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Melinda Clarke is an American actress. She portrayed Julie Cooper in the first, second, third and fourth seasons of the Fox drama series The O.C..
Biography[]
Early life[]
Clarke was born in Dana Point, California, the daughter of Patricia Lewis, a ballet dancer, and John Clarke, an actor who was an original cast member of the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. One of three siblings, Clarke's sister, Heidi, died in 1994 of a malignant heart tumor. She has a brother, Joshua.
Career[]
Clarke appeared on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives as Faith Taylor (where her father was a senior cast member), and starred on Soldier of Fortune, Inc. for both of its seasons. She also guest starred on Xena: Warrior Princess as the Amazon chieftain Velasca, Firefly as the brothel madam Nandi, Charmed as the Siren, and has had six appearances on CSI where she played the dominatrix, Lady Heather. She also appeared in the Seinfeld episode "The Muffin Tops", playing Jerry's girlfriend who likes anything hairless. She also appeared in the 1993 horror film Return of the Living Dead 3.
She appeared on the Fox drama The O.C. as Julie Cooper, a cunning socialite who marries for money. Her character in the show is mainly portrayed as a manipulative, morally wrong woman, but as the show progresses the reasons behind her choices are explained. She was originally billed as a guest star in the first few episodes, and due to fan response was offered a series regular contract; Clarke accepted the role and her character became an integral part of the show's storylines. As well as starring on The O.C., she has appeared on HBO's hit series Entourage as a fictionalized version of herself, married to Malcolm McDowell's Terrance McQuewick. Clarke also appeared as the Devil's girlfriend in The CW's 2007 series Reaper. She also auditioned for the role of "Number Six" on SCI-FI's smash hit Battlestar Galactica but the role ultimately went to Tricia Helfer.
In 2010, she appeared on The CW show The Vampire Diaries as Kelly Donovan. Other projects included the television film She Drives Me Crazy, which was produced by her former The O.C. co-star Kelly Rowan. She appeared as a guest star on Chuck, another series from The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz. She starred on The CW drama Nikita, where she played Amanda from 2010 to 2013.
She lent her voice to several voice acting projects, voicing Alexa in The Animatrix: Matriculated, Sofia Ivanescu in the video game Mission Impossible: Operation Surma, Madame Macmu-Ling in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Charlene in King of the Hill.
In April 2021, Clarke and her former The O.C. co-star Rachel Bilson launched a weekly podcast titled Welcome to the OC, Bitches! The podcast focuses on the hosts and guests re-watching and discussing episodes of The O.C. In August 2021, the podcast was named one of "7 Top Celebrity Podcasts You Should Subscribe To Right Now" by Bustle. In August 2022, Clarke joined former The O.C. co-stars Tate Donovan and Mischa Barton at a fan convention, Ep-ix & Chill in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Personal life[]
By 2005, Clarke had married Ernie Mirich, with whom she had a daughter, Kathryn Grace, born circa 2000. In 2005 she married professional river rafter Adam Farmer. She also is an aunt to her brother Joshua’s children with his ex-wife Kathleen Gauden. Her father the famous John Clarke (played Mickey Horton on Days of Our Lives) tragically passed away in 2019.
Trivia[]
- She appeared as a guest star originally, and due to fan response was offered a contract for her role as Julie Cooper. Clarke accepted the role and has since become an integral part of the show's success.
- Coincidentally, one of her appearances on CSI was with Kelly Rowan, who would later be her co-star on The O.C..
Filmography[]
- The Animatrix: "Matriculated" (2003) (voice)
- Charmed (2002) (TV series)
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2001) (TV series)
- Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1997) (TV series)
- Spawn (1997)
- Return of the Living Dead III (1993)
- Young Goodman Brown (1993)
- Days of Our Lives (1965) (TV series) (1989–1990)
- The Dawn of Massive Dicks (1981)
External Links[]
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