Janice Dickinson

An actress, supermodel, modeling agency head, and best-selling author -- to name only a few of her innumerable roles and accomplishments -- media darling Janice Dickinson first entered the international limelight as one of America's most sought-after cover girls; her prominence in the multiple venues of runway, catalogues, TV promotionals, editorial, and spokeswoman prompted her to tag herself as the very first "supermodel." Dickinson's popularity crescendoed even higher in the mid-2000s, when she concurrently authored a series of popular, gossip-laden memoirs and signed on to serve as one of the preeminent judges on the UPN reality series America's Next Top Model during its first four seasons. On that series, Dickinson's brassy, biting, and from-the-hip demeanor garnered her a whole new generation of fans. It also contributed to her involvement in two additional reality programs: season five of MTV's The Surreal Life (which found her thrown into a residence with such celebrities as Jose Canseco, Bronson Pinchot, and Carey Hart), and her own eponymous reality series, the 2006 Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. As broadcast on the Oxygen women's network, this program observed Dickinson setting up shop with her new agency, scouring the streets of L.A. for interesting and unconventional new faces, and gradually whittling her pool of talent down to five newly established models with an unusual albeit commercially viable look. To the surprise of almost no one, the program clocked in as an instant hit. - Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide