Melinda Clarke

Melinda Clarke

Active - 1991 - 2007  |   Born - Apr 24, 1969 in Dana Point, California, United States  |   Genres - Drama, Action, Romance

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Biography by AllMovie

California native Melinda Clarke was born into show business. With an actor father and a ballet dancer mother, it was only a matter of time before Clarke grew up and headed for L.A. to follow in her parents' footsteps. She spent the late '90s paying her dues with appearances on shows like Seinfeld and Xena: Warrior Princess before being cast as Julie Cooper on the smash-hit series The O.C. She stayed with the show for its entire run from 2003 to 2007. Clarke continued to find success in television, with high-profile recurring gigs on CSI as Lady Heather and as herself on Entourage. She joined the cast of Nikita in 2010; once that show ended in 2013, Clarke resumed making her guest star rounds on shows like Vegas and Dallas.

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Factsheet

  • Three days after arriving in Los Angeles, landed her first acting role, on Days of Our Lives. Her father, original cast member John Clarke, played attorney Mickey Horton from 1965 to 2004.
  • Had two action figures modeled after her for characters she played in Xena: Warrior Princess (Amazon Velasca) and the film Spawn (Jessica).
  • Is a professionally trained coloratura soprano and has starred in a number of musical productions, including The Music Man, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Hello, Dolly! and The Fantasticks.
  • Was the only O.C. cast member to actually hail from California's Orange County.