From Playboy centerfold to author of best-selling parenting books, Jenny McCarthy enjoyed one of Hollywood’s more unusual career trajectories. While appearing on popular shows on MTV in the 1990s, legions of fans fell head over heels for the blue-eyed blonde’s unladylike penchant for scatological humor and her fearless, unbridled goofiness. That appeal was not enough to draw steady audiences to her short-lived NBC prime time sitcom “Jenny,” but nonetheless she was tapped for feature film appearances in broad fare like “Scream 3” (2000) and “Scary Movie 3” (2003), which generally banked on her tightly-clad physique. After chronicling her pregnancy and birth in a pair of well-received “tell-it-like-it-is” books, McCarthy’s son was diagnosed with autism; she became an ardent activist on the vexing disease, earning a new kind of respect for her passion in getting to the bottom of one of the most puzzling medical issues of the day.
The second of four daughters raised by a steel mill worker and beautician on Chicago’s South Side, Jenny McCarthy was born on Nov. 1, 1972. Her sisters were all highly accomplished athletes but McCarthy was the family ham, harboring dreams of a showbiz career from the time she was young. After high school, she chose to pursue nursing and psychology at the University of Southern Illinois, but ran out of tuition money after her second year. After an unsuccessful attempt to make money as a model – she was told she was too voluptuous to work the runways – McCarthy approached Playboy magazine as a last ditch effort. Within a few months, she was Miss October (1993) and went on to earn the title of “Playmate of the Year.” With her earnings — about $100,000 — she headed to L.A. to pursue a career in entertainment.
In Hollywood, McCarthy landed a gig as the host of the Playboy Channel’s “Hot Rocks” music video show before MTV hired her and her equal parts witty banter and outgoing personality to co-host the dating show "Singled Out" (MTV, 1995-97). Her presence on MTV established her unusual contrast of blonde sex appeal with rowdy and obnoxious personality; one prone to making grotesque faces, burps and other such business. With no one else like her on the air, the earthy and gorgeous McCarthy became an almost overnight sensation, leading MTV to put her to work on other shows including, "Beach House.”
In 1997, the network offered her a sketch comedy series, "The Jenny McCarthy Show" (MTV, 1996), in which she was given carte blanche. While McCarthy cited Lucille Ball and Goldie Hawn as two of her influences, it would be hard to imagine either comedienne eating their own vomit or displaying extra long armpit hair for laughs. Despite her low-brow tendencies, NBC penned McCarthy to a development deal, resulting in the sitcom "Jenny" (NBC, 1997-98), which starred the comic as a small-town girl who moves to Hollywood. The show received mixed critical and audience reception and was cancelled after one season. McCarthy returned to the Playboy realm, appearing on its cover in September of 1997 and that same year, also released an autobiography, Jen X.
Whatever lackluster projects McCarthy unleashed on the viewing public at large, she always maintained a steady following of young males. Her forays into feature films seemed to cater to that audience, and the obviously capable comedian squelched her chances at a legitimate movie career with outings like "The Stupids" (1996), co-starring Tom Arnold, and "BASEketball" (1998) opposite "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Perhaps her best role to date was as Sugar, a working girl in a Las Vegas brothel in the Kirk Douglas starrer "Diamonds" (1999). During filming, McCarthy began a relationship with the film’s director, John Asher, and the pair was married that fall. The next year, she appeared as a haughty actress – one of the latest victims of the Ghostface Killer – in the popular horror sequel "Scream 3" (2000). McCarthy stayed in the public eye with regular appearances on sitcoms like “Just Shoot Me” (NBC, 1997-2003) and “Charmed” (WB, 1998-2006), and in 2002, she gave birth to a son, Evan.
After a predictably low-brow appearance opposite fellow Playmate-turned-star Pamela Anderson in "Scary Movie 3" (2003), McCarthy humorously recounted her pregnancy experience with the bestselling book Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth (2004). The book finally tipped the scales of McCarthy’s following and she won over a sizeable number of female fans who appreciated her humorous straight talk about motherhood. The popular follow-up, Baby Laughs: The Naked Truth about the First Year of Mommyhood, was released in 2004.
McCarthy returned to TV with a starring role in another sassy but short-lived sitcom, "The Bad Girls' Guide" (UPN, 2005) before teaming up with husband Asher to write and produce the indie feature "Dirty Love" (2005). The universally reviled gross-out-style comedy starred McCarthy as a photographer who dates an assortment of weirdos and losers to annoy her studly ex. She continued to demonstrate her willingness to do just about anything to get a laugh, including a maxipad-related sequence that would give even the Farrelly Brothers pause. Shortly before the movie hit theaters in the fall of 2005, McCarthy announced her split from Asher.
Not long after, McCarthy was frequently sighted with A-list comic actor Jim Carrey, and in 2006 the couple came forward with confirmation of their romantic relationship. McCarthy addressed her latest personal evolution with the release of Life Laughs: The Naked Truth about Motherhood, Marriage, and Moving On (2006). She then received some of the best acting reviews of her career for her starring role as the thoroughly modern executive daughter of Santa Claus in the ABC Family television pic, “Santa Baby” (2006). She had likewise received notice for standing out among the weak cast of the black teen comedy “John Tucker Must Die” earlier in the year, playing her first mom role.
Off-screen, McCarthy’s mom role remained her focus, and she eventually revealed that her son had been diagnosed with autism. McCarthy became a voice for parents with children suffering from the neuro-immune disorder, and was in a position to offer hope after finding simple, little known treatments that cured her son. She became a spokesperson for TACA (Talking About Curing Autism), and in addition to her fundraising and awareness initiatives, she wrote another well-received book chronicling her son’s struggle and healing, Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (2007). Sadly, McCarthy’s effective work on behalf of parenting and autism issues was counterbalanced by her continued appearances in cheesecake roles in sub-par movies. “Witless Protection” (2008), starring Larry the Cable Guy, marked a new low in her string of low-brow comedies, scoring an astounding 0% positive reviews on RottenTomatoes.com.