Marissa Jaret Winokur (born February 2, 1973),[2] sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress and singer known for her Tony-winning performance as Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway musical Hairspray, an adaptation of John Waters's film, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked.

Some of her other TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Moesha, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me!, Felicity and Dharma & Greg.

[3] The cable TV show in question, when it premiered, proved to be a late-night talk show titled All About Sex, whose co-hosting duties she shared with Margaret Cho, Heather McDonald, and Dr. Tiffanie Davis Henry, which aired on TLC at 11:00 PM Eastern time on Saturday nights.

She played the role of Theresa Loman on the UPN top-hit series, Moesha, as Brandy Norwood’s roommate.

She was set to star in a new comedy pilot for CBS titled Fugly, from Greg Garcia, the creator of My Name Is Earl.

[12] On January 14, 2011, she announced via People Magazine[3] that she would leave The Talk to focus on her clothing line and a new cable TV show she was developing.

She acted out the role of Amy, David’s sister, a sharp-tongued, quick-witted successful saleswoman for a pharmaceutical company with a bubbly personality.

In 2007, she joined Nikki Blonsky and Ricki Lake in singing "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" on the Hairspray soundtrack; in director John Waters's original film, Lake had originated the role that Winokur (on stage) and Blonsky (on screen, in the film version of the musical) had respectively reprised, that of Tracy Turnblad.

[citation needed] Winokur was featured on Season 6 of Dancing with the Stars with professional dancer Tony Dovolani.

In week three, Marissa scored 19 for her Jive to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend," placing her last on the leader board, but was saved from elimination by the viewer's votes.

In March 2008, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, a boy to be named Zev, via a gestational surrogate.

[1] Zev Isaac Miller was born July 22, 2008, weighing in at 8 pounds 7 ounces and measured 21 inches long.