Kelly Monaco Biography (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Kelly Marie Monaco (born May 23 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American model, actress, and reality television contestant.

Early life

Monaco was the third of five daughters. Monaco grew up with a love of sports such as soccer, swimming, and track, and worked as a lifeguard for several years while attending a community college until she broke into modeling. As a young adult, Kelly moved to Los Angeles with dreams to become an actress. Success was limited for several years. In 1999, she landed her first major role on the soap opera "Port Charles". Kelly has been nominated twice for an acting Emmy, and she currently plays the role of Samantha McCall on the soap opera General Hospital.

Modeling

In 1996, Monaco sent nude modeling photos of herself to Playboy and in April 1997 she became the Playboy Playmate of the Month. Throughout her tenure with Playboy in the 1990s, Monaco was also featured in many Playboy Special Edition publications.

She was a booth babe for Eidos Interactive at the 1999 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California.

She was featured in the November 2005 issue of Playboy, however the pictorial consisted of previously unpublished photos from her Miss April 1997 shoot.

Temporary return to modeling

After moving on from Playboy in the 1990s, Monaco has significantly distanced herself from Playboy, possibly as a move to "clean up" her image. More recently, Monaco has made numerous cover appearances in other lad mags such as FHM and Maxim magazine. Along with her Maxim feature in 2005, the magazine also awarded her 13th place on their annual Hot 100 List in May 2006.

Relationships

Kelly has been rumored to be single for several years because of her solo appearances at public events. She says that for the past 15 years, she has been dating her childhood sweetheart, Michael Gonzalez. On a recent interview on The View, she stated that as a 31-year-old woman, she is in no rush to get married; she feels as if she already is.

Acting

Her first television role was on the nighttime drama Baywatch from 1997 to 1998. In addition to playing the role of Susan on the show, Monaco also was Carmen Electra's body double at times, as Electra could not swim. Monaco also had minor roles in the late 1990s-films BASEketball, Idle Hands, and Mumford.

Monaco had two roles on the supernatural television soap opera Port Charles: Olivia "Livvie" Locke Morley (1999–2003) and Tess Ramsey (2002–2003). When that program ended, she joined the cast of soap opera General Hospital as con woman Samantha "Sam" McCall in September 2003.

In 2003, Monaco was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role on Port Charles. In 2006 Monaco was again nominated for a Daytime Emmy, this time for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Sam McCall on General Hospital.

Dancing with the Stars

In Summer 2005, Monaco appeared as a contestant in the highly-rated American version of the television series Dancing with the Stars. Despite her perceived lack of height and an initial lack of grace, she improved each week and became a popular underdog. In the quarterfinal round samba, she coolly recovered from a mid-dance wardrobe malfunction without becoming exposed on live national television. On July 6, 2005, Kelly Monaco won the Dancing With The Stars competition.

This was viewed by some as an upset, whereas others suspected ballot-box stuffing, a frequent complaint of Internet-based voting. This was discussed briefly on a Larry King Live interview with several members of the show, but was not pursued by runner-up John O'Hurley, who took the high road and declared that participation and viewer popularity were more important to him than winning. However, it was decided to have a "Dance-Off" special as a follow up to this controversial result, with a presumably lessened chance of Internet voting skewing the results. It was held "live" on September 20, 2005 and results were announced two days later. This time, O'Hurley and his dance partner Charlotte emerged as the winners.

The win on Dancing With the Stars boosted her visibility level considerably and resulted in a number of appearances on talk shows as well as new job offers, but she stated that she intends to remain with General Hospital.

TV work

Baywatch (1997-1998)
Late Last Night (1999)
Port Charles (1999-2003)
The Man Show (2000)
Hard Copy (2000)
Spin City (2001)
General Hospital (2003-present)
Dancing with the Stars (2005)
Punk'd (2005)

Filmography

BASEketball (1998)
Idle Hands (1999)
Mumford (1999)

Playboy video filmography

Playboy: Playmate Profile Video Collection Featuring Miss April 1997, 1994, 1991, 1988 (1997)
Playboy Video Playmate Calendar 1998 (1997)
Playboy: Girls Next Door, Naughty and Nice (1997)
Playboy: Babes of Baywatch (1998)
Playboy: Girlfriends (1998)
Playboy: Naturals (1998)
Playboy: Club Lingerie (2000)
Playboy: Playmates Bustin' Out (2000)
Playboy Playmate DVD Calendar Collection: The '90s (2004)

Appearances in Playboy special editions

Playboy's Playmate Review Vol. 14 August 1998 — pages 26–33.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 63 September 1998 — pages 34–35.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 64 November 1998 — pages 20–23.
Playboy's Playmate Tests November 1998.
Playboy's Nudes December 1998 — pages 30–31, 46–47.
Playboy's Girls of Winter January 1999 — cover, pages 28–29, 34–35, 40–41, 44–45.
Playboy's Playmates in Bed Vol. 3 February 1999 — pages 88–91.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 67 May 1999 — pages 80–81.
Playboy's Natural Beauties Vol. 1 May 1999.
Playboy's Girls of Summer June 1999.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 68 July 1999 — pages 14–17.
Playboy's Hardbodies July 1999.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 69 September 1999.
Playboy's Girlfriends September 1999 — pages 32–41.
Playboy's Barefoot Beauties December 1999.
Playboy's Nudes December 1999 — pages 64–65.
Playboy's Wet & Wild December 1999.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 71 January 2000 — front & back covers, pages 1–3, 36–37, 66–67, 76–81, 92–93.
Playboy's Natural Beauties Vol. 2 April 2000.
Playboy's Girls of Summer May 2000.
Playboy's Celebrating Centerfolds Vol. 5 June 2000.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 74 July 2000 - pages 36-37.
Playboy's Book of Lingerie Vol. 75 September 2000.
Playboy's Nude Playmates April 2001 — pages 80–81.
Playboy's Blondes, Brunettes & Redheads March 2002.
Playboy's Sexy 100 February 2003.
Playboy's Girls of Summer June 2003.

This biography article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kelly Monaco". Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions this article may contain.