Biography
Date of Birth
8 December 1978, Medford, Massachusetts, USA
Birth Name
Maria Constaninos Menounos
Nickname
Dolphin
Height
5' 7¾" (1.72 m)
Trivia
Was Miss Massachussetts Teen USA 1996.
Graduated from Emerson College in Boston.
Was an anchor on Channel One, a news program for school children usually played during the school day.
Worked as an international correspondent for Channel One News.
When a contestant in the Miss Teen USA Pageant in 1996, representing the state of Massachussetts, Miss Menounos was asked by pageant host Bob Goen what she would like to do when she "grew up." Her response was "I want to work with you at E.T., Bob!". Her wish came true when she joined Entertainment Tonight (1981) six years later as a correspondent for the show. She also answered viewers' questions about celebrities at the E.T. website (etonline.com), where her page was called 'Maria's Mailbox'.
She is of Greek descent.
Joined Entertainment Tonight (1981) on April 30, 2002 as a correspondent, reporting on film, television, music and fashion. She left ET in 2005.
Speaks Greek fluently
Ranked and Voted #5 by AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2006
Ranked and Voted #8 by AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2007.
Holds the elite distinction of being the youngest person to ever co-host Entertainment Tonight (1981) (age 22).
Holds the elite distinction of being the youngest person to ever co-host the Today (1952) Show.
Holds the elite distinction of being the youngest person to ever report for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (1970).
Menounos still owns the very first car she bought when she moved to Los Angeles: a now fully restored 1962 candy apple red Chevrolet Corvair convertible.
Owns the solid gold and pearl-handled revolver that Elvis Presley gave to Jack Lord.
Resides on a rare Southern Victorian estate with her adopted dogs.
Avid sports fan - most especially Boston sports. Personal friend of New England Patriot's quarterback, Tom Brady, and Boston Celtic's captain, Paul Pierce.
Avid Professional Wrestling fan. Former WWE Champion Bob Backlund has been both a friend and part-time bodyguard.
Great fan of Turner Classic Movies. Looks forward to each Febuary, for TCM's annual month long salute to Oscar.
Played basketball in high school.
Sang in her church choir from grade school to college.
Was a janitor cleaning Boston nightclubs and bars with her parents from age 3 to 14.
Worked at Dunkin Donuts, making and selling donuts through junior high and high school.
Fluent in the languages of Greek, English and Spanish.
Founded umbrella-like charity "Take Action Hollywood" as a result of supporting so many causes. Her most sacred include diabetes research, pet over population and adoption, animal cruelty prevention, worldwide AIDS relief and awareness, general support and relief of allied troops and their loved ones.
Ranked #70 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 list of 2009.
Ranked #79 on the FHMOnline's Sexiest 100 Women in the World of 2003 list.
Ranked #71 on the FHMOnline's Sexiest 100 Women in the World of 2009 list.
One of her favorite singers was Whitney Houston.
Has left Access Hollywood (1996) to become co-hostess on Extra (1994) [September 2011].
Announced that she is freezing her eggs to insure that she can have children someday when she has achieved her career goals [September 2011].
Daughter of Constantinos Menounos and Litsa Menounos.
Is part of the 14th season of Dancing with the Stars (2005) partnering with Derek Hough.
The youngest person to ever report for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (1970) (2011).
The youngest person to ever co-host the Today (1952) Show (2006-2007).
The youngest person to ever co-host Entertainment Tonight (1981) (2001) (age 22).
In a long-term relationship with Keven Undergaro [1998-present].
Helped induct friend, Bob Backlund, into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 6, 2013 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Other inductees were Donald Trump, Trish Stratus, Bruno Sammartino and Mick Foley.
Was stuck in an elevator on August 14, 2013. She went up into the elevator shaft and climbed up to the next floor.
Co-hosting The Eurovision Song Contest (2006) and the Semifinales in Athens, Greece with Sakis Rouvas. [May 2006]
Menounos has been named the 2014 CES Entertainment Matters Ambassador for her innovations in digital broadcasting through her creation of AfterBuzzTV and her digital talk show titled "Conversations with Maria Menounos". AfterBuzzTV boasts an astounding audience of 20 million a week to over 100 countries and provides after show analysis of over 200 series.
As March 9, 2016. Announced engagement to her long-term boyfriend Keven Undergaro.
Inducted into the Hair Fan's Hall of Fame in 2006.
Underwent an operation which removed 99.9% of the growth of the brain tumor.[May 2017].
As she was caring for her mother, who has stage 4 brain cancer, Maria found out she was facing a health crisis of her own. In February 2014 Menounos started experiencing troubling symptoms. "I'd been getting lightheaded on set and having headaches," she tells PEOPLE in the magazine's exclusive new cover story. "My speech had gotten slurred and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter". An MRI revealed Menounos had a golf-ball-size meningioma brain tumor that was pushing on her facial nerves. Menounos made an appointment with her mother's doctor, renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Keith L. Black, and they scheduled surgery for June 8-her 39th birthday. "He said, 'I'm 98 percent sure it's benign but we won't know until we get in there,'" she says. During the complex surgery, which lasted about seven hours, Dr. Black was able to remove 99.9 percent of the tumor, which was benign. "He said there's a six to seven percent chance that we'll see it come back," she says. "But I'll take those odds any day." Now back at home after a six-day hospital stay, Menounos is healing and spending time with her mother, Litsa, whose latest MRI shows that her cancer is stable.
After seeing her boyfriend for 19 years, Keven Undergaro proposed while the two were on the Howard Stern show.
Left E! News to recover from her brain tumor.[July 2017].
Her mother had stage 4 brain cancer.
Was diagnosed with a brain tumor in early 2017.
Wedding to Keven Undergaro was officiated by Steve Harvey during the Fox's New Year's Eve broadcast from Times Square in 2017.
(December 31, 2017) Married her boyfriend of 19 years Keven Undergaro in Times Square by Steve Harvey during the live broadcast of Fox's New Year Eve live telecast following a 21-month-long engagement.
Trademarks:
Her laugh (self-described as a cross between Fran Drescher and "Woody Woodpecker").
Quotes
I am honored to be a Bond girl and be a part of the Bond legacy, To star in a video game with Connery, the original Bond, is incredible.
Back in the day after I won my first pageant there was an agency that was getting me work on the side.
A lot of people didn't realize that I acted before I did anything else.
There's something about taking a film from concept to script, through production, and then to see the final thing happening in the edit phase. It's almost like a miracle in the making.
One of the first things I did was interview the President of the United States. Some people work their whole lives and can't interview someone of that stature.
Integrity is integrity. I don't push it to the side because I'm talking to Julia Roberts.
I think people think we're all sipping martinis by the pool.
I think Channel One was very integral in my career.
I saw Red Eye, and I love being scared and on the edge of my seat.
I love comic book movies, and Marvel Comics obviously are the best.
Tim Story is a fantastic director, and I'm so excited to get to work with him.
The designer of my Emmy gown is donating my gown to the charity for an auction.
That's why charity work is very selfish at the same time, because it makes you feel good.
So now, cut to ten years later, and I'm making this amazing contract with Pantene. It's incredible.
So for me, anything that has to do with animals, and I'm a happy camper.
So most of my acting experience came in college when I was living away from them. I acted in various independent films, and I got some commercial work and stuff like that.
If you take the more general role of going to local stations around the country in Montana or South Carolina or wherever, and start in the local news, it's a lot more difficult to get to the stories that you want to really cover.
I'm really excited, because the character, Jules, is a really awesome character. I'm really excited to be playing her, and overall, I'm really excited to be getting back to my acting roots.
I know that producing will ultimately mean more longevity in the business, so when I'm tired of everything else and want to be behind the cameras, I know that I can produce.
You have to take control of your own career.
We had four different sets and built 38 flats to use as walls, so we had a major production going on. It's so much fun when you're controlling it, but it's also so much pressure.
The odd thing is, I don't consider what I do work, because it's what I love. But it is also an enormous amount of pressure, and you have to work an enormous amount of hours.
[on her recovery from a brain tumor]I'm getting stronger and stronger every day and I'll be back to normal very soon.
[on working at E! News]I am so grateful for the past three years at E!, I had such an amazing time co-hosting with Jason Kennedy and working everyday with the wonderful roster of talent on the show including producers, staff and crew. It was such a special, good-hearted group and one I'll always consider family. A special thank you to Frances Berwick and Adam Stotsky for all the support they have shown me through the years especially during these tough times. I will truly miss everyone and looking forward to this next chapter in my life.
