in a segment where she received a

figure-four leglock Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers use ...

from

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father J ...

. She had a late night Saturday

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

in 2000 called ''

The Cindy Margolis Show ''The Cindy Margolis Show'' is a (2000) television show filmed in Miami Beach, Florida, and hosted by Cindy Margolis. The premise of the show was to have a lot of young people party and dance around a stage on which various events took place suc ...

'', which was filmed in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

. Margolis emerged as a star in the early days of the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. She was named ''

Yahoo! Internet Life ''Yahoo! Internet Life'' was a monthly magazine published by Ziff Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, the well-known web portal and search engine website. It was created and launched by G. Barry Golson, the former executive editor of ''P ...

'' magazine's "Queen of the Internet" from 1996 to 1999. She also found her way into the 2000 ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as a result of being the "most downloaded" person in 1999. At the peak of her popularity, images of Margolis were downloaded 70,000 times in a span of 24 hours. In November 2005, Margolis teamed up with the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...

to become the new hostess for Chipleaders. In an April 2006 interview with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', Margolis discussed her nude photo session for the December 2006 issue of ''

'', saying that she had posed for ''Playboy'' many times in the past, but never completely nude. She cited her good looks at age 40 and wanting to be an inspiration to mothers and women her age as the reason she chose to finally pose nude. "It will be fun to go up against the 20-year-olds and show them that they don't have anything on me!" she told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. In an interview with ''

EXTRA! ''Extra!'' is a monthly magazine of media criticism published by the media watch group FAIR. First published in 1987, its first full-time editor was Martin A. Lee. Since 1990, it has been edited by Jim Naureckas. The magazine covers a wide vari ...

'' magazine she said that the television show ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' had been an inspiration for her as it showed that mothers her age could also be fit and sexy. A portion of the proceeds from the issues sold were pledged go to a charity for which Margolis is a spokeswoman, "Resolve". This charity aims to get fertility treatment better covered by insurance companies. Seducing Cindy 2010

Margolis posed for a second ''Playboy'' pictorial for the July 2008 issue. A portion of the sales of her issue went to her charity, the Cindy Margolis Get a Download of This Fertility Fund. She was very proud to have posed, stating: : In 2006, she was the winner of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Celebrity Cooking Showdown ''Celebrity Cooking Showdown'' was a program that aired on NBC from April 17–19 and April 22, 2006. It was hosted by Alan Thicke. Format The competition was divided into three "preliminary rounds", where each celebrity was paired with a famou ...

''. She teamed up with celebrity chef

Wolfgang Puck Wolfgang Johannes Puck (born July 8, 1949) is an Austrian-American chef and restaurateur. Early life and career Puck was born in Sankt Veit an der Glan, Austria. He learned cooking from his mother, who was a pastry chef. He took the surname ...

to win both the first and final rounds. In 2008, she was to perform as a magician on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's '' Secret Talents of the Stars'', but didn't get the chance when the show was cancelled after only one episode was made. Later that year, production began on a new

Fox Reality Channel Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox network (or produced by Fox). The channel also fea ...

original series, '' Seducing Cindy'', a dating reality show in which male contestants, aged 18–49, battled to win the affection of Margolis. The show premiered on January 30, 2010.How to Seduce Playboy Centerfold Cindy Margolis (2010-01-3-30)

Poker

Margolis played as an amateur in the Pro Am Equalizer poker tournament against fellow amateur

Jeremy Sisto Jeremy Merton Sisto (born October 6, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Billy Chenowith in HBO's '' Six Feet Under'', NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo in NBC's '' Law & Order'', George Altman in the ABC sitcom ''Suburgatory'', fo ...

and professionals

Howard Lederer Howard Henry Lederer (born October 30, 1964) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and holds two World Poker Tour titles. Lederer has also contributed to several books on poker strategy and has ...

Jennifer Harman Jennifer C. Harman (born November 29, 1964) is an American professional poker player. She has won two World Series of Poker bracelets in open events, one of only four women to have done so. Career Harman won her first World Series of Poker bra ...

Phil Laak Philip Courtney Laak (born September 8, 1972) is an Irish–American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, a ...

and Chris Ferguson.

Filmography

* '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) .... Fembot * ''

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

'' (1998) .... Tennis Instructor * ''

'' (1999) .... Herself * ''

'' (2000) TV Series .... Host * '' Ally McBeal'' (2001) .... Herself * ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...

'' (2001) .... McHooters restaurant hostess (Cameo) * ''Dead Above Ground'' (2002) .... Kari McClure Mallory * ''Sol Goode'' (2003) .... Angie * '' Seducing Cindy'' (2010) .... Reality television show * ''

Beverly Hills Nannies ''Beverly Hills Nannies'' is an American reality television series that aired on ABC Family in the U.S. and ABC Spark in Canada. It debuted on July 11, 2012. Nannies * Kristin Lancione (from Fremont, California) * Justin Allen Sylvester (from ...

'' (2012) .... Reality television show * ''Bad Publicity'' (2015)...scripted TV series...Cindy Holiday * ''Isle of Legends'' (2015) (film)....Cynthia Hale * ''

Sharknado 3 ''Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'' is a 2015 American made-for-television science fiction film, science fiction action film, action comedy film, comedy disaster film and the third installment in the Sharknado (film series), ''Sharknado'' film series, f ...

'' (2015) ...Herself

References

External links

* *
Exclusive Cindy Margolis Interview at TrulyHollywood.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Margolis, Cindy 1965 births Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American Internet celebrities California State University, Northridge alumni Game show models Glamour models Jewish American actresses Living people Participants in American reality television series Jewish female models 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women