Marla Maples

Personal life

Maples was born in Cohutta, Georgia, the daughter of Laura Ann Locklear (1940–2014), a homemaker and model, and Stanley Edward Maples, a real estate developer. She was diagnosed with Lyme disease as a teenager. Maples attended Northwest Whitfield High School in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, where she was 1981 Homecoming queen; she was invited to return for the 1991 homecoming to crown the school's new queen.

Maples is best known for her marriage to Donald Trump, a prominent businessman and, later, President of the United States. She met Trump in 1989 and had a highly publicized relationship, with at least one breakup. The press coverage – Trump appeared on the front page of the New York Post eight days in a row – amazed Trump. The couple had a daughter, Tiffany Ariana Trump, born on October 13, 1993.

The 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting caused Trump to reevaluate his life and propose to Maples. The couple married in December 1993 at New York City's Plaza Hotel in a ceremony reportedly attended by a thousand guests, including Rosie O'Donnell and O. J. Simpson. Maples and Trump separated in May 1997 and divorced June 8, 1999.

Beauty pageants

In 1983 Maples won the Miss Resaca Beach Poster Girl Contest, in 1984 she was the runner-up to Miss Georgia USA, in 1985, she won the Miss Hawaiian Tropic[1], [2].

Motion pictures

Maples appeared in Executive Decision and a role in the Todd Solondz movie Happiness, and appeared in the movie Black and White. Other films include A Christmas Too Many, Loving Annabelle, Two of Hearts, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish, For Richer or Poorer, A Sight for Sore Eyes, and Something Wilder. Since then, she has had a part as an actress in Switching Lanes, directed by Thomas Mikal Ford, which won the Feature Film Silver Award in October 2015 at the Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival.

Television

In 1991, Maples appeared as a celebrity guest at WWF WrestleMania VII, serving as special guest timekeeper in the main event match between Hulk Hogan and defending WWF Champion Sgt. Slaughter. In that year, Maples also made a special appearance in the hit television series Designing Women as herself. In 1994, Maples appeared alongside Trump in a cameo appearance in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Maples co-hosted the 1996 and 1997 Miss Universe Pageant, and the 1997 Miss USA Pageant. She guest-starred in Spin City in 1997 and on The Nanny in May 1998. In 2013, Maples was featured on Oprah: Where Are They Now?

On March 8, 2016, Maples was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars alongside her Switching Lanes co-star, Kim Fields. She was partnered with professional dancer Tony Dovolani. Maples and Dovolani were eliminated on Week 4 of competition and finished in 10th place.

Maples also joined the women of ABC's morning talk show, The View, as a guest co-host on March 11, 2016.

Theater

In August 1992, Maples joined the cast of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The Will Rogers Follies as "Ziegfeld's Favorite", a role originated by Cady Huffman when the show opened in May 1991. She returned to New York in 2011 for Love, Loss and What I Wore, an off-Broadway production.

Philanthropy

Maples is committed to supporting charities and non-profit organizations, and is a long time and vocal advocate of Kids Creating Peace, an organization uniting Israeli and Palestinian children. She has shared proceeds of sales with those in need; she shared sales proceeds of her One World of Love album with Success for Kids, and proceeds from her auction with Linda's Stuff went to Spirituality for Kids.

Radio and music

Maples hosted her own talk radio show, Awakening with Marla, on Contact Talk Radio; her guests included naturopathic doctors, authors, and astrologers.

Maples' album The Endless, released in August 2013, is a musical journey of spiritual awakening and transformational energy, featuring thought leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Michael Beckwith, and Deepak Chopra. Each track seeks to evoke a different level of consciousness and connection, designed for deep meditation, prayer circles, or yoga sessions. In December 2012, Maples won a "Hollywood Music in Media Award" for best New Age/Ambient song, for "House of Love", from that album.

Health and wellness

Maples is an advocate of health and wellness, with daughter Tiffany Trump confessing she used to make healthy homemade chocolate in Trump Tower; meanwhile her father would sneak her downstairs to the candy store to buy her Almond Joys. She is a self-proclaimed 'mostly-vegan' who avoids dairy, eats organic, and chooses to be gluten free. She told People Magazine that her top three tips for healthy eating are to (a) listen to your body, (b) eat organic, (c) be joyful in all you do/eat.

Other

In 1990, Maples starred in an advertising campaign for No Excuses jeans. In 1993, she designed a line of maternity clothes, sold in several major department stores.

In January 2000, a memoir by Maples, All That Glitters Is Not Gold, was announced by the ReganBooks division of HarperCollins Publishers. In February 2002, a spokeswoman for the publishing company said that ''The author and publisher by mutual consent have agreed not to publish the book.''