| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Born | Rhonda Honey Shear November 12, 1954 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Title(s) | Miss Louisiana USA 1975 |
| Major competition(s) |
Miss USA 1975 |
| Spouse | Van Fagen (2001-present) |
Rhonda Shear (born November 12, 1954) is an American television personality, comedienne, and actress.
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Shear was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a Jewish American family. She attended Loyola University, earning a B.A. in Communications.[1] Before she became famous, she earned titles in several beauty contests, including holding the titles of Miss Louisiana USA 1975 for Miss USA and that of Miss Louisiana for both the Miss World and the Miss International pageants.[2] Among her other titles was Queen of the Floral Trail Society. While she sported the latter title, she posed fully clothed for Playboy, but the organizers of that title were opposed to her appearing in that magazine, and took the title away from her. Shear gained notoriety after this episode.
Shear is best known for her role as a host of the USA Network's 1980s/'90s weekend B-movie show, USA Up All Night. From 1991 to 1998 she hosted in-studio and on-location segments that aired on Friday (and later moved to Saturday) nights, replacing comedian Caroline Schlitt (the Friday night host for the show's first few years). Her trademark manner of speaking the show's title - by raising her voice an octave when saying the word "Up"...became a catch phrase. Shear also briefly hosted a comedy program called "Spotlight Cafe," hosted previously by comic Judy Tenuta.
In June 1991, Shear posed in Playboy magazine's Funny Girls pictorial. In October 1993 she appeared in her own Playboy pictorial titled "Rhonda Up All Night".
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