Maria Menounos
(born June 8, 1978) is an American actress, journalist,
and television presenter.
Early life & beauty pageants: Menounos, a
Greek American, was born in Medford, Massachusetts. In
1995, Menounos began to compete in beauty pageants. The
following year, she won the title of Miss Massachusetts
Teen USA and competed at Miss Teen USA where she failed
to place in the top 10. Menounos did however place in
the top 15, receiving an honorary mention, during the
preliminary competition; Menounos placed 13th in
preliminaries. The pageant was won by Christie Lee
Woods. Maria would go on to compete for the title of
Miss Massachusetts USA 2000; she placed as the 1st
runner up.
Film and television career: Later Menounos
attended Boston's Emerson College. During her senior
year, she was hired as a reporter for Channel One News.
Her work for Channel One's 10-minute segments included
traveling to El Salvador to report on the earthquake of
2001 and interviewing President George W. Bush.
Entertainment Tonight hired Menounos as a correspondent
in 2002, where she reported on movies, music and
fashion. ET executives offered her a hosting gig for ET
on MTV & VH1; she left the program in 2005 to focus
on her acting career, though she would eventually be
joining rival program Access Hollywood later that Fall
as a special correspondent. She went on to co-host a few
episodes of the Today Show in the late summer and fall
of 2006 as well as in April 2007.
In 2003, Menounos appeared on the November 30 episode of
Punk'd where she was one of many celebrities caught in
the awkward and embarrassing "Red Carpet
Interviews".
In the summer of 2005, she appeared in the comic book
film Fantastic Four, where she played a nurse who is
romanced by the "Human Torch", played by Chris
Evans. Her likeness and voice was featured in the 2005
Electronic Arts video game, From Russia with Love as Eva
Adara, Red Grant's henchwoman, which stars Sean Connery
as James Bond. She is also the spokesperson for Pantene
hair products.
Menounos presented the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest
(along with Greek singer Sakis Rouvas) that took place
in Athens.
Menounos is a correspondent for The Today Show as well
as Access Hollywood in an overall deal with NBC
Universal to act in films and television shows. She also
has recurring roles on CBS' Without a Trace and as Jules
in the second season of The CW's One Tree Hill (during
its run on The WB).
Menounos also appeared on the Scrubs episode "My
Extra Mile", which aired in May 2006 where John
Dorian attracts her because of his hair style.
In 2006, Menounos appeared in the music video for
"A Public Affair" by Jessica Simpson. In April
27, 2007, Maria starred in Kickin' It Old Skool.
Production: At the age of 17, Menounos produced
In the Land of Merry Misfits, an independent film fairy
tale. The 35mm feature film was produced by Menounos
while attending Emerson College with director Keven
Undergaro, then head writer for MTV's Singled Out. The
negative of the film was stolen and the film was never
completed but her work on the film, and the film's
director, helped her land her reporting job at Channel
One News and at MTV (ET on MTV). Menounos, however,
never forgot the film or the film's director. In 2005,
Menounos personally funded the recovery and restoration
of the film. The film premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film
Festival.
Menounos also directed Longtime Listener starring Wilmer
Valderrama. The film is an official selection of the
Tribeca Film Festival 2006.
Popular awards: Menounos appeared in FHM magazine
and in People magazine in 2004 as one of the "50
Most Beautiful People." In another poll conducted
by askmen.com, Menounos was voted one of the top five
girls a guy would most want to marry, along with
Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Jessica Alba. She
has also beaten Jessica Alba and Charlize Theron for
"Cyber Vixen of the Year" on Spike TV's video
game awards.
Charity work: Menounos founded the charity
"Take Action Hollywood!" after her trip to
South Africa. Reporting on the devastating effects of
the AIDS crisis she was inspired to create TAH!, a
charity that utilizes the power of the entertainment
industry and the medium of film to affect for positive
social change. Maria also created the Cosmo Girl Cup, a
national, annual competition and award given to the
group of teens who do the most in their communities to
affect for positive social change.
Maria Menounos Profile,
Photos, Biography, Films, Quotes, Wallpapers, Contact
address and more at WhoABC.com Celebrities Guide.
Find
everything about your favorite celebrities women and
men, official sites, and contact addresses, Browse photo
galleries of famous actors, actresses, models, and other
celebrities. Get the latest on your favorite hottest
actors and acctresses with entertainment news, celebrity
biography, profile, photos, autographs, wallpapers,
quotes, films .. and much more.
Browse
Celebrities and Models
We offer you a huge selection of Free High Quality Desktop Wallpapers, Biographies, also we provide a mailing address and contact details for requesting autographs and sending fan mail.
Snoron Celebrities and Models Wallpapers 
