Melissa Beck (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Howard; born February 12, 1977) is an American actress,

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

personality and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

known for her time as a cast member on the 2000 reality television series '' The Real World: New Orleans'' and the 2002–2005 prank show '' Girls Behaving Badly.''

Early life

Melissa Howard was born February 12, 1977, in Okinawa, Japan to a Filipino mother and Black-American father. She, her older sister Marlene and their younger brother, Michael, grew up in

Valrico, Florida Valrico is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. As of 2020 the population was 37,895. History Before the Civil War, the area was known as Long Pond and consisted of several cotton plantations. It wa ...

.Persaud, Babita (June 12, 2000)
"USF grad's humor tickles 'Real World'"
. ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

''. She attended Brandon Senior High School and the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

, from which she graduated with a degree in journalism and mass communications.

Career

In 2000, Howard was one of seven people selected from a pool of 35,221 applicants to be cast on '' The Real World: New Orleans'', the ninth season of the long-running

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

reality television series. MTV producer and casting director, Andrew Hoegl explains that she was selected on the basis of her audition tape, which he calls "hysterical", and credits the season's humor to Howard, who referred to herself in her audition tape as a "half-black, half-Filipino

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

". Filming took place over the course of 124 days between January and late May 2000. Her 2000 MTV biography describes her as possessing a "manic wit". After filming ended, Howard moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in standup comedy, as well as to engage in

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Dep ...

ing, an interest she developed while in New Orleans. She stayed in Los Angeles for approximately five or six years. She later started a blog called Princess Melissa in order to host a web store to sell her artwork, and to express herself in writing, telling

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

in a 2002 interview, "I've always felt more comfortable in my written presentation than in my face." She later moved her online presence to

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and then to

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. Howard was ranked #92 on ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

'' magazine's "Hot 100 Women of 2004" feature. She was a member of the all-female cast of the

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

network's

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

practical joke A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...

television series '' Girls Behaving Badly'', which aired from 2002 – 2005. In 2005 appeared on Bravo's ''

Battle of the Network Reality Stars ''Battle of the Network Reality Stars'' is an American television series that aired on the Bravo cable network from August 17 until September 21, 2005. Based on the popular 1970s and 1980s television competition '' Battle of the Network Stars'', ...

''. On May 22, 2020, she launched a podcast with co-host Amanda Strong, ''Imperfect Strangers''. In April 2022, '' The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans'' premiered on

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

, reuniting Beck with all six of her former roommates from ''The Real World: New Orleans''.

Personal life

After the run of ''Girls Behaving Badly'', Howard moved to New York to work part-time in a non-entertainment industry-related job, and to live with her boyfriend, J. On September 29, 2007, Howard married

Glassjaw Glassjaw is an American post-hardcore band from Hempstead, New York. It was formed in 1993 by vocalist Daryl Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck. The band is known for their intense live shows, as well as their frequent line-up changes. Despite ...

guitarist

Justin Beck Justin Beck is an American musician and businessman. He is the guitarist and musical writer for Long Island, New York band Glassjaw. In 1999, Beck founded the merchandise company Merchdirect on the principle of artists owning the rights to merchan ...

at their home on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. She subsequently took his surname and became Melissa Beck. On March 20, 2009, Beck gave birth to their first daughter, Shalom Mazie Beck. On August 22, 2012, Beck announced on her Tumblr that she and her husband were expecting another daughter. Maja Ilani was born on January 1, 2013. As of 2022, they have three children. In October 2012, a tree fell on Beck's house during

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

, destroying it and burying her older daughter in debris. Justin pulled the child out from the rubble, finding that she was apparently unharmed. They took the baby to the hospital, which discharged her three hours later, having confirmed that she suffered no injuries.

Filmography

As herself

*'' The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans'' (2022) *''

'' (2005) *''Reality TV Secrets Revealed 2'' (2004) *''The Real World Hook-Ups'' (2003) *'' True Hollywood Story'' – Episode: ''The Real World'' (2003) *''

The New Tom Green Show ''The Tom Green Show'' is a television show, created by and starring Canadian comedian Tom Green, that first aired in September 1994. The series aired on Rogers Television 22, a community channel in Ottawa, Ontario until 1996, when a single p ...

'' – Episode: August 1, 2003 (2003) *''Reality TV Secrets: How to Get on the Show!'' (2003) *'' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Battle of the Sexes'' (2003) *'' Girls Behaving Badly'' (2002–2003) *''The Real World Movie: The Lost Season'' (2002) *'' Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Extreme Challenge'' – Episode: #1.4 (2001) *''

The X Show ''The X Show'' is a magazine, variety, and interview/talk program that aired on FX Network in the United States from May 1999 to April 2001. Running time was originally one hour, but this was later reduced to a half-hour. The show was 'guy-theme ...

'' – Episode: August 21, 2000 (2000) *''The Real World: Tenth Anniversary Special'' (2000) *'' The Real World: New Orleans'' (2000)

Actor

*''

The Jamie Foxx Show ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Jamie Foxx and Bentley Kyle Evans for The WB. It premiered on August 28, 1996, and ended on January 14, 2001, with a total of 100 episodes over the course of five seasons. A ...

'' – Episode: ''If the Shoe Fits'' (2000) Reporter

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Melissa 1977 births Living people American actresses of Filipino descent The Real World (TV series) cast members University of South Florida alumni American television actresses African-American female comedians African-American comedians American women comedians People from Valrico, Florida 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Tampa, Florida Participants in American reality television series 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century African-American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses