Born on November 7, 1976. Originally from Toronto, Canada, this exotic beauty, with a combination of West Indian, Norwegian and Russian heritage, possesses a look that many have gravitated toward and that has landed her on numerous national magazine covers and top-selling calendars. Through hard work and perseverance, she is quickly emerging as the latest sex symbol/icon in the entertainment industry.
A passion for performing began at a very early age for Melyssa, as she would star in various plays throughout her school career, such as Beauty and the Beast. Melyssa then went on to star in several independent films and secure a recurring role on Showtime's hit series "Soul Food" and the UPN series "Platinum". In the interim, Melyssa decided to continue her educational studies at York University in Toronto . Studying forensic psychology with the hopes that one day she would grow up to work for CSIS, within their behavioral science unit, helping to develop character studies on high profile criminals and sex offenders.
Discovered by director Little X while living in Toronto , Melyssa was tapped to star in several of his upcoming music video projects. Videos for chart toppers such as Mystikal's “Shake it Fast”, Jay-Z's “Big Pimpin'”, and Sisqo's “Thong Song Remix” would make her a familiar face on MTV and BET.
Subsequently, offers for editorial work in magazines began to pour in. It was a feature piece in XXL Magazine that led to a job offer to host a website show, produced by Vice-President of Bad Boy Entertainment, Harve Pierre, which was the catalyst for major change in Melyssa's life. The only issue was a question of relocating to New York City . Not one to let an opportunity fall short, Melyssa left home and school with two suitcases and $25 dollars to make a commitment to her dream. And so it was that she would be the host of the website show called “Lifestyles of the Phat and the Phabulous”.
Others soon become aware of Melyssa's star power. Black Men's Magazine selected her to model in their fall 2001 swimsuit issue. Black Men's Magazine was so captivated by her beauty that they gave Melyssa the cover.
She would go on to appear as be Black Men's Magazine cover girl three more times, becoming one of the most popular cover girls in the magazine's history. She also landed the cover of the 2002 Ebony Rider Calendar. Sales of that calendar surpassed the sales of all five years previous combined. In addition to the modeling, Melyssa began writing monthly advice column for Smooth Magazine. Originally asked to appear in the magazine as a model for the monthly column, but upon hearing of her minor of English Literature in University, she was asked to be the in-house celebrity columnist for the magazine.
Always one to develop a forum of thought provoking topics, she began to write for Smooth Magazine in early months of 2002. Around the same time, Melyssa became acquainted with her former manager, Jeff Robinson, CEO of MBK Entertainment, who also manages Alicia Keys. Together with the MBK team, Melyssa put the finishing touches on the Melyssa “Jessica Rabbit” 2004 Calendar and DVD which are currently available on her website www.melyssaford.com.
Source:
www.hiphopreaction.com
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