Toni Pearen

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Toni Pearen
birthdate = Birth date and age|1972|6|5|df=y
location = Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia
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birthname =
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Toni Pearen is an Australian actress, singer, songwriter and TV presenter born in Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia on June 5, 1972. Known earlier in her career for her role on the soap opera "E Street" from 1989 until 1992 and for her music career in the early 1990's which included the release of an album and a number of ARIA certified gold singles, she most recently served as the host of "Australia's Funniest Home Video Show" for five years from 2003 to 2008 and is currently competing on the eighth season of "Dancing With The Stars".

Career

Film and Television career

Pearen came to be known in 1989 when she landed the role of Toni Windsor on the Australian soap opera "E Street".cite news | first= | last=(excerpt) | coauthors= | title=Psst... Toni Pearen to host Funniest Home Video Show | date=2003-01-30 | publisher=newstext.com.au | url =http://www.newstext.com.au/docs/MEL/2003/get.jsp?docid=MEL-20030130-1-022-K530446@NAT-NEWS-2004-2003 | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-27 | language = ] She played the role until 1992 when she left to pursue her music career. In 1994 she briefly returned to TV, this time playing Beth Armstrong on "Home and Away". She also appeared in a number of films including "All Men Are Liars" and "On the Dead Side", both released in 1995. From 1995 until 2002 Pearen lived and worked in the United States, guest starring in multiple television shows such as "JAG".

Upon returning to Australia in 2002, Pearen landed the role as host of Nine's "Australia's Funniest Home Video Show" beginning February 2003. [cite news | first= | last=MSN Australia | coauthors= | title=Host Toni Pearen's Profile | date= | publisher=funniesthomevideos.ninemsn.com.au | url =http://funniesthomevideos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8608 | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-27 | language = ] In an interview with ninemsn, she said the show was a perfect fit for her, and it "reminds us that strange things happen every day, and you need to laugh." [cite news | first= | last=MSN Australia | coauthors= | title=Toni Pearen | date= | publisher=MSN.com | url =http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1508 | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-27 | language = ] On February 1, 2008, it was announced that Shelley Craft would take over the hosting duties from Pearen, who left to return to acting.cite web|first=David|last=Knox|title=Shelley Craft lands Funniest Home Videos|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/02/shelley-craft-lands-funniest-home.html|publisher=tvtonight.com.au|date=2008-02-01|accessdate=2008-02-01]

After "Australia's Funniest Home Video Show" Pearen took on a guest starring role with the soap "Out Of The Blue" for five episodes, and in 2009 will also have a small part in the upcoming World War II miniseries "The Pacific", produced by Steven Spielberg - the follow up to "Band of Brothers". [cite web|first=Genevive|last=Meegan|title=Quick step for TV's Toni|url=http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24082741-5007422,00.html|publisher=Adelaide Now|date=2008-07-27|accessdate=2008-07-29]

Pearen began appearing on the eighth season of the Seven Network's "Dancing with the Stars" as of August 2008 and received the series' first and so far only standing ovation. Pearen is currently in the lead to win the series. [cite web|first=David|last=Knox|title=Toni tangos to Seven|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/07/toni-tangos-to-seven.html|publisher=tvtonight.com.au|date=2008-07-27|accessdate=2008-07-27]

Music career

After leaving "E Street", Pearen became a success in the Australian Dance Pop scene in 1992 and 1993, scoring two consecutive top 10 ARIA Gold certified hits with In Your Room and I Want You. A year later, between 1994 and 1995 two less successful singles were released and missed the top 30, Walkaway Lover and Joy. Pearen's 1994 album Toni Pearen's Intimate Album was well received by critics but sold poorly, only peaking at #56 on the ARIA chart - perhaps due to the two year delay since her first hit single was released. Fact|date=August 2007

From 1995 to 2002, Pearen lived in Los Angeles, working as an actor, singer and songwriter. In 2002, she moved back to Australia, taking residence on Scotland Island, New South Wales. [cite news | first=Garry | last=Williams | coauthors= | title=Toni's on a high | date=2006-11-12 | publisher=Australian Herald Sun | url =http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,20743873-5006022,00.html | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2007-08-28 | language = ] In early 2003 during an appearance on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" Pearen revealed she could be aiming to revive her music career in the near future. It was later revealed that part of the reason for her hiatus in the United States was to find the time to write new music. Although she has made musical performances at "Carols by Candlelight" in 2003 and "ABBA Mania" in 2006, very little of any plans to return to music did not happen until August 2008 when a new untitled demo track appeared on Pearen's Official MySpace page.

Dancing with the Stars Performances

In late 2008, Toni Pearen joined the cast of the eighth season of "Dancing With The Stars". Pearen's partner is Henry Byalikov from the first season of "So You Think You Can Dance Australia".

ingles

References

External links

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* [http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1508 MSN Interview with Toni Pearen]
* [http://funniesthomevideos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=63635 Question and Answer interview with Toni Pearen]