|
Greetings and welcome to my site! Until recently, it announced my intention to write a
series of books on healthier living, beginning with Why I Buy My Clothes at Second Hand Stores.
Steady prodding from fans, family, friends, and especially my first husband, Tom Merrill,
has resulted in a big shift for me. I’ve put that book aside for now, and my new project
has me so excited that I’m not shopping anywhere these days. I’m writing my autobiography!
Carol Merrill Opens New Doors – An Autobiography is in development. My life before, during, and after Let’s Make a Deal will be expressed in a way that you rarely experienced me on game shows – WORDS. You may have first met me on a show called Your Surprise Package, hosted by George Fenneman. Most fans, however, know me from Let’s Make a Deal, where I was the model for the quick-witted, free-wheeling and original "big dealer" Monty Hall. For 14 years, I opened doors for millions of viewers. On the air, Monty usually said my full name, Carol Merrill, and due to the popularity of the show, I became a household name. How did I get to that stage and beamed into your living rooms and movie theaters? I didn’t consciously plan a modeling/acting career during my farm life childhood in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our move to Southern California coincided with the close of my childhood, and it was then that I became aware of fashion. As a young teenager, I worked in retail clothing sales, moved into modeling, and pretty quickly arrived on your TV and movie screens. Off stage from Let’s Make a Deal, in 1967, I discreetly gave birth to my daughter Hillary, having posed in my TV role in a way that hid my expanding profile into my 7th month. Our family of three moved to a small ranch in the hills of Malibu where I could re-enact the best of my mid-west rural upbringing. This time, I grew my vegetables organically and our daughter Hillary became an accomplished equestrian. My husband, hairdresser Bernie Safire, took a break from doing hair and built the Whale Watch, a beachfront restaurant. In the 80s, I married my current husband, Mark Burgess, and we moved to Hawaii. My love of nature easily thrived on the Big Island where I dived into environmental activism. That intense focus resulted in my receiving the Hawaii County Mayor’s Award of Excellence, and Hawaii’s First Lady’s Outstanding Volunteer Award. Australia was my next stop – a small beach village where Mark could do what he loves most...surf! Years later, we took a zig zag course back to California for a few months, then back to Hawaii, where we settled on Oahu. Having trekked through cow pastures of the Midwest, stage sets of Hollywood, composted garden plots of Malibu, and the sands and surfs of Australia and Hawaii, I’m eager to share my saga with you. Stay tuned as I open these doors of my life:
|
