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Jayne Kennedy (born Jane Harrison on October 27, 1951 in Washington D.C.) is an American actress, model and sportscaster.

Jayne was crowned Miss Ohio USA 1970 (she was the first African American woman to win the title), and was one of the 15 semi-finalists in the 1970 Miss USA pageant. It was rare for an African American woman at that time to be in the contest. While starting her modeling career, she met Leon Isaac Kennedy, who was a DJ and a struggling actor/writer. They fell in love and married in 1970. Motown`s Smokey Robinson served as best man at the wedding. They moved to California to pursue careers in acting. In 1978, she was one of the first women to infiltrate the male-dominated world of sports announcing with a role on The NFL Today.

In the early 1980s she produced exercise videos, at the same time, she also had a contract with both Coca-Cola`s Tab and Diet Coke; however, she was later diagnosed with endometriosis. She and Kennedy were divorced in 1982; she married actor Bill Overton in 1985. In spite of the prior problem with endometriosis, they have three daughters, Savannah Re (b., Nov. 20, 1985), Kopper Joi (b., May 17, 1989), and Zaire Ollyea (b., Sept. 15, 1995).

She has been on the cover of Ebony and Jet magazines numerous times. In July 1981 she became the first African American actress to grace the cover of Playboy magazine. She and Leon Isaac posed together for a pictorial in the same issue, but none of the pictures showed her nude.


[edit] Sex Video Scandal
In the early 1980s, Kennedy had the unenviable distinction of being one of the first celebrities to endure a "home sex video" scandal (see: Celebrity sex tape) when a tape of a sex act with her ex-husband was stolen from him after their divorce. Due to VCRs not yet being widespread, circulation of the tape was restricted to a relatively small audience. It is speculated that the release of this tape essentially helped to destroy her career, as it went against her wholesome image.


[edit] Current Events
Since the 1990s, Kennedy has remained busy away from the limelight, spending more time with her family. For many years, she worked for The Children`s Miracle Network, where she raised millions of dollars for a lot of hospitals. She is also a born-again Christian and occasionally appears on various Christian Television Network shows.

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