Brooke Elizabeth Burns (born March 16, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model, perhaps best known for her role on Baywatch and Baywatch Hawaii. She co-starred in the ABC television series Miss Guided and hosted Fox game show Hole in the Wall.
Burns was born in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Betsy (née Davis), a homemaker, and Brad Thomas Burns, who worked in health care.[1] Burns has two sisters. She was a ballet dancer for twelve years during childhood and started modeling at age fifteen after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament from a skiing accident.[2] At age 16, Burns and her family moved to Europe, where she later lived in Paris, Milan, and Germany.[2]
From 1998 to 2001, Burns starred in Baywatch as the character Jessie Owens. Burns starred in North Shore, a prime-time soap opera on Fox that consisted of 21 episodes which ran from June 14, 2004 through January 13, 2005. In 2006, she had a supporting role on the defunct WB series Pepper Dennis playing Kathy Dinkle.
Burns at Universal Studios Hollywood in June 2006
Burns appeared on Ally McBeal, Just Shoot Me!, Out of the Blue, To Tell the Truth, Death to the Supermodels, and Average Joe: Hawaii. She hosted the short-lived American version of the Dog Eat Dog game show for two summer seasons in 2002 and 2003. In Mortal Kombat Conquest, she played an ambitious young trainee of one the protagonists.
In 2001, she appeared as Vicki Vale in one of several "Batman" commercials for OnStar, opposite Bruce Thomas' Batman, reprising the role made famous by Kim Basinger in the 1989 Tim Burton-directed Batman film. For her minor role in the 2001 film Shallow Hal, the Farrelly brothers wrote a specific part for Burns after her audition.[2]
Burns currently co-hosts the Fox series Hole in the Wall with Los Angeles weatherman Mark Thompson.
She appeared in a Hallmark Channel Original Christmas movie, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, co-starring Henry Winkler, on December 13, 2008. 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 once married to Julian McMahon (1999-2001) and the two have a daughter - Madison Elizabeth - who was born in June 2000.[2][3] She was also briefly engaged to Bruce Willis for part of 2003 until June 2, 2004. Burns currently resides in Los Angeles.[2]
She smokes cigars, and has appeared on the cover of Smoke Magazine's Winter 2007/2008 edition.[4]
In November 2005, Burns broke her neck after diving into a pool at her home.[2] A friend, an ex-firefighter, found her, stabilized her neck, and called an ambulance by dialing 911. As a result of the injury, she has a titanium fusion in her neck comprising a plate, rod, and ten screws.[2]
While Burns was a part of Baywatch, she and other actors from the show would teach kids how to swim and perform life guard duties.[2] More recently, Burns mentors for Penny Lane, a home for abused children. She has been involved with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, and is actively involved in the Life Rolls On foundation started by Josh and Jesse Billaur. LRO helps people with spinal cord injuries get back into an active lifestyle.
