Marissa Jaret Winokur (born February 2, 1973), sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress and singer known for her Tony-winning performance as Tracy Turnblad in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

'' Hairspray,'' an adaptation of

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

's film, as well as her work on the

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Ander ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

Stacked ''Stacked'' is an American television sitcom that aired on Fox from April 13, 2005 to January 11, 2006. Premise ''Stacked'' was described as the opposite of ''Cheers'', instead of a smart person in a "dumb" place, it is based on the concept of ...

.'' Some of her other TV credits include ''

Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired televi ...

,'' ''

Moesha ''Moesha'' () is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with her upper middle class fa ...

,'' ''

The Steve Harvey Show ''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB from August 25, 1996, to February 17, 2002. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan. Synopsis Steve Hightower ( Steve Harvey) is a 1970s funk ...

,'' ''

Just Shoot Me! ''Just Shoot Me!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 4, 1997, to November 26, 2003, with a total of 145 half-hour episodes spanning seven seasons. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive ...

,'' '' and Felicity'' She was a contestant on the popular reality competition series ''

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 form ...

'' and went on to host the similar ''

Dance Your Ass Off ''Dance Your Ass Off'' (also rendered in a censored form as ''Dance Your A** Off'' for broadcast television mentions and promotions) is a reality competition series on the Oxygen Network hosted by Marissa Jaret Winokur in the first season, then ...

.'' 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. 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 Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...

, 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 American season of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

,'' where she was crowned the winner.

Early life

Winokur was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the daughter of Maxine, a teacher, and Michael Winokur, an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. 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 ...

. Winokur was a

cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

and captain of her high school soccer team at Fox Lane High School. She graduated from the

American Musical and Dramatic Academy The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) is a private conservatory for the performing arts located in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers both Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and two-year certificates in prof ...

in 1993.

Career

Stage, screen and television

Winokur won the 2003

Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical is awarded to the best actress in a Musical theatre, musical, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been given since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have o ...

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

, and

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newsp ...

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 ''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American slasher parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Anna Far ...

,'' '' Beautiful Girl'' (for

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

), ''

Fever Pitch ''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: '' Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and '' Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", bu ...

,'' and she provided one of the voices in '' Shrek the Halls.'' Winokur co-starred in the TV series ''Stacked,'' which starred

. She also appeared on an episode of ''

'' where she lost a physical fight with

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...

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,

, as

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. She is known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layer ...

’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 ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Ja ...

.'' The show was originally pitched to Fox as a vehicle for Pamela Anderson. 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. Winokur hosted the reality competition series ''

'' on the

Oxygen Network Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel prima ...

. In October 2010 she joined

Julie Chen Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhav ...

Holly Robinson Peete Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete (born September 18, 1964) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox police drama ''21 Jump Street'', Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'', and Dr ...

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...

, Leah Remini, and

Sara Gilbert Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles; January 29, 1975) is an American actress best known for her role as Darlene Conner on the ABC sitcom ''Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and its ...

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. On January 14, 2011, she announced via People Magazine 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 The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

production of ''Hairspray,'' which ran from August 5–7, 2011. Winokur joined the cast of

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

's original sitcom ''

Retired at 35 ''Retired at 35'' is an American sitcom on TV Land starring George Segal, Jessica Walter, Johnathan McClain, Josh McDermitt, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Ryan Michelle Bathe. It is the network's second original scripted series after ''Hot in Cleve ...

,'' 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 Cathryn Rose "Casey" Wilson (born October 24, 1980) is an American actress, comedienne, and screenwriter. She starred as Penny Hartz in the ABC comedy series '' Happy Endings'' for which she was twice nominated to the Critics' Choice Television ...

in the show's pilot, but made no other Season 1 appearances. 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 ''

''. 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 ''Off the Block with Ross and Marissa'' (often shortened to just ''Off the Block'') is a reality aftershow and spin-off of ''Big Brother'' hosted by Ross Mathews and Marissa Jaret Winokur who were both HouseGuests on the first season of ''Celebri ...

'' on Facebook Watch.

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 ''Unexpected Dreams – Songs from the Stars'' is a 2006 compilation album featuring various actors singing lullabies and other songs. Album information The album features fourteen various lullabies and songs about dreams, all sung by celebritie ...

.'' In 2007, she joined

Nikki Blonsky Nicole Blonsky (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and internet personality. She is known for playing Tracy Turnblad in the film ''Hairspray'' (2007), for which she won two Critics' Choice Awards and received nominat ...

and

Ricki Lake Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film ''Hairspray'', for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for B ...

in singing "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" on the ''Hairspray'' soundtrack; in director

'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! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' and ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...

.''

''Dancing with the Stars''

Winokur was featured on Season 6 of ''

'' with professional dancer

Tony Dovolani Driton Dovolani (born July 17, 1973), commonly known as Tony Dovolani is an Albanian-American professional ballroom dancer, instructor and judge. He is known for his involvement in the American version of ''Dancing with the Stars'' on ABC. Dovola ...

. Marissa scored an 18 for her Cha-Cha-Cha her first week and 21 for her

Quickstep The quickstep is a light-hearted dance of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal ...

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 Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...

was eliminated. In week three, Marissa scored 19 for her Jive to

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, '' Let Go'' (2002), is the best-selling album of the 2 ...

'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 Pasodoble ( Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military march gave rise ...

and was praised for her improvements, scoring 24 out of 30. She scored a second 24 out of 30 for her

Samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

in week five. In week six, Marissa earned a 26 for a

Viennese Waltz Viennese waltz (german: Wiener Walzer) is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in b ...

, her highest score so far. The following week was another success learning two dances, scoring a 27 for her

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

in the

Ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic ...

round and in the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

round she received 25 for her

Rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. ...

. Marissa came third on the combined total leader board with a score of 52 out of 60, beating

Shannon Elizabeth Shannon Elizabeth Fadal (born September 7, 1973) is an American actress, conservationist, animal activist, model and poker player. A popular sex symbol and teen idol of the 1990s and 2000s, Elizabeth is best known for her roles in the films '' A ...

and

Mario is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

by one point and

Cristian de la Fuente Cristian is the Romanian and Spanish form of the male given name Christian. In Romanian, it is also a surname. Cristian may refer to: People * Cristian (footballer, born 1994), Brazilian footballer * Cristian Adomniței (born 1975), Romanian en ...

by 6 points. Despite being third, however, Marissa found herself in the bottom two alongside Shannon. The following week Marissa performed a

Foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

and

Mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particula ...

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

Personal life

During the early development stages of ''Hairspray,'' Winokur was diagnosed with

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...

. 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. On October 7, 2006, Winokur married longtime boyfriend

Judah Miller Judah Menachem Miller (born November 14, 1973) is an American producer, writer, and filmmaker. Miller has produced and written for '' Clone High'' (2002), '' The Tracy Morgan Show'' (2003), ''A.U.S.A.'' (2003), '' Committed'' (2005), ''Stacked'' ...

(brother to

Murray Miller Murray Selig Miller (born December 2, 1976) is an American television writer and producer. Miller has produced and written for many television programs, including '' King of the Hill'', ''American Dad!'', '' Girls'', ''7 Days in Hell'' (2015) and ...

), who was a writer on ''

.'' In March 2008, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, a boy to be named Zev, via a gestational surrogate. 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. She is the great-niece of two famous American writers:

S. J. Perelman Sidney Joseph Perelman (February 1, 1904 – October 17, 1979) was an American humorist and screenwriter. He is best known for his humorous short pieces written over many years for ''The New Yorker''. He also wrote for several other magazines ...

and

Nathanael West Nathanael West (born Nathan Weinstein; October 17, 1903 – December 22, 1940) was an American writer and screenwriter. He is remembered for two darkly satirical novels: ''Miss Lonelyhearts'' (1933) and ''The Day of the Locust'' (1939), set r ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Marissa Jaret Winokur official website
* *
Out.com interview

''American Cheerleader Magazine'', February 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winokur, Marissa Jaret 1973 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York (state) American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American television actresses American television talk show hosts Jewish American actresses Living people Participants in American reality television series People from Westchester County, New York Tony Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Reality show winners Big Brother (franchise) winners Big Brother (American TV series) winners Theatre World Award winners 21st-century American Jews American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumni