Katharine Hope McPhee (born March 25, 1984) is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records on January 30, 2007 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200; it has sold 378,000 copies to date. The album's first single, "Over It", was a Pop Top 30 hit and was certified Gold in 2008. She also established an acting career, most notably co-starring in The House Bunny in 2008 as the hippie sorority sister 'Harmony'.
Her sophomore album, Unbroken was released on Verve Forecast Records on January 5, 2010 and debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200.
Personal life:Born in Los Angeles, California, McPhee moved with her family to Sherman Oaks at age 12. McPhee has been singing since the age of two. Her mother, Patricia Burch McPhee (stage name Peisha Arten), a vocal coach and accomplished cabaret singer, recognized her daughter's musical talent and decided to train her. Her father, Daniel McPhee, is a television producer. McPhee has an older sister, Adriana. McPhee is of Irish, Scottish and German descent.
McPhee attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, where she performed in school plays and musicals. She graduated in 2002.
McPhee attended Boston Conservatory for three semesters, majoring in musical theater. She left the college on the advice of her manager and returned to Los Angeles to try out for television pilots.
McPhee struggled with eating disorders in the past. She told People Magazine that at age 13 she began starving herself and exercising compulsively, and she became bulimic at age 17. McPhee gained weight in college due to her binging. After seven years of illness, she finally entered a three-month rehab program after successfully passing her American Idol audition; her rehab stint ended just before the Idol semifinals started in February 2006. During her run on American Idol, she lost 30 pounds due to eating better as part of her treatment. Now, as she told Teen Vogue in May 2007, "I eat whatever I crave—I'm just really careful about portions."
McPhee and her sister appeared on debut of The Dr. Keith Ablow Show on September 18, 2006, to discuss her struggles with bulimia and her childhood fear of her father. On the show, McPhee stated that she was misdiagnosed with a learning disability during her middle school years but was finally correctly diagnosed with a vision problem that caused her to have trouble reading in class. McPhee claimed she was known as the "pretty, but stupid" girl in school because she had trouble reading.
On February 2, 2008, McPhee married Nick Cokas at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church.
Acting career:McPhee was cast (during the time she had dropped out of college and was auditioning in Los Angeles) in a mall-based MTV soap opera pilot entitled You Are Here, playing the older sister of a more popular younger sister. MTV never aired the pilot and didn't pick up the series.
McPhee had a small role as "Paramount Girl" in the 2007 musical film Crazy, based on the life of Hank Garland. McPhee filmed the role in early 2005, before she auditioned for American Idol.
In early 2007, McPhee guest-starred in the web series, lonelygirl15 as an unnamed character in the episode "Truth Or Dare".
McPhee made a cameo appearance as herself on the ABC show Ugly Betty in the episode "I'm Coming Out". The episode was broadcast Feb 1, 2007.
McPhee made her studio acting debut in the comedy The House Bunny (formerly known as I Know What Boys Like), co-starring as one of the few members of a misfit sorority. The movie starred Anna Faris as a playboy bunny who took the girls under her wing. It was directed by Fred Wolf for Columbia Pictures and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. The film was released in August 2008 and co-starred Rumer Willis, Emma Stone, Colin Hanks, and Tyson Ritter.
In 2009, McPhee landed a lead role in a romantic-comedy, tentatively titled You May Not Kiss the Bride. The budget was set at $6 million. The movie filmed for 5 weeks in March and April 2009 in Oahu, Hawaii. McPhee played the role of Masha, alongside Dave Annable. The film is scheduled to be released sometime in 2010.
McPhee guest starred on the CBS show CSI: NY in the episode "Prey" as a singer and stalker victim who murdered her stalker. The episode was broadcast April 8, 2009.
McPhee joined forces with fellow actresses Alyson Hannigan, Jaime King, Minka Kelly and Emily Deschanel in a video slumber party made available in October 2009 and featured on FunnyorDie.com and other Internet platforms in a comedic take to promote regular breast cancer screenings for the organization Stand Up To Cancer.McPhee guest starred on the NBC comedy Community in the episode "Basic Genealogy" as Chevy Chase's stepdaughter and potential love interest for Joel McHale's character. The episode was broadcast March 11, 2010.
McPhee will be making her TV pilot debut in a new comedy show for NBC "The Pink House." McPhee will play Emily, a down-to-earth Midwest girl new to Manhattan Beach. The pilot will be shot as a possible pickup for the Fall 2010 season and is being produced by Conan O'Brien's production company, with O'Brien as executive producer. Shooting is currently scheduled to take place April 9, 2010.
Theater:
In March 2005, McPhee starred as Annie Oakley in a Los Angeles-based production of the musical "Annie Get Your Gun". McPhee was nominated for an L.A. Stage Ovation Award in the category of "Lead Actress in a Musical".
On February 22, 2010, McPhee appeared in the production of 110 Stories, directed by Mark Freiburger at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. She co-starred alongside Ed Asner, Diane Venora, Gail O'Grady, John Hawkes, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and many others. The play was a benefit to help the victims of the recent Haiti earthquake. Proceeds went to the Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles.
Major product endorsements:
McPhee signed a two-year endorsement deal in 2006 with Sexy Hair Concepts to become their first celebrity spokesperson for their hair-care product line.
In 2008, McPhee signed a two-year endorsement deal with Neutrogena to become the new spokesperson for their anti-acne skin-care product line. In March 2008, she filmed her first commercial, which began airing on television in May 2008 and on Neutrogena's skinid.com website.
Philanthropy:In 2006, McPhee founded a charity called McPhee Outreach. The purpose of the charity is to team up with other foundations or organizations and help in any way possible.
The foundation teamed up with The Lollipop Theater Network to provide music outreach (called "Rhythm of Hope") to sick children in Southern California hospitals.
McPhee Outreach teamed up with Global Compassion Services to build a preschool in the poor West African nation of Burkina Faso to help combat that nation's high illiteracy rate.
McPhee appeared on the Jan 19, 2009 episode of the reality show The Biggest Loser (its ninth season) in the show's Pound for Pound Challenge segment (an initiative to challenge viewers to get healthy while helping to fight hunger in their own communities). McPhee was shown volunteering at a Los Angeles food bank and meeting with children at a Boys and Girls Club and talking about the importance of helping to fight hunger in America.
Beauty lists:
In mid-2007, McPhee was named one of the year's 100 Most Beautiful People by People; she was photographed with no make-up on. She was also voted #2 on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in The World of 2007 and #47 on Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2007. At the end of 2007, AOL Readers placed her as the Number 1 Sexiest American Idol contestant ever. In 2008 she was voted #38 on FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in The World and #43 on AskMen.com’s Top 99. In 2009 she was voted number #64 on AskMen.com’s Top 99.
