Candace Kita

Infobox actor
name = Candace Kita

---

caption = At an event for 13 Minutes Magazine
birthdate =
birthplace = Los Angeles, California

Candace Kita is an American actress and former fashion model. She became known after starring with Mel Gibson in the ABC series "Complete Savages".

Biography

Early life and education

Kita was born in Los Angeles, California, and also lived in Antwerp, Belgium and London, England before her family settled in Texas. Kita attended Austin College where she graduated with a degree in philosophy and religion and was a Fellowship Scholar. After completing her studies, she worked on a Master's degree in sociology, but left to pursue her acting career.

Early career (1993-2003)

Kita's first appearance was in FOX's "Masked Rider", from 1995 to 1996. She appeared as a series regular lead in all 40 episodes. Kita also portrayed a frantic stewardess in a music video directed by Mark Pellington for the British group, Catherine Wheel, entitled, "Waydown" in 1995. This video received so much attention an article was written about it in the Los Angeles Times newspaper and Kita was spoofed by MTV's "Beavis and Butthead". In 1996, Kita also appeared with Pamela Anderson in the film "Barb Wire" (1996) and guest starred on "The Wayans Bros.". She also guest starred in "Miriam Teitelbaum: Homicide" with "Saturday Night Live" alumni Nora Dunn, "Wall To Wall Records" with Jordan Bridges, "Stealing Time" with Jennifer Garner, "Even Stevens", "Felicity" with Keri Russell, "V.I.P." with Pamela Anderson, "Girlfriends", "The Sweet Spot" with Bill Murray, and "Movies At Our House" She also had recurring roles on the FX spoof, "Son of the Beach" from 2001 to 2002, ABC-Family's "Dance Fever" and Oxygen Network's "Running With Scissors". Kita also appeared in the films "Little Heroes" (2002) and "Rennie's Landing" (2001).

Breakthrough (2003-2005)

During this time, Kita guest starred on "Method and Red" and "Quintuplets" in 2004 and "Two and a Half Men" in 2005. She is most known for her breakthrough series recurring role as Mel Gibson's girlfriend in ABC-TV's "Complete Savages" from 2004 to 2005. Mel Gibson was executive producer and would cameo as Officer Steve Cox. Whenever he appeared, Kita would appear as Misty, his girlfriend doomed to die a horrible death at the end of every episode like Kenny in "South Park". This included death by hot tub, death by eating too much turkey on Thanksgiving and death on a motorcycle without a helmet. She held the title of Miss Hawaiian Tropic Japan in 2004. She also appeared in "Bad News Bears" (2005) with Billy Bob Thornton and Greg Kinnear.

2005-present

In 2005 to 2007, Kita continued work on Complete Savages. She also appeared in the independent films, Faith Happens (2006) and Falling (2008). In 2006, she was in the pilot for the television series Smith, with Ray Liotta and played a prison inmate in Pepper Dennis with Rebecca Romijn. Kita also shot a pilot with Tim Stack called The Probe (2006). In 2007 she appeared in an episode of Ugly Betty with Vanessa Williams. And she appeared with Adam Sandler and Kevin James in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry . In 2008, Kita guest starred opposite Jim Belushi in According to Jim and played herself on an episode of The Jace Hall Show. She currently has two films in development, Something in the Night with Peter Greene and Last Stop.

Popular culture

*In an episode of "Beavis and Butthead", both Beavis and Butthead are watching television. The music video, "Waydown" by Catherine Wheel appears and they mock Kita's character, a frantic flight attendant in an airline disaster.
*On the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno", Mel Gibson compared Kita's character, Misty, on ABC's "Complete Savages", to Kenny McCormick in South Park because she dies a horrible death at the end of each episode.
*Kita appeared as Tecmo's E3 model for Lei Fang from "Dead or Alive II".

Modeling

Credited as Candace Camille for her earliest appearance, on the cover of "No, No, No, Cha Cha Cha," the 1993 release by Brave Combo. Kita was represented for 5 years by the prestigious modeling agency, Wilhelmina, in Los Angeles before focusing on acting. She appeared in campaigns and walked the catwalk for clients such as Diesel, XOXO, Chinese Laundry, West Cigarettes, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Marshall Field's and Brighton among others before focusing on acting.

She appeared in over a dozen national commercials including: Hyundai, MSN, IBM, Bacardi and Cola, and Coca-Cola. She starred in a commercial for Harvard Medical HMO that was featured on "America's Funniest Commercials". Kita was also an official spokesperson in several voice over and commercial spots for the Food Network, HGTV and DIY Network.

Charitable work and activism

Kita publicly supports a variety of causes especially animal rights issues. She endorses Branded J Collections, a cruelty-free cosmetics line. She is also a women's safety advocate and speaks publicly on women's safety issues. She has written several articles on the subject and has campaigned to make the anti-stalking laws in the state of California more stringent.

Filmography

*"Something in the Night (2008) (in development)...Kayla
*"Last Stop (2008) (in development)...Kim
*"Falling (2007)" (in production) .... Julie
*"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" (2007) .... Hooters Girl
*"Faith Happens" .... Lisa
* "Bad News Bears" (2005) .... China
*"Pax Importi Modellus: The Rise of the Import Model" (2004) .... CeCe
*"The Three Musketeers" (2004) .... Host
*"Little Heroes 3" (2002) .... Chlorine
*"Stealing Time" (2001) .... Social Services Receptionist
*"Barb Wire" (1996) .... Dancer

TV appearances

*"The Jace Hall Show".... (2008)
*"According to Jim" .... (2008)
*"Ugly Betty" .... (2007)
*"The Probe" .... News Reporter (2006)
*"Smith" .... Stewardess (2006)
*"Pepper Dennis" .... Squeaky (2006)
*"Two and a Half Men" .... Coco (2005)
*"Complete Savages" .... Misty (2004-2005)
*"Quintuplets" .... Alison (2004)
*"Running With Scissors" .... Sketch Comedian (2004)
*"Method & Red" .... Sami Kim (2004)
*"Girlfriends" .... Waitress (2003)
*"Beck And Call" (2003)
*"Big Happy" .... Aiko (2003)
*"Phil of the Future" Miss Lee (2003)
*"Movies At Our House" .... Candace (2003)
*"Dance Fever" ... Sketch Comedian (2003)
*"Son of the Beach" .... Asian Female News Reporter (2001-2002)
*"The Sweet Spot" .... Manicurist (2002)
*"V.I.P." .... Holo-reporter (2002)
*"Felicity" .... Contestant #1 (2001)
*"Even Stevens" .... Reporter (2001)
*"Wall to Wall Records" .... Secretary (2000)
*"Miriam Teitelbaum: Homicide" (2000)
*"Masked Rider" (1995-1996)
*"The Wayans Bros." .... April (1996)

External links

* [http://www.candacekita.com/ Official website]
*imdb name|id=0070452|title=Candace Kita
* [http://www.myspace.com/therealcandacekita Candace Kita's MySpace page]