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Rachael Ray Profile |
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Birth Date: August 25, 1968
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Birth Place: Glens Falls, New York, USA
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Birth Name: Rachael Domenica Ray
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Height: 5'3"
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Biography |
Rachael Ray was born on August 25, 1968, in Cape
Cod, Massachusetts. Her parents owned and operated a chain
of family restaurants. Rachael's parents divorced when she
was 13, and her mother took a job as a food supervisor in
upstate New York. Rachael attended high school in Lake
George, New York, a small town in the Adirondack Mountains,
where she was a cheerleader and worked part-time as a
waitress for her mother. Before graduating in 1986, Rachael
was already an entrepreneur, running her own gift basket
service on the side.
In 1993, after graduating from college, Rachael returned to
Lake George and rented a cabin. However, she moved to New
York City two years later due to a lack of opportunities
back home. She got a job at the Macy's Marketplace candy
counter, and was soon promoted to manager of the Fresh Foods
department. She was able to learn a lot about gourmet foods,
and she used that knowledge to help open and manage Agata &
Valentina, a prestigious New York gourmet marketplace. But
following bad personal experiences in the city, including a
breakup and a mugging, Rachael moved back to Lake George in
1997.
Rachael landed a job as a buyer and cook at Cowan & Lobel in
nearby Albany, New York. As a holiday promotion, she started
to teach a class on how to prepare meals in half an hour.
They were such a hit that the local media ran a story on
her, and the following week, Albany's CBS affiliate
approached Rachael about doing a weekly segment for the
evening news called "30-Minute Meals." In its first year,
the show was nominated for two regional Emmys, and in 1998,
Rachael published a cookbook, which sold 10,000 copies
locally. Meanwhile, Rachael continued to cook on local TV
and radio shows.
In 2001, Rachael suddenly got national attention from two
sources. A Food Network executive listened to her on an
upstate public radio show, while a producer of the Today
show happened upon her book. Rachael was invited on Today,
and drove for nine hours through a snowstorm with her mother
to make it to the show. She was a hit, and the next day, the
Food Network signed her to a $360,000 contract.
Rachael took her non-expert style to two Food Network shows
in 2002, 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day. She continued to
write cookbooks, averaging more than one a year, and in
2004, she began appearing on a new show, Inside Dish with
Rachael Ray. The following year, she landed a fourth show,
Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, which debuted with the
second-highest ratings in Food Network history. Her newfound
fame and fortune allowed Rachael to buy her Lake George
cabin outright, in addition to a large apartment in
Greenwich Village.
In September 2005, Rachael married John Cusimano, a lawyer
and amateur rock band member who now handles the legal side
of Rachael's burgeoning empire, which spans cookbooks to
kitchenware. Her latest venture is a new bi-monthly
magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, which first hit
newsstands in October 2005. Rachael's most ambitious project
yet, though, will surely be an afternoon talk show she's set
to host in 2006, which is to be distributed by King World
Productions in partnership with Harpo, Oprah Winfrey's
production company. |
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Other
Information |
Has a plaque in her home that reads, "Martha Stewart doesn't
live here".
Her dog is a pit bull named "Boo" and her goldfish are named
"Jaws" and "Orca."
Lives in a small, rustic, lakeside cabin in the town of Lake
Luzerne in the Adirondacks with her husband, John, and her
mother, Elsa.
Ray's grandfather Emmanuel was a stonemason who emigrated
from Sicily to the Adirondacks.
Engaged to musician John Cusimano - wedding in September
2005
Her mother is Elsa Scuderi. She lives in the cabin with
Rachael and her husband, John.
FHM featured a pictorial of her in the October 2003 issue.
She was later voted #92 on FHM-US's 100 Sexiest Women of
2004.
Rachael has endorsed products for Price Chopper and Burger
King.
Ray married John Cusimano, a lawyer and member of the band
The Cringe, on September 24, 2005 in Montalcino, Italy.
Her mother was the food supervisor for several Howard
Johnson's. Rachael even was a waitress at Howard Johnson.
Has a magazine called Every Day with Rachael Ray.
Has a younger brother, Emmanuelle, and an older sister,
Maria.
Carbonara, a pasta dish, has a special place in Rachael's
and her husband's heart. She made it for his birthday, the
first one they spent together.
Gets her love of food "with garlic and oil" from her mother,
Elsa Scuderi, and her grandfather, Emmanuel.
Has written 14 best-selling cookbooks.
Was once a manager at Mr. Brown's Pub in the 5-star Sagamore
Hotel in the Adirondacks.
Named #71 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World
2006" supplement. (2006). |
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