Jenny McCarthy

**Jennifer Ann McCarthy** (born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, television host, satellite radio broadcaster, author, and anti-vaccine activist.

## Career

Jenny began her career in 1993 as a nude model for *Playboy* magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then had a television and film acting career, starting as a co-host on the MTV game show *Singled Out*, then some eponymous sitcoms, as well as films such as *BASEketball*, *Diamonds*, *Scream 3*, and *Santa Baby*. She is a former co-host of the ABC talk show *The View*. She is currently a judge on the FOX musical competition show *The Masked Singer*.

McCarthy has written books about parenting and has promoted research into environmental causes and alternative medical treatments for autism. She has promoted the disproven idea that vaccines cause autism, and she believes that chelation therapy, a dangerous quack curehelped cure her son of autism. McCarthy's views have been considered dangerous, reckless, and uninformed. McCarthy has been described as "the nation's most prominent purveyor of anti-vaxxer ideology" and "the face of the anti-vaxx movement". Although she disputes the anti-vaccine label and has said she prefers the term "pro-safe-vaccine-schedule", this self-description has been met with strong criticism.

## Early life

McCarthy was born on November 1, 1972 at Little Company of Mary Hospital located in the southwest Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park, Illinois. She was born to a working-class Catholic family, and has German, Irish, and Polish ancestry. She lived in the West Elsdon neighborhood of Chicago. She is the second of four daughters – her sisters are named Lynette, Joanne, and Amy; actress Melissa McCarthy is her cousin. McCarthy's mother, Linda, was a housewife and courtroom custodian, and her father, Dan McCarthy, was a steel mill foreman.

As a teenager McCarthy attended Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, whose school sweater she donned in the pages of *Playboy*, and was a cheerleader at both Brother Rice High School and St. Laurence High School, although she has referred to herself as an "outcast" at her school and has stated she was repeatedly bullied by classmates. She spent two years at Southern Illinois University.

## References

1. ↑ "Jenny McCarthy Profile", *E! Online*. Retrieved on September 19, 2007.
2. ↑ "After Vaccine-Autism Case Settlement, MDs Urged to Continue Recommending Vaccines", pp. 1.
3. ↑ Chelation Therapy for Autism is Quackery (en-US).
4. ↑ Specter, Michael. Jenny McCarthy's Dangerous Views (en).
5. ↑ How former 'The View' host Jenny McCarthy became the face of the anti-vaxx movement. *Insider* (April 29, 2019). Retrieved on April 30, 2019.
6. ↑ "No, you haven't been "wrongly branded," Jenny McCarthy", 2014-04-14. (in en)
7. ↑ "17 celebrities who are still questioning the science of vaccines". (in en)
8. ↑ Plait, Phil. "Yes, Jenny McCarthy, You Are Anti-Vaccine", 2014-04-13. (in en)
9. ↑ "Jenny McCarthy tries to mend her anti-vaccine reputation with reality TV. It's too little, too late.". (in en)
10. ↑ Gunlock, Julie. "Oprah's 'Truth' and Its Potentially Deadly Consequences". (in en-US)
11. ↑ Archived copy. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved on October 5, 2017.
12. ↑ Sweeney, Meghan. "Irish-American actors (dis)honored with a Razzie]", *IrishCentral''*, March 10, 2009.
13. ↑ Jenny McCarthy's Genitals Compared To 'Roadkill' – Starpulse.com. www.starpulse.com (September 28, 2010). Retrieved on October 7, 2010. “I see them talk to the make-up artist and the make-up artist comes walking over and she goes, 'They said they'd never saw anyone as hairy as you their entire life.' I said, 'Well, I'm half Polish!'”
14. ↑ Linke, Denise. "Trip to Chicago brings back memories", April 9, 2016. Retrieved on September 4, 2017.
15. ↑ Serpe, Gina (September 19, 2011). So True? So False? Is New Emmy Winner Melissa McCarthy Really Related to Jenny McCarthy?!. *ca.eonline.com*. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved on January 2, 2012.
16. ↑ Melissa McCarthy Biography. *TVGuide.com*. Retrieved on April 29, 2008.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "The McCarthy Era", *The New York Times*.
18. ↑ Jenny McCarthy Biography (1972– ). Film Reference. Retrieved on July 18, 2011.
19. ↑ "Before They Were Famous", February 2007, p. 76.
20. ↑ USA WEEKEND Magazine
21. ↑ Drew Pinsky. "Jenny McCarthy: I was bullied", *HLN*, October 10, 2011.