Cynthia Cristina Ferrare (born 1950) is an American former fashion model, actress, author and talk-show host. She had lead roles in several films in the late-1960s and early-1970s, including the comedy ''
The Impossible Years'' and the Western film ''
J. W. Coop
''J. W. Coop'' is a 1972 American Western film set in the world of the modern American rodeo circuit. It stars and was directed by Cliff Robertson who also co-produced and co-scripted the film. Featuring footage from actual rodeo events, it was ...
'' (both 1968), as well as portraying the titular character in
Juan López Moctezuma's horror film ''
Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary
''Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary'' is a 1975 horror film directed by Juan López Moctezuma, written by Malcolm Marmorstein, and starring Cristina Ferrare, David Young, and John Carradine. Its plot follows an American artist who discovers she is in fac ...
'' (1972).
In the 1980s, Ferrare transitioned from acting to hosting several television series, including ''
The Home Show'', ''
Home & Family'', and ''Big Bowl of Love'' on the
Oprah Winfrey Network
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel.
The network is led by talk show ho ...
. She has also authored several non-fiction cooking and self-help books.
Early life
Ferrare was born in 1950 in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...
, the daughter of Renata and Tavio Ferrare, a butcher. Her family is of Italian descent.
She was 14 years old when her family moved to
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, where her beauty landed her a contract with Nina Blanchard's modeling agency. When she was 16, she signed with
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
film studios.
Career
Film career and television hosting
Ferrare made her feature film debut in ''
The Impossible Years'' (1968) opposite
David Niven, playing the daughter of a university psychology professor. This was followed by a main role in the Western drama ''
J. W. Coop
''J. W. Coop'' is a 1972 American Western film set in the world of the modern American rodeo circuit. It stars and was directed by Cliff Robertson who also co-produced and co-scripted the film. Featuring footage from actual rodeo events, it was ...
'' (also 1968), directed by and starring
Cliff Robertson and
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page (November 22, 1924June 13, 1987) was an American actress. With a career which spanned four decades across film, stage, and television, Page was the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Acad ...
. She subsequently starred as the titular character in
Juan López Moctezuma's horror film ''
Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary
''Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary'' is a 1975 horror film directed by Juan López Moctezuma, written by Malcolm Marmorstein, and starring Cristina Ferrare, David Young, and John Carradine. Its plot follows an American artist who discovers she is in fac ...
'' (1972), portraying a vampire roving a Mexican village.
In 1975, Ferrare worked as the spokesperson for
Max Factor
Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz.
Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dollar ...
.
Ferrare was co-host of ''A.M. Los Angeles'' on
KABC-TV in 1985.
She co-hosted the television series ''
The Home Show'' for several months in early 1989. In 1990, Ferrare was featured in print advertising for
Ultra Slim-Fast. In 1993, she was guest host for two episodes of ''
Vicki!''.
Designing
She and her mother created the Cristina Ferrare Collection, producing jewelry that in 2002 was sold in seven
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...
stores and was "beginning to pop up in specialty shops throughout the country."
''Big Bowl of Love''
Ferrare premiered in her new show ''Big Bowl of Love'' on
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...
's network (
OWN
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
) on January 3, 2011 with ''Iron Chef''
Cat Cora
Catherine Ann Cora is an American professional chef, television personality, business person, and cookbook author. She is best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on ''Iron Chef America''Yancey, Kitty Bean"'Iron Chef' Cat Cora is out of ...
as the show's first guest. ''Big Bowl of Love'' follows Ferrare cooking recipes alongside her friends, family, and other guests.
''Home and Family Show''
From November 1996 – 1998, Ferrare co-hosted ''
Home & Family'' on The Family Channel; the show ended on August 14, 1998, just one day before the channel became
Fox Family Channel, which included a major restructuring of the network's programing. She later co-hosted a revived version of the show from 2012-2016 with
Mark Steines
Mark Anthony Steines (born June 7, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist and actor who was host of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up program '' Entertainment Tonight'' from 2004 to 2012, joining the program on August 24, 1995 ...
on its new network
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...
.
Ferrare's departure was abrupt and the audience was not given any explanation nor any notice prior to her departure. On June 21, 2016, Hallmark Channel confirmed that Ferrare would no longer co-host the show with Steines; former co-host of ''
The View''
Debbie Matenopoulos was named as her replacement. In a statement via
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
, Ferrare addressed her exit: "It's really very simple, ''Home and Family'' will have a season 5 which I am so happy for and the Network decided that they want a new co-host and that will be Debbie. She will do a great job!"
Personal life
According to Ferrare, in her book ''Realistically Ever After'', she married a man in 1969 and annulled it six weeks later. In 1973, she married automobile executive
John DeLorean
John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, widely known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.
DeLorean ma ...
. He had earlier adopted a son Zachary while single, and she also adopted him. Later they had a daughter, Kathryn. After DeLorean lost his fortune and was accused, then exonerated, of cocaine trafficking charges, Ferrare divorced him in 1985.
"John DeLorean"
Retrieved 28 May 2015 Two weeks later, on April 21, 1985, she married entertainment industry executive Anthony Thomopoulos
Anthony Denis "Tony" Thomopoulos ( el, Αντώνης Θωμόπουλος) is an American motion picture and television executive. Thomopoulos spent 12 years of his career at ABC, moving progressively from Vice President of Prime Time Programs, ...
.
Ferrare was portrayed by Isabel Arraiza in the 2018 film '' Driven'' and by Morena Baccarin
Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin (; born 2 June 1979) is a Brazilian actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series '' Firefly'' and its follow-up film '' Serenity'', Vanessa in the superhero comedy franchise ''Deadpool'', Jes ...
in the 2019 documentary '' Framing John DeLorean''.
Her niece (her sister's daughter) is actress Danielle Bisutti.
Filmography
Bibliography
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Notes
References
External links
*
Ferarre With Company
at the Oprah Winfrey Network
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is an American multinational basic cable channel jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Harpo Studios that launched on January 1, 2011, replacing the Discovery Health Channel.
The network is led by talk show ho ...
Ferrare's Pictorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrare, Cristina
Actresses from Cleveland
Actresses from Los Angeles
American film actresses
American non-fiction writers
American people of Italian descent
American television talk show hosts
American women non-fiction writers
American women television presenters
Female models from Ohio
Living people
Writers from Ohio
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American women
1950 births