Early life

Burns was born in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Brad and Betsy Burns. Burns has two sisters. She was a ballet dancer for 12 years during childhood and started modeling at age 15 after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in a skiing accident. At age 16, Burns and her family moved to Europe, where she later lived in Paris, Milan, and Munich.

Career

Television

From 1998 to 2001, Brooke Burns starred in Baywatch as the character Jessie Owens. In 2001, she appeared as Vicki Vale in one of several "Batman" commercials for OnStar, opposite Bruce Thomas's Batman, reprising the role made famous by Kim Basinger in the 1989 Tim Burton-directed Batman film. Burns hosted NBC's Dog Eat Dog from June 2002 to August 2003 and was nominated for a Teen Choice Award. Burns starred in North Shore, a prime-time soap opera that ran for 21 episodes in 2004 and 2005. In 2006, she starred in the WB series Pepper Dennis playing Kathy Dinkle. In 2009, Burns appeared in the first twelve episodes of the updated Melrose Place playing Vanessa, the most recent wife of Dr. Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro) and mother of his older son's five-year-old son, Noah. Burns was given the chance to participate in the first season of the ABC celebrity diving reality competition Splash but turned it down because of an injury she had received when diving a few years before.

Burns has also appeared on Ally McBeal, Just Shoot Me!, Drop Dead Diva, CSI: Miami, Out of the Blue, To Tell the Truth, and Average Joe: Hawaii. She co-hosts the GSN game show The Chase with Mark Labbett.

Film

For her role in the 2001 film Shallow Hal, the Farrelly brothers wrote a specific part for Burns after deciding during her audition that she was the "prettiest dorky girl" they'd ever met. She appeared in a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, co-starring Henry Winkler, on December 13, 2008. Other films include Smokejumpers, Dancing Trees, Trophy Wife, Art of Travel, and Time and Again. Burns appears in the Nickelback video "Trying Not to Love You" opposite Jason Alexander. Burns and Alexander both appeared in the 2001 movie Shallow Hal.

Personal life

Brooke Burns was married to actor Julian McMahon from 1999 to 2001 and they have a daughter - Madison Elizabeth McMahon - who was born in June 2000. She was engaged to Bruce Willis until they broke up in 2004 after ten months together. She is married to film director Gavin O'Connor; they married on June 22, 2013. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Injury

On November 10, 2005, Burns broke her neck in a diving accident. Although she made a full recovery, she has a titanium fusion in her neck consisting of a plate, rod, and ten screws.

Charitable activities

When Burns was filming Baywatch, she was involved with Camp Baywatch, teaching inner-city children to swim and lifeguard. She has mentored for Penny Lane, a home for abused children. She has been involved with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. She is the spokesperson for Give Back a Smile, a program in which dentists donate their time and expertise to restore the smiles of women who are victims of domestic violence.

Burns is actively involved in, and was honored by, the Life Rolls On Foundation, an organization that aims to help people with spinal cord injuries return to an active lifestyle. In 2006, as a result of her diving injury, she became involved with the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation and the North American Spine Society, which aim to raise awareness of spinal injuries.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2001	Shallow Hal	Pretty/Ugly Katrina
2005	The Salon	Tami
	Single White Female 2: The Psycho	Jan Lambert	Direct-to-DVD
	Death to the Supermodels	Eva	Direct-to-DVD
2006	Murder on Spec	Kate Graham
2007	Urban Decay	Sasha
2008	The Art of Travel	Darlene Loren
	Smoke Jumper aka Trial by Fire	Kristin Scott	Lifetime TV movie
2009	Dancing Trees	Nicole
2010	Titanic II	Dr. Kim Patterson	Direct-to-DVD
2013	A Sister's Revenge	Suzanne Dunne	Lifetime TV Movie
2015	Where Hope Grows	Amy Boone
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Out of the Blue	Peg	22 episodes
1997	Conan the Adventurer		1 episode
	Ally McBeal	The Girl Jennifer Higgin	4 episodes
1998-2001	Baywatch	Jessie Owens	46 episodes
1999	Mortal Kombat: Conquest	Lori	1 episode
2002	Men, Women & Dogs	Kristle	1 episode
	A Nero Wolfe Mystery	Beatrice Epps	2 episodes
2002-2003	Dog Eat Dog	Host	26 episodes
	Just Shoot Me!	Kelly Cover model	2 episodes
2003	She Spies	Nicki Shields	1 episode
	Rock Me Baby	Erin "White Chocolate" Rimsing	1 episode
2004-2005	North Shore	Nicole Booth	21 episodes
2006	Modern Men	Angelica	1 episode
	Pepper Dennis	Kathy Dinkle Williams	13 episodes
	Trophy Wife	Kate Graham	Television movie
2007	Time and Again	Anna Malone	Television movie
2008	Trial by Fire	Kristen	Television movie
	The Most Wonderful Time of the Year	Jennifer Cullen	Television movie
	Miss Guided	Lisa Germain	7 episodes
2008-2009	Hole in the Wall	Co-host	18 episodes
2009	Mistresses	Shannon Barnes	Television movie
	CSI: Miami	Bonnie Galinetti/Marci Reeger	1 episode
	Drop Dead Diva	Christy Talbot	1 episode
	Melrose Place	Vanessa Mancini	6 episodes
2011	You Deserve It	Hostess	6 episodes
	Fixing Pete	Ashley	Television movie
	Borderline Murder	Ally	Television movie
2012	Undercover Bridesmaid	Tanya	Television Movie
	A Star for Christmas	Skylar	Television Movie
2013-2015	The Chase	Host	29 episodes
2014-present	Motor City Masters	Host	10 episodes
2015	Community	E.T. Host	Episode: "Intro to Recycled Cinema"
2015	Gourmet Detective		Television movie

Charities

Brooke Burns supports the following charitable causes: AIDS, Autism, Children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]