Kelly Ripa
| Kelly Ripa | |
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 Ripa in 2008 |
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| Born | Kelly Maria Ripa October 2, 1970 Stratford, New Jersey, United States |
| Occupation | Actress, host of Live! with Kelly, co-founder of Milojo, spokesperson for Electrolux and Rykä |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse | Mark Consuelos (1996–present) |
| Children | 3 |
Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) is an American actress, talk show host, and television producer. Ripa, who played Hayley Vaughan on the television soap opera All My Children from 1990–2002, is best known as host of the popular syndicated morning talk show Live! with Kelly. Additionally, Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos own a New York based production company, Milojo.[1]
In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named her one of the Most Powerful People in Media.[2]
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[edit] Early life
Ripa was born in Stratford, New Jersey, the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor-union president and bus driver. She has a younger sister, Linda, who is a children's book author.[3] She is of Italian and Irish descent.[4] Her father has been the Democratic County Clerk for Camden County, New Jersey since June 2009. She is the first in her family to enter the acting profession. She has studied ballet since age three, plays the piano, and, in her words, is "no Barbra Streisand," but can carry a tune.[5]
Ripa graduated from Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey,[6] where she became a cheerleader and was later encouraged by her drama teacher to pursue acting. "I owe so much of my career to Jim Beckley,"[7] she said. "He thought I was a natural performer and so he gave me the lead in the next show."[8] She starred in local theatre productions and was discovered while performing in the comedy play The Ugly Duckling (c. 1941), by A.A. Milne, during her senior year.[6] She attended Camden County College studying psychology, but dropped out and moved to New York City to be an actress.[9]
[edit] Television career
[edit] Dance Party USA
Aside from local TV gigs, Ripa's first national television exposure came in 1986 when she appeared as a regular dancer on Dance Party USA. Her career goal at the time was to be a newscaster and she often did the cast news reports.
[edit] All My Children
Ripa was cast in her first major acting role in 1990 as Hayley Vaughan, a troubled party girl, on All My Children. She concluded her 12-year stint in 2002, but returned for two episodes in 2010 to help celebrate the soap opera's 40th anniversary.
[edit] Live!
After co-host Kathie Lee Gifford's final show on Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, Regis Philbin began holding on-air auditions to find her replacement. In his autobiography, How I Got This Way, Philbin says of discovering Ripa:
"There was one guest we'd had on with us a few years before who had [a certain sparkle]. Hers was a natural, quick-witted, unaffected, confident, fun-loving kind of sparkle that both Gelman and I remembered very well. We decided to invite her back, this time to consider her as a possible co-host. So that was when this smiling, petite ball of fire named Kelly Ripa made her return to Live! for a test run at the rotating, up-for-grabs hot seat to my left. And my God, who knew what spontaneous combustion we'd make together?"[10]
The day of Ripa's initial Live! with Regis tryout, November 1, 2000, among the guests was a psychic named Char Margolis. During this segment, Margolis revealed a secret that Ripa had been keeping under wraps: she's pregnant with her second child. Ripa blushed and nervously replied, "I haven't told my boss yet!" Philbin later revealed that of all the potential candidates including Jane Krakowski, Valerie Bertinelli, Dolly Parton, and Bernadette Peters: "it could only be Kelly. We knew that from her memorable debut onward." Ripa was announced as official replacement on February 5, 2001. Within months, the renamed Live! with Regis and Kelly's young-audience demographics increased by 80 percent with Ripa credited for bringing "a new life to the show."[11]
The chemistry between Philbin and Ripa (or "Pippa" as he nicknamed her), their banter, interviews, and conversations about their families, personal lives, and New York City attracted a successful, strong, and loyal viewership averaging 6 million viewers daily.[12] In January 2011, Philbin, 80, announced that he would be retiring from Live! at the end of the year. His final show aired Friday, November 18, 2011, during which Ripa tearfully reminisced about her first day, the 43 steps they walked together from her dressing room onto set each day for 11 years, and how those 43 steps changed her life. "Thank you for everything! It's been just great my Pippa," Philbin told her in an embrace. Ripa responded: "Thank you for everything. I love you." "I love you, too," said Philbin.[13]
Ripa returned the following Monday, November 21, 2011 to continue the show, now entitled Live! with Kelly. In the same process that she was discovered to replace Gifford, a rotating lineup of co-hosts have auditioned on-air with Ripa, including: Michael Strahan, Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Groban, Seth Meyers, Nick Lachey, Jerry O'Connell, Derek Hough, Joel McHale, Taye Diggs, Ben Mulroney, Michael Bublé, Randy Jackson, Rob Lowe, Peter Facinelli, Reggie Bush, Dana Carvey, Mario Lopez, Mike Greenberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Short, Bryant Gumbel, Pat Kiernan, Dan Abrams, Jesse Palmer, Howie Mandel, Chris Harrison, and D.L. Hughley.[14] Although an official replacement has yet to be announced, ratings in the interim have been extremely successful and therefore why executive producer Michael Gelman says there is no rush to choose Ripa's new co-host.[15]
[edit] Hope & Faith
Ripa ventured into primetime in September 2003 on Hope & Faith, playing Faith Fairfield, an unemployed ex-soap star. The half-hour sitcom, co-starring Faith Ford, Ted McGinley, and Megan Fox, gave ABC its best Friday premiere score since 1996. The show was cancelled in May 2006 with Ripa declaring she "never wanted to work that hard again."[16]
[edit] Film career
Best known for her television work, Ripa also has several feature films to her credit. She appeared in the acclaimed Miramax feature Marvin's Room in 1996 alongside Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio. In 1999, she won the Best Actress Award at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival for her work in The Stand-In. Most recently, she was part of the voice cast of the computer-generated animated feature Fly Me to the Moon.
[edit] Other ventures
[edit] Spokesperson
Named among People's Most Intriguing People and one the Most Powerful People in Media according to The Hollywood Reporter, Ripa serves as a valuable and successful spokesperson for several companies. In the past, she has partnered with Tide, 7 Up, Pantene, and TD Bank, but currently works primarily with Electrolux and Rykä.
Rykä announced Ripa as the spokesperson for the brand's footwear and sporting apparel in 2008. Showcasing her commitment to an active, healthy lifestyle; Ripa oversees the design of her own fitness-inspired active wear line, The Kelly Ripa Collection.[17]
Ripa stars in the Electrolux television and print advertising, and her image is used on point-of-sale materials and extensively online. Tom Coulman of Electrolux says "Her dynamic personality and on-the-go lifestyle really resonate and create a powerful brand connection."[18]
[edit] Charity
Ripa, a devoted supporter of the ovarian cancer cause, has teamed with Electrolux to raise funds for The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Every summer, she hosts an event called Super Saturday, a day-long fundraising event. 2011's event raised over $3.5 million for OCRF. Her dedication derives from losing a friend to ovarian cancer.[19] In 2001, she appeared on a celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, hosted by Philbin. She won $250,000 for Tomorrow's Children's Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to speeding the healing of children with cancer and serious blood disorders.
Another cause important to Ripa is Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Her active involvement with MADD is motivated by her sister, Linda, who was almost killed by a drunk driver in 1999.[20]
[edit] Production Company
In 2007, Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos founded Milojo, the highly successful SoHo-based production company. It began with the Emmy-nominated feature documentary The Streak, which told the story of a Florida high school wrestling team with a 34-year winning streak. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. In addition, Milojo launched a first-look development deal with Discovery Channel for non-scripted series' including Homemade Millionaire, hosted by Ripa, and the docu-series Masters of Reception. Their next film, Off the Rez, was also accepted to the Tribeca Film Festival and premiered on TLC in May 2011.[21] In 2012, the company premiered its first short film, a collaboration with Will Ferrell's Funny or Die entitled "The Bensonhurst Spelling Bee" featuring Ripa, Consuelos, and their son, Michael. The video went viral and quickly exceeded 1,000,000 views.[22]
[edit] Personal life
On the set of All My Children, Ripa met Mark Consuelos — newly hired to play her onscreen lover Mateo Santos. After dating for a year, Ripa and Consuelos eloped in Las Vegas on May 1, 1996. On June 2, 1997, they welcomed their first son, Michael Joseph. The couple's second and third children, Lola Grace and Joaquin Antonio were born June 16, 2001 and February 24, 2003, respectively.
[edit] Filmography and Television Work
[edit] Awards and Honors
In 2007 and 2012, Ripa hosted the TV Land Awards to very positive reviews.[23] She, herself, is an award winner, garnering five Soap Opera Digest Awards and three Daytime Emmy Award nominations for playing Hayley Vaughan on All My Children.
Ripa was also recognized for her work on the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, which she co-hosted from 2001–2009, with the Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special in 2006. She and co-host Regis Philbin also won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for Live! with Regis and Kelly, for which they also received 12 Emmy Award nominations and 4 People's Choice Award nominations.
In 2008, Cowboy Mouth, a New Orleans, Louisiana-based rock band, honored Ripa by writing a song in tribute, entitled Kelly Ripa, that appeared on their album Fearless. The band performed the song on Live! on March 13, 2008.
On September 15, 2006, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record as twenty-four banana-cream pies were tossed at her mouth in one minute, as part of a Guinness World Record Breaker theme week on Live!. On September 16, 2011, Ripa broke the Guinness World Record for Most Grapes Trodden in 1 Minute, of 5.4 litres, as she extracted 8.4 litres. However, her competitor, Martina Servaty of Germany, extracted even more (8.6 litres), preventing Ripa from holding the new record.[24]
The Broadcast Pioneers inducted Ripa into their Hall of Fame for her tremendous success in the television industry on November 19, 2010 and also honoured her as their Person of the Year.[25]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Milojo Productions.
- ^ 35 Most Powerful People in Media.
- ^ "Kelly Ripa Biography (1970-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/98/Kelly-Ripa.html. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- ^ IMDB Biography
- ^ IMDB Biography.
- ^ a b "Kelly Ripa Biography". celebritywonder.com. http://www.celebritywonder.com/html/kellyripa.html. Retrieved January 2, 2008.
- ^ Kelly Ripa in town to shoot Live with Kelly.
- ^ From All My Children to Regis Philbin.
- ^ Heading to Pine Valley.
- ^ How I Got This Way.
- ^ A Revealing Audition.
- ^ 'Live' Takes Top Talk Show Honors.
- ^ Regis Philbin: I'm Going Out a Pretty Proud and Happy Guy.
- ^ Gelman: Moving Forward Day By Day.
- ^ 'Live! With Kelly' Is Top Talk Show.
- ^ Having Faith.
- ^ Leveraging Spokesperson Kelly Ripa.
- ^ Electrolux and Kelly Ripa team up.
- ^ Lifechangers.
- ^ Giving Back.
- ^ About Milojo.
- ^ 'The Bensonhurst Spelling Bee'.
- ^ Kelly Ripa Hosts 10th Annual TV Land Awards.
- ^ "LIVE! with Regis & Kelly - Guinness World Record-Breaker Week on LIVE!". Dadt.com. http://dadt.com/live/special/guinnessweek/11/index.html. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
- ^ Kelly Ripa getting broadcasters' honor.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kelly Ripa |
- Kelly Ripa at the Internet Movie Database
- [1], official website for Live! with Kelly
- Kelly Ripa in Page Six Magazine
- Kelly Ripa on Twitter
- 1970 births
- 20th-century actors
- 21st-century actors
- Actors from New Jersey
- Actors from New York City
- American film actors
- American people of Italian descent
- American people of Irish descent
- American soap opera actors
- American television talk show hosts
- Daytime Emmy Award winners
- Living people
- People from Camden County, New Jersey
- People from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
- People from Manhattan
- Soap Opera Digest Award winners
