Kendra Wilkinson
Kendra Wilkinson promoting her reality series, Kendra, in Sydney, Australia, October 2011.
Born	Kendra Leigh Wilkinson (1985-06-12) June 12, 1985 (age 27) San Diego, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Weight	130 lb (59 kg)
Spouse	Hank Baskett (2009-present)
Website
http://www.kendrawilkinson.com

Kendra Leigh Baskett^[1] (née Wilkinson; born June 12, 1985),^[2] professionally known by her maiden name, is an American television personality and glamour model. She is widely known for being one of Hugh Hefner's three girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, on which her life in the Playboy Mansion was documented.

Although not a Playboy Playmate, she has appeared in three nude pictorials with her Girls Next Door costars and fellow Hefner girlfriends Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. Her own reality series, Kendra, debuted in June 2009.

Early life[link]

Kendra Wilkinson is of Irish, Ukrainian, and English descent.^[3][4] She is the elder of two children; her younger brother is Colin. Her mother, Patti, was originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and had been a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. Her father, Eric, was raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Ocean City, New Jersey, before moving to San Diego, California at age 15. He received a degree in biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and went on to found several biotechnology companies before retiring at the age of 48. Patti and Eric married on November 5, 1983. They divorced on March 25, 1994, when Kendra was eight. Her grandmother Gloria Wilkinson died in December 2004.^[4]

Kendra Wilkinson was born in San Diego^[4] and raised in its middle class community Clairemont. She played softball for six years with the Clairemont Bobby Sox.^[5] She attended Clairemont High School, graduating in 2003.^[6] When she left high school she began working as a glamour model, and also briefly worked as an administrative assistant in a dentist's office.^[7]

Career[link]

[edit] 2004-2009: Playboy and The Girls Next Door

Wilkinson met Hugh Hefner at his 78th birthday party in April 2004, where she was hired to be one of the "painted girls" (women who are nude except for painted-on accessories). Hefner had apparently seen her picture, shot by photographer Kim Riley, on a fax machine at the Playboy Mansion and wanted to know who she was. Shortly after they met, Hefner asked Wilkinson to be one of his girlfriends, and he moved her into the Playboy Mansion^[8] along with her dogs Rascal (a Pembroke Welsh Corgi) and Martini (a Jack Russell Terrier).^[6][9]

She was featured on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, which followed the lives of Hefner's then-girlfriends: Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt. She moved out of the Playboy Mansion in 2009 after meeting her future husband, Hank Baskett, and filmed her own spin-off reality show for E! called Kendra. The first season was about her living on her own and planning her wedding.^[10]

Wilkinson has made several cameos on different programs such as Las Vegas and Entourage. She also appeared in Akon's music video "Smack That". While on the set of the video, Eminem poured a bottle of water on her head, though the two later reconciled.^[11] In 2006, she appeared in the Playboy Special Editions Sexy 100. In 2007, she appeared in Nickelback's music video of "Rockstar", along with Madison and Marquardt. They also had a cameo role in the 2006 film Scary Movie 4.^[12] Wilkinson also showed her creative side as a rapper on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar which debuted on August 30, 2007. She rapped to Ludacris’ "Fantasy", in response to the question asked by the show's host, "Can Kendra move her mouth as fast as she moves her booty?"^[13] She went on to take second place, losing to Shar Jackson.

Wilkinson's stated career goal is to become a massage therapist or sports announcer.^[14] In December 2005, she became a regular blogger columnist at the website of the Philadelphia Eagles,^[15] a team for which her mother had been a professional cheerleader,^[16] and for which her husband played professionally.^[17]

[edit] 2009-present: Kendra and current endeavors

Wilkinson stars in a spinoff of Girls Next Door, titled Kendra, which focuses on her life after leaving the Playboy Mansion and getting engaged to then Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett. The Girls Next Door executive producer Kevin Burns serves in the same capacity on the series. Kendra is produced by Prometheus Entertainment, Fox TV Studios, and Alta Loma Entertainment.^[18] Kendra premiered on June 7, 2009, and had record breaking numbers for E! with 2.6 million viewers, and was the highest-rated reality debut for the network since 2002's premiere of The Anna Nicole Show.^{[citation needed]} The show's third season finale, and 33rd episode, on E! debuted on January 9, 2011.^[19] In 2010 she published a memoir, Sliding Into Home.^[20]

In 2007 Baskett appeared on an episode of WWE Raw with Bridget Marquardt.

Wilkinson was a contestant in the twelveth season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with Louis Van Amstel. She was eliminated in the seventh week, on May 3, 2011.

Personal life[link]

On August 13, 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wilkinson was Olive Garden's "Biggest Celebrity Fan". Wilkinson has described Olive Garden's cuisine as "my soul food." The newspaper emphasized that her repeated enthusiastic public endorsements of the family restaurant were genuine, personal and were not tied to any payment from Olive Garden. In fact, the company was reported as viewing Wilkinson's endorsements with "mixed feelings," and something on which it was reluctant to comment since the restaurant emphasizes its family-friendly nature.^[21]

On March 17, 2010, Wilkinson's E! True Hollywood Story premiered on E! Entertainment Television. During the hour-long episode, she discussed her rocky road to stardom.

Marriage and motherhood[link]

On September 22, 2008, the International Business Times reported that Wilkinson was engaged to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett.^[22] Wilkinson initially denied this, but she later admitted she was in a relationship with Baskett on October 7, 2008 in an interview with Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately.^[23][24] On November 6, 2008, E! Online announced Wilkinson and Baskett were engaged, after he proposed the previous Saturday at the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.^[25][26]

Wilkinson married Baskett on June 27, 2009, at the Playboy Mansion.^[27] Although it was initially announced that Hugh Hefner would give the bride away, Kendra's brother Colin walked her down the aisle. Wilkinson's family was in attendance, as well as former Girls Next Door stars Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt.^[28][29][30] Us Weekly paid the couple $120,000 for the wedding pictures.^[31] On the wedding episode of Kendra, Kendra and Hank said that Kendra would be taking Hank's last name.

On June 11, 2009, Wilkinson announced that she and Baskett were expecting their first baby together.^[32] The baby, a boy named Hank Baskett IV, was born December 11, 2009 at 12:37 a.m. in Carmel, Indiana, by Caesarian section, weighing in at 9 pounds 5 ounces (4.2 kg).^[33][34] Kendra's friends hosted a baby shower on September 9, 2009. Wilkinson told E! News that Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner will be the godfather of the baby-on-the-way. "He was like, 'Oh my god!' and then he cried... Hef will be the godfather," Wilkinson said,^[35] but she later denied this in an interview in OK magazine.

In an interview after the birth of Hank IV, Wilkinson revealed she had suffered post-partum depression. "After giving birth, I never brushed my hair, my teeth, or took a shower," said Wilkinson. "I looked in the mirror one day and was really depressed. "After the birth she weighed 140 pounds, according to a E! interview. She attributed her depression to moving to Indianapolis where her husband played so soon after Hank IV's birth and feeling isolated.^[36]

Sex tape[link]

In May 2010, a video recording of Wilkinson having sex with a then-unidentified man surfaced. The recording was acquired by Vivid Entertainment, who plans to distribute the tape as Kendra Exposed. Wilkinson is contesting the release, and she threatened to sue should it be released.^[37][38] RadarOnline reported that in 2008, Wilkinson herself set up a company Home Run Productions LLC, through which she made several attempts to sell sex tapes.^[39][40] Sources have reported that Wilkinson was paid $680,000 for the film that was made by her high school boyfriend Justin Frye when she was 18.^[41][42]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kendra Wilkinson

External links[link]

• Official website
• Kendra Wilkinson at the Internet Movie Database

Kate Irene Gosselin (née Kreider; born March 28, 1975) is an American former television personality. Gosselin achieved national recognition on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, in which she and her then-husband Jon Gosselin are profiled as they raise their atypical family of sextuplets and twins.^[3]

Kate Gosselin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the second of five children to Charlene and Kenton Kreider. Her father is a pastor. She became a Registered Nurse after completing a diploma program at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. Gosselin then worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Reading Hospital until 2004.^[4]

Career[link]

Reality TV[link]

Kate and family on the cover of KoreAm in May 2007

The family was featured in a special on Discovery Health in September 2005 entitled Surviving Sextuplets and Twins. A year later they were featured in another special entitled Sextuplets and Twins: One Year Later. With high ratings from the specials, Discovery Health signed the couple to a reality series that aired beginning in April 2007, called Jon & Kate Plus 8, which documented their lives. To produce the show, the family was filmed for three or four days per week. The show's first two seasons aired on Discovery Health Channel and then moved to TLC.^[3] The family received payment for appearing on the show.^[5]

On June 22, 2009, an extended one-hour episode was aired. Jon and Kate announced that they were separating. The two had met with Pennsylvania attorneys on the day that the episode aired to finalize plans for divorce rather than separation. They explained, in separate interviews, that "the show must go on." However, TLC announced on June 23, 2009, that the show would be placed on hiatus effective immediately. According to TLC, Jon and Kate had moved the focus away from the family and the change in the dynamic, as well as the production difficulties that had occurred because the couple was no longer living together, made it unclear whether the show was still viable.^[6]

On September 29, 2009, ABC announced the title of the show would be changed from "Jon & Kate Plus 8" to "Kate Plus 8," and would follow Kate as a single mother. Jon would continue to appear, albeit infrequently, on the show. The last episode was a season five finale on November 23, 2009, because of Jon's decision to stop filming.^[7] Reruns of the show still air on TLC. Kate Gosselin filmed a talk show pilot with Paula Deen in September 2009. By the end of 2009, it had not been picked up by a television network. In late December 2009 it was also announced that Gosselin was no longer being considered for a role in the planned show because she was deemed "too controversial" by show executives.^[8] Gosselin was a contestant on the tenth season of the television show Dancing With The Stars^[9] and had expressed a strong desire to remain on the show and win despite widespread criticism of her dancing.^[10] She was partnered with Tony Dovolani. She was eliminated from the competition on April 20, 2010.

In April 2010 TLC announced Gosselin would be getting her own show called Twist of Kate. The series will feature her traveling the country, visiting mothers who have written her letters about their stories.^[11] TLC has a new series of specials planned called Kate Plus 8. However an unknown source told Life and Style magazine that Twist of Kate and her other reality specials had been cancelled.^[12] TLC's reps and Gosselin have denied the claims, saying that neither show has been cancelled.^[13]

Shortly after Gosselin was eliminated from Dancing With the Stars, rumors began flying that Gosselin would be featured on the upcoming edition of the popular TV show The Bachelorette. However, several people have denied this, including the show's creator, Mike Fleiss, and a rep for TLC. They did however, state that it would be interesting to place her in the show.^[14]

On June 24, it was announced that Gosselin would be back as a co-host on The View on July 2, on which she has previously co-hosted twice.^[15]

In August 2011, it was announced that "Kate Plus 8" would not be returning to TLC in September. The final episode of the show premiered on September 12, 2011.

Author[link]

Gosselin has also written several non-fiction books. Her first book was published in November 2008, titled "Multiple Blessings." It debuted at number 5 on New York Times Best-Seller list, and sold over 500,000 copies by the end of 2009.^[16] Her second book, "Eight Little Faces", was released in April 2009, and also debuted at number 5 on the New York Times Best-Seller list.^[16] Her third book, titled "I Just Want You To Know" was released on April 13, 2010, selling approximately 10,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number 103 on the New York Times Best-Seller list.^[16] Gosselin has been a contributing blogger to CouponCabin since November 22, 2011. “Kate has embraced coupons her entire life,” said Jackie Warrick, president at CouponCabin.com, according to the press release. “We look forward to sharing the unique insight she has gained over the years.” ^[17]

Personal life[link]

Gosselin gave birth to twin girls, Cara Nicole and Madelyn Kate "Mady" on October 8, 2000 born at 35 weeks gestation.^[18] The couple used fertility treatment to get pregnant because Kate was initially unable to conceive due to polycystic ovary syndrome. After further treatments, Gosselin became pregnant again and she gave birth to sextuplets on May 10, 2004, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She gave birth at just shy of 30 weeks gestation. The sextuplets were born 10 weeks premature, which is common in the multiple births that result from fertility treatments. The early birth required that the six infants be placed on ventilators.^[4] The sextuplets are, in order of birth, Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Leah Hope and Joel Kevin. According to her newest book, Kate revealed that very early in the pregnancy there were seven embryos, but one did not develop. The couple was featured in the NBC reality TV show Home Delivery, when their home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, was renovated to accommodate the large family.^[3]

The couple filed for divorce on June 22, 2009.^[19] Jon and Kate have said that their eight children will remain in their Pennsylvania home, and the two of them will move back and forth to accommodate the custody agreement. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that the couple's divorce was finalized.^[20] Kate had been granted the ownership of the family home and primary custody of the children.^[21]

Bibliography[link]

• Multiple Blessings (November 1, 2008)
• Eight Little Faces (April 2009)
• I Just Want You to Know (April 13, 2010)

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kate Gosselin at the Internet Movie Database
• Kate Gosselin Fansite

Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner attending Glamourcon #50, Long Beach, CA on November 13, 2010
Born	Hugh Marston Hefner (1926-04-09) April 9, 1926 (age 86) Chicago, Illinois
Residence	Playboy Mansion, Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Education	Steinmetz High School
Alma mater	University of Illinois (B.A.) Northwestern University
Known for	Editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine, Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises
Home town	Chicago, Illinois
Political party	Independent
Board member of	Playboy Enterprises
Spouse	Mildred Williams (m.1949–1959; divorced) Kimberley Conrad (m.1989–2010; divorced)
Partner	Barbi Benton (1969–1976) Brande Roderick (2000–2001) Tina Marie Jordan (2001–2002) Holly Madison (2003–2008) Crystal Harris (2009–2011)
Children	Christie Hefner (born 1952) David Hefner (born 1955) Marston Hefner (born 1990) Cooper Hefner (born 1991)
Website
Playboy.com

Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner (born April 9, 1926) is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.^[1]

Early life[link]

Hefner was born in Chicago, Illinois, being the elder of two sons born to Grace Caroline (née Swanson; 1895–1997) and Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896–1976), both teachers.^[2][3] Hefner's mother was of Swedish descent and his father had German and English ancestry.^[4][5] On his father's side, Hefner is a direct descendant of Plymouth governor William Bradford.^[6][7] He has described his family as "conservative, Midwest, Methodist."^[8] He went to Sayre Elementary School and Steinmetz High School, then served as a writer for a military newspaper in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946. He later graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a B.A. in psychology with a double minor in creative writing and art in 1949, earning his degree in two and a half years. After graduation, he took a semester of graduate courses in sociology at Northwestern University but dropped out soon after.^[9]

Career[link]

Working as a copywriter for Esquire, he left in January 1952 after being denied a $5 raise. In 1953, he mortgaged his furniture, generating a bank loan of $600 (or $800 — he cannot recall which) and raised $8,000 from 45 investors — including $1,000 from his mother ("Not because she believed in the venture," he told E! in 2006, "but because she believed in her son.") — to launch Playboy, which was initially going to be called Stag Party. The undated first issue, published in December 1953, featured Marilyn Monroe from her 1949 nude calendar shoot and sold over 50,000 copies.^[10] (Hefner, who never met Monroe, bought the crypt next to hers at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.^[11][12])

After it was rejected by Esquire magazine in 1955, Hefner agreed to publish in Playboy the Charles Beaumont science fiction short story, "The Crooked Man", about straight men being persecuted in a world where homosexuality was the norm. After receiving angry letters to the magazine, Hefner wrote a response to criticism where he said, "If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society then the reverse was wrong, too."

On June 4, 1963, Hefner was arrested for selling obscene literature after an issue of Playboy featuring nude shots of Jayne Mansfield was released.^{[citation needed]} A jury was unable to reach a verdict.^[13]

His former secretary, Bobbie Arnstein, was found dead in a Chicago hotel room after an overdose of drugs in January 1975. Hefner called a press conference to allege that she had been driven to suicide by narcotics agents and federal officers. Hefner further claimed the government was out to get him because of Playboy's philosophy and its advocacy of more liberal drug laws.^[14][15]

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television and has made several movie appearances as himself. In 2009, he received a "worst supporting actor" nomination for a Razzie award for his performance in Miss March.

A documentary by Brigitte Berman, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel, was released on July 30, 2010. He had previously granted full access to documentary filmmaker and television producer Kevin Burns for the A&E Biography special Hugh Hefner: American Playboy in 1996.^[16]

Hefner and Burns later collaborated on numerous other television projects, most notably on The Girls Next Door, a reality series that ran for six seasons (2005–2009) and 90 episodes.

In 1999, Hefner financed the Clara Bow documentary, Discovering the It Girl. "Nobody has what Clara had. She defined an era and made her mark on the nation," he stated.^[17]

Personal life[link]

Hefner married Northwestern University student Mildred Williams (born March 10, 1926) in 1949. They had two children, Christie (born November 8, 1952) and David (born August 30, 1955).^[18] Before the wedding, Mildred confessed that she had had an affair while he was away in the Army. He called the admission "the most devastating moment of my life." A 2006 E! True Hollywood Story profile of Hefner revealed that Mildred allowed him to sleep with other women, out of guilt for her infidelity and in the hopes that it would preserve their marriage. They divorced in 1959.^{[citation needed]}

Hefner remade himself as a bon viveur and man about town, a lifestyle he promoted in his magazine and two TV shows he hosted, Playboy's Penthouse (1959–1960) and Playboy After Dark (1969–1970). He admitted to being "'involved' with maybe eleven out of twelve months' worth of Playmates" during some of these years.^[19] Donna Michelle, Marilyn Cole, Lillian Müller, Shannon Tweed, Brande Roderick, Barbi Benton, Karen Christy, Sondra Theodore, and Carrie Leigh — who filed a $35 million palimony suit against him — were a few of his many lovers. In 1971, he acknowledged that he experimented in bisexuality.^[20] He moved from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Hefner had a minor stroke in 1985 at age 59. After re-evaluating his lifestyle, he made several changes. The wild, all-night parties were toned down significantly and in 1988, daughter Christie began to run the Playboy empire. The following year, he married Playmate of the Year Kimberley Conrad. The couple had two sons, Marston Glenn (born April 9, 1990) and Cooper Bradford (born September 4, 1991).^[21] The E! True Hollywood Story profile noted that the notorious Playboy Mansion had been transformed into a family-friendly homestead. After he and Conrad separated in 1998, Conrad moved into a house next door to the mansion.

Hefner then began to move an ever-changing coterie of young women into the mansion, even dating up to seven girls at once, among them, Brande Roderick, Izabella St. James, Tina Marie Jordan, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. The reality television series The Girls Next Door depicted the lives of Madison, Wilkinson and Marquardt at the Playboy Mansion.^[22] In October 2008, all three girls made the choice to leave the mansion. Hefner was quick to rebound and soon began dating his new "Number One" girlfriend, Crystal Harris,^[23] along with 20-year-old identical twin and models Kristina and Karissa Shannon.^[24] The relationship with the twins ended in January 2010.^[25] After an 11-year separation, Hefner filed for divorce from Conrad stating irreconcilable differences.^[26] Hefner has said that he only remained married to her for the sake of his children,^[27] and his youngest child had just turned 18.^[21] The divorce was finalized in March 2010.^[28] On December 24, 2010, Hefner presented an engagement ring to Crystal Harris, publicly announcing the proposal the following day.^[11] Hefner and Harris had planned to marry June 18, 2011.^[29][30] Harris called off the wedding just 5 days before they were due to be wed.^[31]

Politics and philanthropy[link]

The Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award was created by Christie Hefner "to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans."^[32]

He has donated and raised money for the Democratic Party.^[33] However, he has more recently referred to himself as an Independent due to disillusionment with both the Democratic and Republican Parties.^[34]

In 1978, Hefner helped organize fund-raising efforts that led to the restoration of the Hollywood Sign. He hosted a gala fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion and personally contributed $27,000 (or 1/9 of the total restoration costs) by purchasing the letter Y in a ceremonial auction.^[35][36]

Hefner donated $100,000 to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts to create a course called "Censorship in Cinema," and $2 million to endow a chair for the study of American film.^[37]

Both through his charitable foundation and individually, Hefner also contributes to charities outside the sphere of politics and publishing, throwing fundraiser events for Much Love Animal Rescue as well as Generation Rescue,^[38] a controversial autism campaign organization supported by Jenny McCarthy.

On April 26, 2010, Hefner donated the last $900,000 sought by a conservation group for a land purchase needed to stop the development of the famed vista of the Hollywood Sign.^[35]

Sylvilagus palustris hefneri, an endangered species of Marsh rabbit, is named after him in honor of financial support that he provided.^[39][40]

References[link]

Further reading[link]