Marisa Miller: Great American Supermodel

Miller has quintessential California looks with blonde hair and has hazel eyes. Her measurements are 34D-23-35, according to her website. Miller was born Marisa Bertetta in Santa Cruz, California in 1978. She dabbled in modeling for a few years as a teenager but was quickly dismayed with the business and left to return to California. She took a job managing a surf school.

In 2001 a New York City modeling agency passed a photo of Miller to famed fashion photography Mario Testino who was impressed. Soon Miller was back in the modeling business. Miller has appeared in every Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue since 2002.

In 2007 Miller garnered a lot of attention when she was photographed by Raphael Mazzucco wearing nothing but an iPod for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Miller was again featured in the 2008 Sports Illustrated magazine Swimsuit edition. For this photo spread she donned a painted-on bikini. Recently Miller became a part of the Victoria's Secret “Angel" advertising campaign, which includes international models Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio.

In addition to Sports Illustrated magazine, Miller has appeared in many other magazines. Most recently she has appeared in the men's magazines GQ, Men's Journal and Maxim, the women's magazines Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Elle, fitness magazines Shape and Fitness, and fashion magazines Vanity Fair and Vogue. She also continues to take catalog assignments, predominately for Victoria's Secret swimsuit edition and J. Crew.

Miller's popularity in 2008 translated into scoring the No. 1 spot on Maxim magazine's “Hot 100" rankings. This was the first time any nominee landed the No. 1 spot as a debut. Maxim also featured Miller on their July 2008 cover, declaring her “the return of the great American supermodel."

Maxim magazine interviewed Miller for the July 2008 cover and in it Miller disputes models being ditzy, saying “Think about Cindy Crawford and Tyra Banks. They've built empires from a job that is basically ridiculous."

On the Sports Illustrated magazine model interview page, Miller describes herself as a huge music fan, especially of the bands Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses fan and enjoys boxing. She also describes herself as a “natural California girl." On her website, Miller states her passions and hobbies include surfing, cooking, riding horses and dancing.

Miller is divorced from Jim Miller a lifeguard and contest promoter from Los Angeles; in 2006 she married producer Griffin Guess.

About The Author:
For more on Marisa Miller magazines, visit http://www.magazines.com/search/list?query=maxim Jessica Vandelay is a freelance writer in New York City.