Karen Duffy

Karen "Duff" Duffy is an American model, writer, television personality, and actress born on May 23, 1962. She is widely known for her early television work as an MTV VJ, her modeling roles, her feature film appearances, and her public advocacy and writing regarding living with a rare chronic illness.

Duffy was raised Catholic and is of Irish descent. She attended Park Ridge High School in Park Ridge, New Jersey, graduating in 1979. She later earned a bachelor's degree in recreational therapy from the University of Colorado Boulder.

By 1989, Duffy had begun modeling and appearing in television commercials. Her major career breakthrough arrived in the early 1990s when she auditioned and was selected as an MTV VJ. Working under the name "Duff" from 1991 to 1995, she expanded her profile by becoming a Revlon "Charlie Girl" and the face of Almay Cosmetics. During this time, she co-hosted the 1994 pay-per-view event Elvis: The Tribute alongside Kris Kristofferson.

Her acting and broadcasting career also included small film roles in productions such as Blank Check and Dumb and Dumber. By 1995, she served as a correspondent for filmmaker Michael Moore on his television projects TV Nation and The Awful Truth. She later hosted House of Tiny Terrors on TLC in 2006, served as a co-host for the Live Earth telecast at Giants Stadium in 2007, and collaborated with NYC Media in 2008 on emergency preparedness videos.

In 1995, Duffy was diagnosed with neurosarcoidosis, a rare form of sarcoidosis that affected her brain and spinal cord, resulting in partial paralysis. Following her diagnosis, she authored two books about her experiences with incurable illness and chronic pain: the New York Times bestselling memoir Model Patient: My Life as an Incurable Wise-Ass, and Backbone: Living With Chronic Pain Without Turning Into One. Her articles have been published in outlets including The New York Times and Oprah Magazine, and she spoke at the US Pain Foundation annual gala in 2018.

Over the course of her life and career, Duffy has received several honors, including being named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful Women" in 1993 and serving as a Coney Island Mermaid Queen. A certified hospital chaplain, she is a member of the Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Pain Patients. She married John Lambros in 1997, and the couple has a son born via surrogate in 2003.