Michelle Helen Lombardo (born September 16, 1983) is an American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. Lombardo gained fame with her appearances in the 2000s ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted ...

s.'' She made her film debut in '' Dishdogz'' in 2005 and began acting on television in 2007 on '' Entourage''. She had a major role as Tyler Murphy in '' Girltrash!'' and appeared in the box-office hit '' Click'' (2006). She had small roles in the comedy action film '' Cat Run'' (2011) and drama film '' Redwood Highway'' (2013), and appeared in television series '' The Defenders'', ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' and '' Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.''

Early life

Lombardo was born on September 16, 1983, in

Glastonbury, Connecticut Glastonbury ( ) is a town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States, formally founded in 1693 and first settled in 1636. It was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is ...

. Lombardo has one brother and one sister. Lombardo was the captain of her volleyball team at Glastonbury High School. In 1999, she was discovered at her high school career day by model scout Tina Kiniry from John Casablancas Modeling & Acting Agency. Early in her career, she worked locally in Connecticut as a model. In 2001 and 2002, she attended

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, taking courses in nutrition. She relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to pursue her dream of becoming a model and an actress.

Career

In 2004, she won the inaugural ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' "Fresh Face" contest and appeared in the magazine's annual '' Swimsuit Issue'' in 2004 and 2005. Lombardo and eight other "Fresh Face" contestants appeared together on '' The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn'', taking part in a skit with

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi (TV series), Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him ...

. In February 2004, Lombardo learned that she was the winner of the contest in a segment on ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' (also known simply as ''Dateline'') is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on ...

'' and signed a three-year contract with

Next Model Management Jean-Luc Didier Henri Brunel (; 18 September 1946 – 19 February 2022) was a French model scout. He gained prominence by leading the international modelling agency Karin Models, and founded MC2 Model Management, with financing by Jeffrey Epstein ...

. She has been the cover of ''Triathlete'' and in pictorials for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' and ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

''. She appeared in commercials for Suzuki Forenza and

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...

. Lombardo was ranked at number 53 on

AskMen AskMen is a free online men's web portal, with international versions in Australia, Canada, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is owned by Ziff Davis and operates through the IGN Entertainment unit. History AskMen wa ...

's list of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008. She has had guest roles on '' Entourage'', '' October Road'', ''

'' and '' The Defenders.'' She had roles films '' Click'' (2006), ''All In'' (2006), ''

Stiletto A stiletto (plural stilettos) is a specialized dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a thrusting and stabbing weapon.Limburg, Peter R., ''What's In The Names Of Antique Weapons'', Coward, McCann & Geoghega ...

'' (2008), '' Calvin Marshall'' (2009), '' Cat Run'' (2011) and '' Girltrash: All Night Long'' (2014). She portrayed Surfer Girl, one of Hank Moody's love interests, on the first season of ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word), an expression that refers to the influx of Californians into various western states in the U.S. *Californication (album), ''Californication'' (album), a 1999 album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ...

''. In 2008, she had a recurring role as Debra on

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

'' Quarterlife''. She played the main role of Tyler Murphy on the web series '' Girltrash!''. She was also a host on the cable network

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a small ...

Personal life

In her spare time, Lombardo enjoys outdoor activities such as mountain biking, reading, snowboarding and swimming. She has three children.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardo, Michelle 1983 births American female models American film actresses Living people People from Glastonbury, Connecticut Current TV people Actresses from Connecticut 21st-century American actresses