Marissa Jaret Winokur biography:

Born February 2, 1973 in New York, Marissa Jaret Winokur is the youngest of four siblings.  This Jewish woman was an active cheerleader during her teenage days at Fox Lane High School.  She was also captain of the soccer team.  After high school, she enrolled in The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, a college conservatory for the performing arts.  For two years, she studied musical theatre.

She eventually joined the touring company of Grease and played Pink Lady Jan in its 1995 Broadway production.  In 2003, she won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress for her work in Hairspray, where she played Tracy Turnblad.  For this role, she also won the Drama Desk Award, the Theatre World Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award.

Winokur was seen on several TV shows like Moesha, Felicity, Dharma & Greg, Stacked and Curb Your Enthusiasm.  She was also part of numerous films including Never Been Kissed, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, American Beauty, Beautiful Girl, Scary Movie and Fever Pitch to name a few.

Winokur's version of the song “Baby Face” became part of the soundtrack for Son of the Mask.  She also recorded “Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now” with Nikki Blonsky and Ricki Lake.  The song was for the Hairspray soundtrack.  She also did voice-over for cartoons like American Dad and King of the Hill.  In 2006, she married Stacked writer Judah Miller.

Marissa Jaret Winokur is a celebrity contestant on season 6 of ABC's reality series Dancing with the Stars. She is paired with professional dancer Tony Dovolani.



(Photo courtesy of ABC)