Alex McLeod
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| Alex McLeod | |
|---|---|
 McLeod at the Segerstrom Hall Gala September 15, 2006 |
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| Born | Alexandra Ann McLeod December 21, 1968 Galveston, Texas, U.S.   |
| Official website | |
Alexandra Ann McLeod (born December 21, 1968) is an American television host and entertainment news correspondent best known for being the original host of TLC’s hit cable show, Trading Spaces.[1] She initially got her start as a comedic actress and became a household name by hosting the first forty episodes of the reality based home improvement series that launched the makeover show phenomenon.[2]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
McLeod was born and raised in Galveston, Texas, in the United States. In Texas, her father was a politician and real estate developer and her mother a teacher. As a young girl she spent a lot of time on the campaign trail with her father, a former Texas state legislator.[2][3]
McLeod attended the prestigious Kinkaid High School in Houston. Later, she attended The University of Texas at Austin where she received a degree in Communications. While in college on summer break, McLeod got her first broadcasting job as a news intern at KPRC-NBC in Houston. She began acting at UCLA where she took acting and film history classes.[2]
[edit] Television career
McLeod began her career in Hollywood answering phones for movie/TV moguls Bernie Brillstein and Brad Grey of Brillstein-Grey Entertainment. Working for the talent managers of A-list actors and comedians helped land her her first sitcom part as a college-coed on Married With Children.
After appearing in numerous national commercial spots and other sitcoms (Nightstand, and Partners) McLeod’s first real break came as the cheeky Hollywood correspondent of the irreverent and popular film review series, Moviewatch, which aired on Channel Four in the United Kingdom. McLeod spent two seasons as the sidekick to British TV personality and comedian, Johnny Vaughan (The Big Breakfast, Passport To Paradise) engaging in interviews with A-list film stars, reporting movie news from Los Angeles, and performing in comedy sketches satirizing the entertainment industry.
[edit] Mainstream Success
In 2000, McLeod's demo reel caught the eye of a TLC network executive, during the casting for the first season of Trading Spaces. At the time she was appearing on the cable show IZ which aired late night and on the internet, the website formerly named IZ.com. After viewing a sketch entitled, Will Model for Food, where McLeod holds up a cardboard sign and begs New York subway commuters for food and money to help start a modeling career, TLC offered her the job as host of their flagship show, Trading Spaces. McLeod signed on for forty episodes. The show was a hit and McLeod shared in a daytime Emmy nomination with her Producers after one season on air in the Outstanding Special Class Series category.
Linda Stasi of The New York Post described McLeod as the "perfect" host [4] and Daniel McGinn of Newsweek compared McLeod to Classic Coke, truly an "original." [5] When she made the decision to leave the show in the summer of 2001, McLeod told Newsweek she chose to “lay down her own paintbrush” and leave her Alex-cam and the demanding road schedule behind.
After leaving "Trading Spaces" McLeod performed in back to back reality TV projects making the move into major network television with a hosting role on FOX's controversial first season of Joe Millionaire shot on location in France's Loire Valley. On the first Joe Millionaire, single women competed for the affection of a would-be millionaire who in reality was a not-so eligible bachelor and the show spawned a new "romantic twist" trend in the reality TV dating genre.
Next, McLeod became the co-host of A&E Network's Best of Both Worlds alongside Phil Koeghan (The Amazing Race). In this two part reality travel special, McLeod agreed to "rough it" on an economy tour of Hawaii and then to experience the reward of a luxury tour through Hong Kong. As co-host of Best of Both Worlds, McLeod was placed in the role of stuntwoman as she penned cattle on horseback, surfed the big waves, and hang-glided over the Hawaiian islands. As the luxury traveler, McLeod convalesced with Buddhist monks, walked the red carpet at a Jackie Chan movie premiere, and power shopped her way through Hong Kong.
In 2003 McLeod landed a guest co-host spot for two episodes on ABC's all-female talk show, The View as a candidate to fill outgoing host, Lisa Ling’s chair. McLeod's appearance was also used again in another episode of The View featuring “Strong Women.”
McLeod guest hosted on 20th Century Fox's nationally syndicated morning show, Good Day Live. She appeared on the Sci Fi Channel as a correspondent for The Belzer Connection, a two part special on conspiracies based on comedian/actor Richard Belzer’s book, entitled UFOs, JFK, and Elvis. She has appeared as a celebrity guest on Soaptalk on the Soapnet Channel and was a celebrity guest panelist on The Test on FX. She has been featured in publications such as Newsweek, and Entertainment Weekly.
Often McLeod returns to her roots as an entertainment news correspondent for media outlets like Starz in 2004, where she hosted The Weekend on Starz-Encore, a weekend of academy award winning movies celebrating Oscar winners past and present. McLeod covered many movie premieres and interviewed A-list film stars as a red-carpet correspondent for the Starz Movie News.
[edit] Philanthropy
McLeod is involved with a number of charities in Southern California (UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, American Heart Association[6]) and she has said giving back to her community has been what she considers one of her greatest accomplishments.
Since 2001 McLeod has worked as a fundraiser for a number of charity events benefiting UNICEF[7][8] and she has given motivational speeches in K-12 schools to encourage America's children to help children at risk in developing nations as part of UNICEF's annual "Trick or Treat" campaign. In 2004 the Southern California chapter of UNICEF gave Alex a President's Volunteer Award issued by The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation in recognition of her "commitment to the strengthening of the nation and making a difference through volunteer service."
McLeod has donated her time and services as a mistress of ceremonies for the American Heart Association's annual "Women's Legacy/Go Red For Women"[9] luncheons in Beverly Hills/Ventura county encouraging women to take control of their heart health through diet and exercise. She has also lent her home-improvement skills to several Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity Blitz Builds including a Power Women, Power Tools Build hosted by First Lady of California, Maria Shriver[10]. McLeod's Trading Spaces background also came in handy in 2005 when she partnered with Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church to create a sizeable charity decorating/furniture drive for 15 Katrina families seeking refuge in her hometown of Galveston. McLeod spent several weeks with the recipients and personally delivered the items with Moody Memorial church volunteers.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Alex McLeod at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ a b c http://alexmcleod.net/all%5Fabout%5Falex%5Fmcleod/ Official Website Bio
- ^ LRL | Research Tools | Members : 80th ({ts '2007-01-09 00:00:00'})
- ^ New York Post Online Edition: News
- ^ Newsweek Archives
- ^ The page you are trying to access has been deleted
- ^ Alex McLeod, Alex McLeod and Sweet Charity
- ^ "Get Your Grape On!" for UNICEF
- ^ The page you are trying to access has been deleted
- ^ http://www.hollywoodforhabitat.com/user/06-23-05%20PWPT%20Release.doc.pdf
- ^ The Galveston County Daily News
