Kelly Monaco is the third of five
sisters raised in a traditional Italian
Catholic home.
Shortly before her teenage years,
Kelly's family decided to
move from the urban environment of
Philadelphia to the more
serene surroundings of Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.
Growing up in the Poconos,
Kelly developed a
love of
the great outdoors. With a
home on the boundary of a state game preserve, Kelly and her
four sisters spent plenty of
time hiking, climbing trees, fishing, camping and swimming. They were taught to skate by their mother, a former Olympic hopeful and figure-skating instructor. They helped their father, an
avid hunter, build
tree stands.
An active athlete,
Kelly participated in soccer, swimming, track, and softball, among other
sports.
In addition to
athletics,
Kelly participated intensely in
speech, debate, and theater during high school. Kelly proudly states that
she is a
born competitor.
Kelly attended classes at Northampton Community
College. Kelly worked at a
resort,
Mount Airy Lodge, as a lifeguard.
Kelly's way out of the Poconos turned out to be a spread in
Playboy magazine, a decision that her family was extremely supportive of. Shortly before her 21st birthday,
Kelly made her
Playboy debut as the
magazine's Miss
April 1997, and
she went on to be featured in many of their
news stand
specials.
With
four years of high school
drama classes and five years of lifeguarding behind her,
Kelly's television debut came in 1997, when
she landed the recurring role of
Susan, a rookie lifeguard, on the syndicated program Baywatch. After 12 episodes of Baywatch,
Kelly appeared in the feature films, BASEketball, Idle Hands, Late Last Night,
Mumford, and
Welcome to
Hollywood.
During the
summer of 2000,
Kelly got the
character of Livvie Locke on ABC's
Port Charles.
Kelly is very close with her family.
she enjoyed an especially close relationship with her great-grandmother,
Beatrice Mervine On Wednesday July 7th, 2004,
Kelly's beloved great-grandmother passed away, three
days before her 95th birthday. Kelly adored her great-grandmother and spoke lovingly of her in several interviews throughout her career. Her great-grandmother is even quoted in the article accompanying Kelly's Playmate Of The Month pictorial in the
April 1997 issue of
Playboy.
When
Port Charles aired its final episode on October 3rd, 2003,
Kelly had already secured a role on ABC's
General Hospital, where
she has portrayed
Samantha McCall since October 1st, 2003. That's right: Kelly began airing on GH two
days before PC's last
story arc, The Gift came to an end!
Kelly was invited to take part in the 6th annual
Super Soap Weekend at the Disney-MGM Studios in
Orlando,
Florida the weekend of November 3rd & 4th, 2001.
One reason Kelly was
happy to attend was that several of her family members, including her parents,
one of her
sisters, and her nephew, joined her at the theme
park.
Kelly enjoys volunteering for children's charity
events, as well as working with elders.
she is a little lady with a very
big heart.
Kelly spends her
free time training for
triathlons, and
she is a member of the
Playboy X-Treme Team, which participates in the
nationwide Hi-Tec
Adventure Race series.
Just as
she did when
She lived in the Poconos,
Kelly still takes
time out to
go camping.
Currently residing in
West Hollywood,
California, the
beautiful and talented
Kelly Monaco continues to
live out her lifelong
dream to succeed in the land of make believe.
; "Kelly Monaco")
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