Born in Hartford, Connecticut, on September 8, 1971, Brooke Lisa Burke was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Her looks began gaining her attention at a young age, and she won her first
beauty pageant at the age of 14.
Around the same time, she made her screen debut in a 1986 B-movie entitled
The Wraith in an uncredited part as a roller-skating waitress.
Contracts with talent agencies like Ford Models led to appearances in TV ads for Coca-Cola and Discover Card; however, Brooke Burke also studied business advertising and broadcast journalism at Santa Monica College and UCLA to further her career.
In addition to television commercials, Brooke Burke later modeled bikinis and bathing suits for Venus Swimwear and lingerie for Frederick's of Hollywood.
In 1999, she landed the gig of a lifetime as a travel guide on E! Entertainment Television's popular
Wild On! program, replacing previous host
Jules Asner.
Brooke Burke's hosting duties took her to dozens of exciting locales in just about every corner of the globe and, thanks to her legions of male fans who tuned in to check out how she'd be dressed for her adventures, increased her profile immensely. Many hearts were shattered when Brooke Burke tied the knot with Dr. Garth Fisher in 2001. The couple had two daughters, Neriah, born March 2000, and Sierra Sky, born April 2002, but separated in 2005.
After leaving
Wild On! in 2002, Brooke Burke focused on acting, landing guest roles on
That's Life (2002),
Rock Me, Baby (2003),
It's All Relative, and
Monk (both 2004). She also appeared in movies such as
Knuckle Sandwich and
The Hazing in 2004, the same year she voiced Rachel Teller for the
Need for Speed: Underground 2 video game. In 2006, she guest-starred on the “Cash Springs Eternal" episode of
Las Vegas.
Brooke Burke’s sizzling hot looks obviously made her a very popular model for the lad's mags, as she was featured in sexy spreads for
Maxim,
Stuff and
FHM, as well as in a couple of nude pictorials for
Playboy.
During the summer of 2005, Brooke Burke cohosted the CBS reality competition
Rock Star: INXS along with musician Dave Navarro. The
Mark Burnett-produced show didn't fare all that well in the ratings, but did manage to get picked up for another season in 2006.
Brooke Burke and Dave Navarro were called upon to present
Rock Star: Supernova for the second series, which was comprised of supergroup Gilby Clark, Jason Newsted and Tommy Lee in search of a vocalist. The plug was pulled on the series in May 2007.