When Jenny McCarthy was just a toddler, she followed the local veterinarian on his rounds and brought every stray animal she found to the private menagerie she and her parents called home. As a teenager, she had every intention of becoming a vet, until a modeling agent spotted her in a mall at the age of 13. Ward and her mom were convinced to travel to New York to investigate modeling opportunities. Ward saw it as the perfect way to finance her veterinary training and therefore was immediately enthused. article continued below.....

Little did she know that the weeklong mother/daughter adventure in the Big Apple would lead to a contract with the prestigious Ford modeling agency. "What just happened here?" Her mother asked as they left the agency, and then cried all the way back to their hometown of Monroe, La., over her daughter's good fortune. Over the next several years, Ward traveled back and forth between New York and Monroe as she built a solid modeling career and subsequently completed high school and several college courses.

After appearing in numerous public service announcements for the Northeast Louisiana Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, she began taking acting lessons and soon thereafter embarked on a full-fledged acting career. She captured a small role on the popular daytime drama "All My Children" and a year later returned to the show as a recurring player.

In June of 1995, she auditioned for a part on the NBC prime-time series from Aaron Spelling, "Malibu Shores." More than six months later, she was asked to fly to Los Angeles to test for the role. "I had completely forgotten about it," Ward recalls. It was at the test that she was first introduced to Aaron Spelling, a meeting which she describes as "very overwhelming": "I was very nervous at first, but he is one of the nicest men I've ever met and put me totally at ease." Needless to say, she got the role.

Jenny McCarthy then began pursuing opportunities on the big-screen. She continued her chain of passionate and seductive roles, appearing in "Poison Ivy: The New Seduction". Her next film, which opened July 19th, is the Warner Bros. picture "The In Crowd" in which she co-stars with Lori Heuring. Ward can next be seen in the upcoming primetime TV show "Day One".

Ward is single and lives in Los Angeles. As a child, she raced the BMX bicycle circuit in Louisiana but now settles for a more relaxing mode of transportation: rollerblading. She still has a love for animals and the outdoors but also enjoys the company of a good book, especially classics and murder mysteries. Her birthday is April 15.

• She has three sisters, Lynette, Jojo, and Amy. she also enjoys kickboxing, Karate.
• She was the MVP of her high school softball & field hockey team.
• In 1993 she was a struggling model, until Playboy appearance.
• Playboy Playmate of the Year 1994
• Playboy Playmate of the Month October 1993
• Hobbies: Kickboxing
• (1996) Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world
• Dropped out of nursing school to become an actress
• Had her breast implants removed in 1998.
• Turned down a role in Scary Movie (2000) to star in Scream 3 (2000).
• Auditioned for the lead female role in Showgirls (1995).
• Sister of actress Melissa McCarthy