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Melinda Clarke
Nikita - Panel (7560474398).jpg
Clarke in 2012
Born
Melinda Patrice Clarke

(1969-04-24) April 24, 1969 (age 55)
Other names Mindy Clarke
Occupation Actress
Years active 1989–present
Known for
Spouse(s)
Ernie Mirich
(m. 1997; div. 2005)
Adam Farmer
(m. 2015)
Children 1
Parent(s)

Melinda Patrice "Mindy" Clarke (born April 24, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Faith Taylor on the soap opera Days of Our Lives (1989–1990), Julie Cooper on Fox's teen drama series The O.C. (2003–2007), Lady Heather on CBS's crime drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2001–2015) and Amanda on the action thriller series Nikita (2010–2013).

Early life

Clarke was raised in Dana Point, California. She is the daughter of actor John Clarke. One of three siblings, Clarke's sister, Heidi, died in 1994 of a malignant heart tumor.

Career

..... She also appeared in the Seinfeld episode "The Muffin Tops", playing Jerry's girlfriend who likes anything hairless. In 1993, she played a lead role in the horror film Return of the Living Dead 3.

Melinda Clarke at the Toronto Film Festival 2011

She portrayed Julie Cooper in the teen drama series The O.C., that aired on the Fox network from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. Clarke's character Julie Cooper was often characterized as devious and selfish, with USA Today calling her a "shallow vixen". However, she revealed a more vulnerable side of herself a number of times during the series. Clarke was originally billed as a guest star in the first few episodes in which she appeared, but 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.

..... In January 2021, Vogue wrote about the fashion choices on The O.C., commenting: "Speaking of the Coopers, I also want to end by saying Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke), Marissa's mom, is so underrated during this whole series. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, she commands every single room she walks into, whether it's in a pink Juicy Couture tracksuit or a groovy, off-the-shoulder top. Clearly Marissa got all her fashion sense from her."

As well as starring on The O.C., she has appeared on HBO's comedy-drama series Entourage as a fictionalized version of herself, married to Malcolm McDowell's character Terrance McQuewick. Clarke portrayed Blithe Meacham in the television film She Drives Me Crazy (2007), which was produced by Kelly Rowan. She had guest roles in several television shows, including Chuck (2007), Reaper (2007) and Ghost Whisperer (2010). In 2010, she appeared on The CW show The Vampire Diaries as Kelly Donovan, a mother who discovers her daughter has died. Los Angeles Times praised her performance as Kelly by saying: "In a scene without any dialogue, Clarke made Kelly's grief believable and powerful."

Nikita - Panel (9330304220)
Clarke at the Comic-Con panel session held at the San Diego Convention Center on July 19, 2013

In 2010, she landed one of the main roles in The CW's action drama series Nikita as Helen "Amanda" Collins. Clarke's character was the main antagonist in the show's third and fourth season. The series concluded after four seasons on December 27, 2013. She has 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.

..... 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 December 2023, Clarke announced that she is launching a new podcast, Beyond the OC, hosted by Clarke and her daughter. The podcast was launched on April 25, 2024.

Personal life

Clarke was married to Ernie Mirich from 1997 to 2005, and they have a daughter born in 2000. In September 2015, Clarke married Adam Farmer in a ceremony held in Dana Point, California.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Hot Under the Collar Monica
1992 Out for Blood Laura
1993 Young Goodman Brown Faith Brown
1993 Return of the Living Dead 3 Julie Walker
1995 Return to Two Moon Junction Savannah DeLongpre
1996 Mulholland Falls Cigarette girl
1996 Killer Tongue Candy
1997 Critics and Other Freaks Mrs. M.
1997 Soldier of Fortune Margo Vincent Television film
1997 Spawn Jessica Priest
2002 Cold Sweat Starring
2002 .com for Murder Agent Williams
2003 The Animatrix Alexa (voice) Segment: "Matriculated"
2004 Dynamite Beta
2007 She Drives Me Crazy Blithe Meacham Television film
2014 How Divine! Chelsea Kirk Television film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1989–1990 Days of Our Lives Faith Taylor 130 episodes
1991 Jake and the Fatman Angel Alexander Episode: "Every Time We Say Goodbye"
1994 The George Carlin Show Christy Episode: "George Helps Sydney"
1994 Heaven Help Us Lexy Monroe Main role; 12 episodes
1996 Strange Luck Lola Vale Episode: "Lightning Strikes"
1997 Xena: Warrior Princess Velasca 2 episodes
1997 Nash Bridges Karen Decker Episode: "Out of Chicago"
1997 Seinfeld Alex Episode: "The Muffin Tops"
1997 Sliders Allasandra Episode: "This Slide of Paradise"
1997–1999 Soldier of Fortune, Inc. Margo Vincent Main role; 37 episodes
2000 The Pretender Miss Eve Episode: "Meltdown"
2000 Nash Bridges Abby Gordon Episode: "End Game"
2001 Star Trek: Enterprise Sarin Episode: "Broken Bow: Part 2"
2001–2015 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Lady Heather / Dr. Kessler Recurring role
2002 First Monday Unknown Episode: "Pilot"
2002–2003 The District Detective Olivia Cahill Recurring role (seasons 2–3); 5 episodes
2002 Charmed Siren Episode: "Siren's Song"
2002 Everwood Sally Keyes Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"
2003 Tremors Megan Flint Episode: "Night of the Shriekers"
2003 Firefly Nandi Episode: "Heart of Gold"
2003–2007 The O.C. Julie Cooper Main role; 90 episodes
2004 50 Most Wicked Women of Primetime Herself / Co-host / Julie Cooper E! television special
2005–2011 Entourage Herself 6 episodes
2006 Avatar: The Last Airbender Madame Macmu-Ling Voice; Episode: "The Tales of Ba Sing Se"
2007 Reaper Mimi Episode: "Ashes to Ashes"
2008 King of the Hill Charlene (voice) Episode: "Untitled Blake McCormick Project"
2008 Chuck Sasha Banacheck Episode: "Chuck Versus the ..."
2008–2009 Eli Stone Dr. Lee 3 episodes
2009 Hell's Kitchen Herself Episode: "13 Chefs Compete"
2010 Ghost Whisperer Donna Episode: "Old Sins Cast Long Shadows"
2010–2013 Nikita Helen "Amanda" Collins Main role; 70 episodes
2010, 2017 The Vampire Diaries Kelly Donovan Recurring role (season 1); guest role (season 8)
2013 Vegas Lena Cavallo Recurring role
2014 Dallas Tracey McKay 2 episodes
2016 Gotham Grace Van Dahl 3 episodes
2018 Swedish Dicks Rebecca Glos Episode: "It Had to Be Lou"
2023 Fantasy Island Amber Graham Episode: "#Happy"

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma Sofia Ivanescu Voice
2012 Nikita: Codebreaker Amanda

Podcast series

Year Title Role Notes
2021 Movies That Changed My Life Guest Episode: "Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke: All That Jazz and Dirty Dancing"
2021–2023 Welcome to the OC, ...! Co–host 46 episodes
2024–present Beyond the OC 11 episodes as of July 11, 2024

Music videos

Year Title Artist Notes
1995 "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" Bryan Adams

Awards and nominations

Year Award/Festival Category Nominated work Result
1990 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actress in a Daytime Drama Days of Our Lives Nominated
1994 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Actress Return of the Living Dead 3 Won
1996 Sitges Film Festival Best Actress Killer Tongue Won

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Melinda Clarke para niños

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