Kelly Ripa
Ripa in 2008
Born	Kelly Maria Ripa (1970-10-02) October 2, 1970 (age 54) Stratford, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, co-host of Live! with Kelly and Michael, co-founder of Milojo, spokesperson for Electrolux and Rykä
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Mark Consuelos (1996–present)
Children	3

Kelly Maria Ripa (born October 2, 1970) is an American actress, talk show host, and television producer. Ripa, who played Hayley Vaughan on the television soap opera All My Children from 1990–2002, is best known as co-host of the popular syndicated morning talk show Live! with Kelly and Ryan. She is also known for her role as Faith Fairfield on Hope & Faith. Additionally, Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos own a New York based production company, Milojo.^[1]

In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named her one of the Most Powerful People in Media.^[2]

Ripa was born in Stratford, New Jersey. She is the daughter of Esther, a homemaker, and Joseph Ripa, a labor-union president and bus driver. She has a younger sister, Linda, who is a children's book author.^[3] She is of Italian and Irish ancestry.^[4] Her father has been the Democratic County Clerk for Camden County, New Jersey since June 2009. She is the first in her family to enter the acting profession. She has studied ballet since age three, plays the piano, and, in her words, is "no Barbra Streisand," but can carry a tune.^[5]

Ripa graduated from Eastern High School in Voorhees Township, New Jersey,^[6] where she became a cheerleader and was later encouraged by her drama teacher to pursue acting. "I owe so much of my career to Jim Beckley,"^[7] she said. "He thought I was a natural performer and so he gave me the lead in the next show."^[8] She starred in local theatre productions and was discovered while performing in the comedy play The Ugly Duckling (c. 1941), by A.A. Milne, during her senior year.^[6] She attended Camden County College studying psychology, but dropped out and moved to New York City to be an actress.^[9]

• Kelly Ripa
• Kelly Ripa Biography Archived 2023-05-04 at the Wayback Machine