Maria Menounos is an American actress, presenter and journalist born on June 8th 1978 in Medford, Massachusetts.
Maria first began performing in beauty pageants in 1995 and within a year she had won the title of Miss Massachusetts Teen USA and went on to compete in ‘Miss Teen USA’ but failed to place in the top 10. However in Miss Massachusetts USA 2000; she later placed as the 1st runner up.
During her time at Boston’s Emerson College she was hired as a reporter for Channel One News which is recognised as the top news source for American students.
In 2002 she went on to be hired by ‘Entertainment Tonight’ where she reported on the latest movie, music and fashion news and despite being offered further work with them decided that it was time to pursue her acting career.
In 2003 Maria was featured on ‘Punked’ the TV show that puts celebrities in all manors of embarrassing situations fooling them into thinking it is really happening.
In 2005 her acting career began to blossom as she was cast as a nurse in the hit movie ‘The Fantastic Four’. That same year her likeness and voice were featured in EA Games ‘From Russia with Love’ as Eva Adara.
In 2006 Maria co presented the Eurovision song contest in Athens and later that year she also appeared in an episode of the popular TV show ‘Scrubs’ alongside Zach Braff and starred in the video for Jessica Simpson’s single ‘A public affair’ along side other famous faces such as Eva Longoria. She has also had several recurring roles on TV shows such as ‘One Tree Hill’ and ‘Without a trace’.
She has produced her own independent film ‘The land of the merry misfits’ and directed ‘Longtime Listener’ starring Wilmer Valderrama. Maria is a keen supporter of charities and a member of ‘TAH!’ which she set up herself with the aim of utilizing the powers and influence that celebrities have.
Maria has been featured in various magazines and was voted one of the ’50 most beautiful women’ by People Magazine in 2004.