- 'Mel' is actually short for 'Melon,' which was how her baby sister pronounced 'Mary Ellen' when she was very young, and the nickname stuck.
- Ex-husband David Hume Kennerly was the official White House photographer during the administration of former U.S President Gerald Ford. While the couple was still married, Mel Kennerly (as she was known) won quite a bit of money on the game show The $10,000 Pyramid (1973) in September 1985. She introduced herself as a professional dog trainer.
- Named as one of "America's 10 Most Beautiful Women" by Harper's Bazaar in 1989.
- Trains for triathalons.
- Son, Byron Kennerly, born 1984. Daughter, Madeline Smith, born 1990.
- Graduate of New Brunswick High School, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Class of 1974, who voted her "Most School Spirit."
- While living as a teenager in New Brunswick, New Jersey, she worked at the local Dairy Queen.
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