The Amazing Race 1 contestants

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The following are brief biographies of contestants on The Amazing Race 1.

Contents

[edit] Contestants

[edit] Dave & Margaretta

Dave & Margaretta Grotak from Rockwall, Texas were known as the Grandparents. They placed in eighth.

Married for over forty years, Dave Groak is a Vietnam War veteran and retired Air Force pilot, part-owns a software company called "The Parent Connection" which deals in programmes for schools. Margaretta, who is also a pilot, is a part-time reporter for the Rockwall County News. They were one of three Texan teams on the show.[1]

[edit] Frank & Margarita

Frank & Margarita Mesa were the Separated Parents from New York City. They placed in second.

[edit] Joe & Bill

Joe Baldassare and Bill Bartek, Lifestyle Partners from Laguna Niguel, California were nicknamed "Team Guido" in honour of Baldassar's fox terrier.[2] The pair finished in third place, for which they received $10,000.[3] Team Guido were portrayed as the villains of the episode, and were unpopular with fans of the series and fellow racers.[3][4]

Baldassare is the owner of a minerals trading company and Bartek works as a realtor.[5] Baldassare graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in 1967.[4]

They were later brought back for Allstars edition, and will be the oldest team on that series.

[edit] Kevin & Drew

Kevin O'Connor and Drew Feinberg, Frat Brothers, placed fourth on the show.

The pair became friends as fraternity brothers during studying for undergraduate degrees at Saint John's University. Feinberg later completed an MBA from the University of Notre Dame in 1998.[6] and works as a Senior Court Officer at the Kings County Supreme Courthouse.[7] O'Connor works for Deloitte & Touche as a litigation consultant.[6]

Following their elimination from the Race they participated in interviews on CBS Early Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Pure Oxygen, and have done over 20 radio and newspaper interviews.[8] They are represented by the William Morris talent agency.[9] They later created their own travel adventure show on the Discovery Channel called Kevin And Drew Unleashed which they describe as being similar to a male version of The Simple Life.[10] The three-part show involves the pair competing over the completion of various "tough jobs".[11]

The pair made a cameo appearance on The Amazing Race: Family Edition in 2006, handing race clues to the teams on the first episode of the show.[12] In 2007 they became the first team to appear on three series of the Amazing Race, when they competed on the Allstars edition of the show.[13]

[edit] Kim & Leslie

Leslie Kellner and Kim Smith were known as the Single Teachers & Best Friends from Baytown, Texas. They placed tenth and claimed their biggest mistake was not making friends with other teams.[14]

Both in their late twenties at the time they competed on the Race, Kellner is a math teacher at Horace Mann Junior School and Smith, from Alvin, Texas, teaches English at Sterling High School (Houston).[14]

[edit] Lenny & Karyn

Lenny Hudson & Karyn Jefferson were the Dating couple from New York City. They placed in sixth. Lenny later criticised Team Guido, saying that "They're very manipulative and they're not there to make friends".[4]

Karyn is a lawyer from Bloomfield, New Jersey whose participation on the Race gave her the courage to establish her own labor and employment law firm and the small amount of money she received allowed her to buy equipment.[15]

[edit] Matt & Ana

Matt & Ana Robar were known as the Married couple from from Simsbury, Connecticut. They were the first team eliminated from the Race.

[edit] Nancy & Emily

Nancy and Emily Hoyt, a Mother & Daughter team from Waco, Texas,[16] were the seventh team eliminated. After the third leg of the Race, the pair were the only all-female team remaining, which they felt was a disadvantage.[17]

Emily was a junior at Sam Houston State University at the time she participated in the race.[8]

[edit] Pat & Brenda

Pat Pierce and Brenda Mehta were known as the Working Moms. They came in ninth.

[edit] Paul & Amie

Paul J. Alessi & Amie Barksy were known as the Engaged couple from Los Angeles, California.[18] They placed seventh.

Paul, who had previously lived in New York City, worked as a personal trainer at the time and Amie was a dancer.[19] She grew up in Atco, New Jersey and has been a cheerleader for the 76ers and Eagles.[20]

[edit] Rob & Brennan

Rob Frisbee & Brennan Swain from Los Angeles, California were known as Friends/Lawyers and were the first winners of the Amazing Race.[21] Frisbee and Swain, associates at the firm Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro,[22] invested some of their prize money into a venture for a new 24-hours reality television channel called Reality Central, an idea created by Amazing Race 2 finalist Blake Mycoskie.[15] After the win, the two took a year off and made personal appearances around the United States, which added to their winnings.[15]

Frisbee, a 1995 graduate of University of Arizona and Business College Graduate of the Year worked as a model to pay for his law degree from Harvard University.[23] He used his race winnings to pay off his law school debts and established a small science-fiction publishing house called "Dark House Books", from which he published three of his own novels.[15]

Swain initially continued working as a lawyer but was hoping to establish a career in the entertainment industry.[15]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Evans, Judy. "Rockwall couple races across world in reality show competition", The Dallas Morning News, 2001-08-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  2. ^ Lussier, Germain. "Local 'Amazing Race' contestant might be on 'All-Stars'", Times Herald-Record, 2006-12-11. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  3. ^ a b "An Amazing Pace", USD Magazine Online, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  4. ^ a b c Tomcho, Sandy. "The good, the bad ... and the Guidos", The Times Herald-Record, 2001-10-31. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  5. ^ "Latest "Amazing Race" For All-Stars Only", CBS News, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
  6. ^ a b "Domers in the News", Notre Dame Magazine, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  7. ^ "A Star is Born at Brooklyn Courthouse", New York State Jury Pool News, 2003, p. 5. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  8. ^ a b Wick, Audrey. "The End of An Adventure", Sam Houston State University, 2001-11-28. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  9. ^ "Box Profile: Kevin O'Connor (MBA '86)", Notre Dame Business Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  10. ^ "'Kevin And Drew Unleashed': Former 'Amazing Race' Team Keeps Shining", CBS News, 2004-07-02. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  11. ^ Bianco, Robert. "What to watch Thursday", USA Today, 2004-07-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  12. ^ Morar, Clayton. "Family feuds provide added conflict for 'Amazing Race'", Weekend Post, 2006-07-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  13. ^ La Rose, Lauren. "'The Amazing Race: All-Stars' travel the globe for second shot at $1M prize", Canadian Press, 2007-02-15. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  14. ^ a b Cook, Matthew. "'The Teachers' eliminated from ' Amazing Race", The Baytown Sun, 2001-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. Zoominfo Cache.
  15. ^ a b c d e Goodstein, Ellen. "How reality show winners spend their riches", MSN Money. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  16. ^ Bark, Ed. "[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=103A73010F4631FD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM 'Amazing Race' laps the competition in summer reality shows Author]", Dallas Morning News, 2004-07-04. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  17. ^ Wick, Audrey. "An "Amazing" Adventure: Mother and Daughter Remain Contenders in Reality Show", Sam Houston State University, 2001-10-29. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  18. ^ "THE HYPE.(L.A. Life)", Daily News, 2001-08-09. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  19. ^ Kallet, Shawn. "When reality T.V. gets a little too real", The Rocky Mountain Collegian, 2001-08-16. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  20. ^ Klein, Michael. "South Jersey competitor for CBS's 'Race'", Philadelphia Inquirer, 2001-11-04, p. C01. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  21. ^ "L.A. attorneys turn to acting and modeling - Brief Article", Los Angeles Business Journal, 2001-12-31. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  22. ^ Deger, Renee. "A Million Reasons to Quit the Firm", The Recorder, 2001-12-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  23. ^ Young, Diana. "UA alumnus wins it all on 'Amazing Race'", Arizona Daily Wildcat, 2002-01-10. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
v • d • e
The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race (USA) Personnel: Phil Keoghan · Bertram van Munster · Elise Doganieri
Seasons: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · Family Edition · 9 · 10 · All-Stars · 12
The Amazing Race Asia Personnel: Allan Wu
Seasons: 1 · 2
Other versions The Amazing Race Central Europe
Related Statistics and trivia · Broadcasters · Notable contestants
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Amazing_Race_1_contestants_7917.html"