Marisa Miller Biography

Marisa Miller
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Marisa Miller
Marisa Miller at the Mirage Portrait.JPG
Marisa Miller signing autographs at The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in April 2009.
Birth name Marisa Lee Bertetta
Date of birth August 6, 1978 (1978-08-06) (age 31)
Place of birth Santa Cruz, California, U.S.
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Hair color Blonde
Eye color Hazel
Measurements 34D-23-35 (US)
86.5-58-89 (EU)1
Weight 110 lb (50 kg; 7.9 st)
Dress size 2 (US), 32 (EU), 6 (UK)
Shoe size 7 (US), 37½ (EU), 4½ (UK)
Agency Cartel Management
Spouse(s) Jim Miller (2000–2002)
Griffin Guess (2006–present)
Official website

Marisa Lee Miller (born August 6, 1978)23 is an American model best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues, and her work for lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret. After a stint shooting with photographer Mario Testino for fashion magazines like Vogue,4 Miller began working for both companies in 2002. As of late 2007, she is a Victoria's Secret Angel, and graced the cover of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to record-setting numbers,5 accomplishments that have led to her being dubbed the "return of the great American supermodel."6

She is also known for contracts with companies like Harley-Davidson and for ranking #1 on Maxim magazine's 2008 "Hot 100" list.6 Aside from modeling, she is an ambassador for the American Cancer Society.7

Contents

Early life

Born Marisa Lee Bertetta in Santa Cruz, California, Miller attended high school at Aptos High and Monte Vista Christian School. She considered herself a tomboy growing up, with mostly male friends and little awareness of anything girly.8 Out of shyness, she often wore large t-shirts to hide her body and would get fully dressed just to go to the trash can while at the beach.9

Miller was first "discovered" at age sixteen walking through a San Francisco café by two Italian modeling agents.10 After talking to her mother Krista Bertetta, she was on a plane to Italy with her mother a few months later, despite her "shy and conservative" personality.4 Miller gained attention when she appeared in a 1997 issue of Perfect 10 magazine. Although she came in third behind Ashley Degenford and Monica Hansen in Perfect 10 magazine's first annual model search,11 she was repeatedly showcased in following issues, including the covers of the Winter 1998, Aug/Sept 1999, and Fall 2004 editions.

Career

Miller in a bikini, the top a striped design with a variety of different brown patterns.
Miller backstage during Fashion for Relief benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Miller moved from a start as an amateur magazine model to high profile mainstream work after an acquaintance showed a picture of her to famed fashion photographer Mario Testino in 2001. Testino asked to meet Miller, who was running a surf school at the time, and was invited to Manhattan Beach, California, where she would be surfing.4

Noticing her, Testino snapped pictures of her and approached her for a job offer that turned out to be editorials for both the American and Italian editions of Vogue. Within six months,4 Miller was working for Victoria's Secret and the coveted Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in which she appeared in every issue from 2002 to 2008. In particular, she famously posed wearing only an iPod in the 2007 issue.12 She has also appeared in a diverse range of magazines, many of them international editions, such as GQ, Maxim, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, and Vanity Fair,1 as well as working on campaigns/advertisements for Nordstrom, J.Crew, Guess?, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepsi, Panasonic, Bath & Body Works, True Religion jeans, and motorcycle company Harley-Davidson,1 with whom she first partnered to launch the VRSCF V-Rod Muscle motorcycle in 2008 and rejoined in November 2009 to act as the face/spokesmodel of the company's first "Military Appreciation Month" campaign, featuring Miller as a classic pin-up in military-themed advertisements and online content.13 In July 2008, Miller took her first step beyond modeling when her shoe line with skateboarder/surfer-oriented company Vans launched.6

Miller's TV spots include the short-lived reality series Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model (2004),14 Puddle of Mudd's "Spin You Around" music video (2004), the pilot episode and finale of VH1's reality show The Shot (2007), cameos in HBO's Entourage and the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother15 (both 2007), the latter with her fellow Victoria's Secret Angels, and a guest judge role on an episode of America's Next Top Model (2009). It wasn't until 2007 that she filmed her first television commercial for Victoria's Secret, appearing alongside Heidi Klum for the It bra. Miller starred in a 2008 viral video on YouTube with All Star baseball player Ryan Braun for Remington's ShortCut clippers1617 and also appeared in commercials for the NFL Network18 and the California Travel and Tourism Commission's "Visit California" campaign.

Marisa Miller wearing a black bra studded with small diamonds in a harlequin pattern, with a larger heart shaped champagne diamond hanging.
Miller modeling the 2009 Victoria's Secret Fantasy Bra.

On December 4, 2007, Miller made her debut in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show,2 and opened a segment in the following year's edition. Other runway credits of Miller's include 2007's Fashion for Relief show, benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina,2 as well as MTV's Fashionably Loud, Imitation of Christ, Inca, and Amir Slama's Rosa Cha, for which she was one of the most anticipated models.19

On the February 12, 2008 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, it was announced via a three-story billboard in New York City that Miller would grace the cover of that year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The tandem online launch of the issue drew record page views to the SI website: 228 million, a 41% increase over 2007.5 In September 2008, Sports Illustrated released a "Best of Marisa Miller" swimsuit calendar for the 2009 year.2

Victoria's Secret also put her to work in 2008, with a five-city tour to promote the 2008 Swim collection's release in stores; the April-May tour included stops in New York City, Miami, Chicago (where she threw the opening pitch at a Chicago Cubs baseball game), Boston, and Minneapolis. The relaunch of Victoria Secret's sports line, VSX, soon followed, along with her first official campaign as an Angel20: promoting the company's fragrance Very Sexy Dare.

For the 2009 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Miller was chosen to wear the year's "Fantasy Bra," a harlequin design featuring 2,300 white, champagne, and cognac diamonds, and a 16-carat heart-shaped brown-yellow diamond pendant for a $3-million value and 150 total carats.2122

Media recognition

The swell in publicity resulting from her 2008 work served to land Miller in the number one spot on Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" rankings for 2008, beating out list regulars such as Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, and Eva Longoria-Parker. This marked the first time anyone has debuted on the list in the number one position.6 In her subsequent cover story for the July issue, Maxim proclaimed her as the "return of the great American supermodel." Of such acclaim, Miller admits, "I get a kick out of it, but it would be stupid to let it go to my head. It’s modeling—I didn’t find the cure for cancer."23

She also finished first place in The Best Damn Sports Show Period "Smokin' Sixteen" competition in 2008,24 repeating her 2007 win over competitors such as Gisele Bündchen and Adriana Lima. Miller ranked third in Askmen.com's "Top 99" for 2009, after ranking ninth in 2008, twelfth in 2007, and fourteenth in 2006. She added to her popular accolades with the "Hot N' Fresh" award at the second annual Spike Guys' Choice Awards.25

Personal life

She married Jim Miller,26 a Los Angeles surfing contest promoter and lifeguard from California in 2000, and separated from him in 2002.2728 They divorced soon after. She married music producer Griffin Guess on April 15, 2006.29 From an early age she loved surfing;10 in 2004, she placed second in the celebrity division of the Kelly Slater Surf Invitational2 and says of the sport, "I feel my absolute best—physically, mentally and spiritually—when I'm surfing every day."8 She was a standout volleyball player in high school2 and has taken up boxing.728 She has said that she would like to be a sportscaster.30

As of 2009, Miller is an ambassador for the American Cancer Society,731 to which proceeds from her online store are donated. She also supports the Young Survival Coalition, which raises awareness of breast cancer in women under 40,6 as well as environmental organization The Surfrider Foundation, which aims to preserve the world's oceans and beaches.31 In October 2009, Miller hosted the "Monte Foundation MusicFest and Fireworks Extravaganza," an annual fundraiser for schools in the Aptos area, where she and Guess own a home.12

References

  1. ^ a b c "Fashion Model Directory profile". http://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/models/Marisa_Miller. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Askmen Profile". http://www.askmen.com/celebs/women/models_200/242_marisa_miller.html. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  3. ^ "Marisa Miller biography at TV.com". http://www.tv.com/marisa-miller/person/246237/summary.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  4. ^ a b c d Lauren Murphy. "Miller, Genuine", Los Angeles Confidential, October 2008.
  5. ^ a b "SI Digital Launch of Swimsuit 2008 Experiences Unprecedented Traffic and Engagement Levels". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Feb_22/ai_n24320612. Retrieved 2008-02-22. 
  6. ^ a b c d e Thompson, Arienne (2008-05-13). "Marisa Miller's model year just got 'Maxim' exposure". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-05-13-miller-maxim_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-14. ""She represents the return of the great American supermodel, and she's veering towards ubiquity"" 
  7. ^ a b c Carson, Kelly (2008-05-23). "Malibu magazine: Suburbia". Archived from the original on 2008-06-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20080619070257/http://www.malibumag.com/site/article/suburbia_with_marisa_miller1/. Retrieved 2009-02-28. ""A lot has changed for the veteran Sports Illustrated and Victoria Secret supermodel. She got married, took up boxing and designed a line of sneakers for Vans, Inc."" 
  8. ^ a b "13 Questions With Marisa Miller". Askmen.com.. http://www.askmen.com/celebs/interview_200/233_marisa_miller_interview.html. Retrieved 2009-10-16. 
  9. ^ "Dan gets close to Angel Marisa Miller". KGMB9.com. http://kgmb9.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21613&Itemid=108. Retrieved 2009-10-16. 
  10. ^ a b Seals, Brian (2008-02-13). "Aptos native Marisa Miller makes Sports Illustrated cover". www.santacruzsentinel.com. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8248147. Retrieved 2009-02-27. 
  11. ^ "TV.com Bio". http://www.tv.com/marisa-miller/person/246237/biography.html. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  12. ^ a b Bookwalter, Genevieve (2009-10-02). "Monte headliners hope show starts something big; Up-and-coming acts excited for Santa Cruz, while supermodel returns home to emcee". Santa Cruz Sentinal. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8248147. Retrieved 2009-10-16. 
  13. ^ "Harley-Davidson Recruits American Supermodel Marisa Miller to Salute U.S. Military Personnel During the Month of November". Yahoo! Finance. 2009-11-2. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/HarleyDavidson-Recruits-prnews-2040401496.html?x=0&.v=1. Retrieved 2009-11-4. 
  14. ^ "Carmen Electra to Host Bravo's 'Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model'". 2004-09-08. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20040908bravo01. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
  15. ^ "The Yips". How I Met Your Mother. CBS. 2007-11-26. No. 10, season 3.
  16. ^ "Beauty and the Brewer". 2008-08-09. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=781359. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
  17. ^ Remington Commercial featuring Marisa Miller at YouTube (requires Adobe Flash). Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
  18. ^ "Six Degrees magazine". http://atlanta.sixdegreesmag.com/content/view/467/717/. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
  19. ^ Zach (2008-07-15). "Beachy-Bronzed and Brilliant courtesy of Amir Slama". http://www.runwaymiami.com/beachy-bronzed-and-brilliant/. Retrieved 2009-11-07. "Seen on the covers of Shape Magazine, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions, and in Victoria’s Secret Swimwear Catalogues, Marisa Miller was one of the most anticipated models on the runway." 
  20. ^ "Supermodel Marisa Miller Getting 'Angel' Wings". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,422504,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-20. ""I'd love to design my own swim collection for them (VS)," Miller recently told Pop Tarts. "Heidi (Klum) does the lipsticks, I would love to one day do the bikinis."" 
  21. ^ "Marisa Miller to Rock Victoria Secret's New Diamond-Studded Bra". People StyleWatch.. 2009-10-21. http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2009/10/21/first-look-marisa-miller-to-rock-vss-newest-diamond-studded-bra/. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
  22. ^ "£2million underwear is a bra-gain". The Sun. 2009-10-21. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2692842/2million-underwear-is-a-bra-gain.html. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
  23. ^ Film.com: Maxim Releases Hot 100 of 2008 List Retrieved on 2009-07-29.
  24. ^ "BDSSP Smokin' Sixteen Brackets". http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7909338/THE-SMOKIN'-16:-Best-Damn's-Bracket-of-Beauties. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
  25. ^ "Spike TV Guys' Choice Award winners". http://www.spike.com/blog/spike-tv-announces/65294. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
  26. ^ ""Biography of Jimmy Miller April 28, 1969 to August 7, 2004"". The Jimmy Miller Foundation. http://www.themediacorporation.com/jimmymiller/mobile/biography.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  27. ^ "Marisa Miller Profile". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/fashion/models/mmiller/marisamiller/. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  28. ^ a b Jonathan L - owner (August 2007). "Interview with Marisa Miller - the World's Leading Swimsuit Model". Models Observer. Archived from [modelsobserver.com/marisa-miller.html the original] on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927223604/www.modelsobserver.com/marisa-miller.html. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  29. ^ "Marisa Miller". http://www.askmen.com/women/models_200/242c_marisa_miller.html. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
  30. ^ "Marisa Miller". www.askmen.com. 2005. http://www.askmen.com/specials/2006_top_99/marisa-miller-14.html. Retrieved 2007-06-24. 
  31. ^ a b Coyte, Matt. "A Model Citizen" (Faces of Change inset), Rolling Stone Magazine, July 2009.

External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marisa Miller


v • d • e
Victoria's Secret Angels
Former Angels
Related articles
v • d • e
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show models (2000–2009)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
(cancelled)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
(has not taken place yet)
1995–1999 · 2000–2009
* Did not appear in show according to some sources
v • d • e
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover models
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s