note: see the pics during bio entry.
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy (born November 1, 1972) is an American model, comedian, actress, author and activist. She first appeared in Playboy magazine in October 1993 and was named Playmate of the Year in its June 1994 issue. She later began a career in television and film and has recently started writing books.
In 1993, McCarthy underwent breast augmentation to enhance her look as a model for Playboy. McCarthy had the implants down-sized in 1998.
McCarthy dated her manager Ray Manzella for a short time in 1998. After breaking up with Manzella, McCarthy began dating actor/director John Asher. The couple became engaged in January 1999, and married that year on September 11, 1999. They have a son, Evan Joseph, born on May 18, 2002. Evan suffers from autism. In August 2005, McCarthy and Asher filed for divorce.
In a February 2006 interview with Howard Stern, adult actress Jenna Jameson said she had two sexual encounters with McCarthy. When McCarthy visited Stern's show in April 2006, she denied having sex with Jameson, but said she "made out" with her during the two encounters. McCarthy also took a lie detector test and passed the questions regarding Jameson. During the appearance, McCarthy also admitted to having performed oral sex on women and that she cheated on her ex-husband with both men and women. However, in a later appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, she claimed they didn't cheat on each other because it was agreed upon.
In December 2005 McCarthy began dating Jim Carrey. They did not make their relationship public until June 2006. She announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 2, 2008 that she and Carrey are now living together, but have no plans to marry, as they do not need a "piece of paper".
Her brother-in-law is NHL hockey player Dan Hinote of the St. Louis Blues. Dan is married to her younger sister Amy.
She is also an avid Chicago White Sox fan.
In May 2007, McCarthy announced that her son was diagnosed with autism in 2005. In June, she was named as the TACA spokesperson for families affected by Autism. Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism was published September 17, 2007. McCarthy told Oprah Winfrey that her son was developing normally until he received his measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (at 15 months of age).
She has stated in her book, and on her appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show that her husband was unable to deal with their son's autism, which led to their divorce. She went on to say that her relationship with Jim Carrey has made it easier on her and that finding someone who loves her and her son is great.
On April 2, 2008, she appeared on the Larry King Live special dedicated to autism.
Critics of her unscientific attitude toward vaccinations, including Steven Novella, have attributed the rise in measles cases directly to her activism.