Eliza Orlins (born December 25, 1982) is an American lawyer and television personality from New York City. She is best known for her appearances on '' Survivor'' and ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in fore ...

''. Orlins is also a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

with

The Legal Aid Society The Legal Aid Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal aid provider based in New York City. Founded in 1876, it is the oldest and largest provider of legal aid in the United States. Its attorneys provide representation on criminal and civil mat ...

. In 2020, she announced her candidacy for the 2021 New York County District Attorney election.

Early life

Orlins was born in New York City, and grew up between New York and China. She attended

Hong Kong International School Hong Kong International School (HKIS) is an international private school with campuses in Tai Tam and Repulse Bay, Hong Kong. The school was founded in 1966. Today, HKIS spans from reception one to the twelfth grade. Its Lower and Upper Prim ...

while in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, and

Sidwell Friends School Sidwell Friends School is a Quaker school located in Bethesda, Maryland and Washington, D.C., offering pre-kindergarten through high school classes. Founded in 1883 by Thomas W. Sidwell, its motto is ' ( en, Let the light shine out from all), a ...

after returning to the United States. Orlins graduated summa cum laude from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

(2005), and cum laude from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...

(2008). She is

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 ...

, and her grandmother escaped

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

persecution by fleeing Paris during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Eliza's father, Stephen Orlins, has served as the president of the

National Committee on United States–China Relations The National Committee on United States China Relations (NCUSCR) is a nonprofit organization and advisory body founded in 1966 to encourage understanding and cooperation between the United States and China. Since 1966, the committee has conduct ...

since 2005. Eliza's mother, Washington, D.C.-based writer Susan Orlins, appeared on the 11th episode of '' Survivor: Vanuatu'' as part of the loved ones visit challenge, which Eliza won. Eliza has two younger sisters, Sabrina and Emily, the former of whom was adopted from

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

Television appearances

''Survivor: Vanuatu''

In 2004, Orlins competed on the ninth season of the CBS reality show '' Survivor'', entitled '' Survivor: Vanuatu''. Orlins started the season sorted onto the all-female Yasur tribe. Orlins caught the ire of her alliance when she flipped to vote out an indecisive swing voter in Dolly Neely in the second episode. At the merge, the six remaining female castaways re-aligned, and the group voted out their male competitors until only Chris Daugherty remained. Despite Daugherty losing immunity, Leann Slaby sought to eliminate Orlins. After Daugherty was informed by Julie Berry that he was safe, he successfully worked with Twila Tanner and Scout Cloud Lee to convince Orlins to vote out Slaby. After Ami Cusack was voted out, Orlins re-aligned with Berry due to her annoyance of Tanner. Orlins then won immunity but was unsuccessful in convincing Daugherty resulting in Berry's elimination. Orlins was then the 15th person voted out the next day during the finale on Day 37, finishing in 4th place.

''Survivor: Micronesia''

Orlins returned seven seasons later on '' Survivor: Micronesia''. Orlins started the season on the returnee player Malakal tribe. Orlins formed an alliance with Ami Cusack, Yau-Man Chan, and

Jonathan Penner Jonathan Lindsay Penner (born March 5, 1962) is an American actor, screenwriter, television personality, and film producer, known for producing and starring in the film ''The Last Supper'', as well as acting in the television series '' Rude Awa ...

. Despite being targeted by an opposing alliance, Orlins survived the first Tribal Council after

Jonny Fairplay Jonny Fairplay (born Jon Dalton, March 11, 1974) is an American former art consultant, professional wrestler, and reality television personality. He has twice competed on the reality competition TV show '' Survivor'', coming in third place on the ...

asked to be voted out to be with his pregnant girlfriend. However, in the following days, all of Orlins's original allies had been eliminated leaving Orlins as the target of

Parvati Shallow Parvati Shallow ( ; born September 21, 1982) is an American television personality and was the $1 million winner of the reality television series '' Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites''. She had previously competed in '' Survivor: Cook I ...

when the tribes merged in the ninth episode. After Jason Siska won individual immunity, he agreed to give Orlins what he believed to be a hidden immunity idol, which in reality was a stick carved by

Ozzy Lusth Ozcar "Ozzy" Lusth (born August 23, 1981) is a Mexican-born American reality show veteran contestant who has appeared on several shows, including '' Survivor: Cook Islands''; '' Survivor: Micronesia;'' and '' Survivor: South Pacific''. He also com ...

. Orlins was then eliminated, becoming the first member of the season's jury.

''The Amazing Race''

In 2018, Orlins competed on the thirty-first season of ''

'', which aired in 2019 and featured teams from CBS reality shows '' Big Brother'', ''Survivor'', and ''The Amazing Race'', with fellow ''Survivor ''contestant Corinne Kaplan. In the fourth episode Kaplan and Orlins fell behind after Orlins struggled with a task that involved driving a scooter through a driving test course in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. The two finished in last place after checking-in at the finish mat behind

Rachel Reilly Rachel Eileen Reilly Villegas (born October 16, 1984) is an American television personality, fashion designer, talk show host, actress, and reality show winner. Reilly appeared in two seasons of the U.S. edition of the reality TV series '' Big ...

and Elissa Slater and were eliminated in ninth place.

Other appearances

Orlins has also appeared on ''

Reality Obsessed ''Reality Obsessed'' is a Canadian half-hour documentary television series produced by Peace Point Entertainment Group that airs on TVtropolis. In each episode, host Murtz Jaffer attempts to demystify the underpinnings of reality television by ...

'', '' The Dr. Oz Show'', and '' The Beat with Ari Melber''.

Filmography

Television

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Orlins worked as a

for

. Over a decade, Orlins represented over 3,000 clients.

2021 Manhattan District Attorney primary

On March 5, 2020, Orlins announced her candidacy for the New York County District Attorney Democratic primary to replace incumbent district attorney

Cyrus Vance Jr. Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. (born June 14, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the District Attorney of New York County, New York, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney. He was previously a principal partner at the law ...

Orlins finished seventh in the Democratic primary with 4.2% of the vote.

References

External links

Campaign websiteEliza Orlins biography
for '' Survivor: Vanuatu'' at CBS.com
Eliza Orlins biography
for '' Survivor: Micronesia'' at CBS.com
Corinne Kaplan and Eliza Orlins biography
for ''

The Amazing Race 31 ''The Amazing Race 31'' (also promoted as ''The Amazing Race: Reality Showdown'') is the thirty-first season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two, each consisting of former contestants from ...

'' at CBS.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orlins, Eliza 1982 births Living people New York (state) Democrats Lawyers from New York City 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Sidwell Friends School alumni Syracuse University alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni Survivor (American TV series) contestants The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants Women in New York (state) politics Candidates in the 2021 United States elections