Birthday: 4/24/1969
Birthplace: Dana Pointe, California
Current Residence: Los Angeles

Melinda plays conniving socialite Julie Cooper. Recently ranked number three on Entertainment Weekly's Must List, Julie has become a favorite with fans and the media. Melinda is coincidentally the only cast member raised in Orange County.

Melinda has been working steadily since the age of 18 when she landed her first acting job three days after moving to Los Angeles, as a series regular on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives."
Her feature film credits include "Spawn," "Young Goodman Brown," "Mulholland Falls," "Cold Sweat," ".com for Murder," "Critics and Other Freaks," "Return of the Living Dead III," "Hot Under the Collar" and "The Killer Tongue," for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 1996 Stiges Film Festival in Spain.

In addition to her feature film roles, Melinda has starred on television in Jerry Bruckheimer's "SOF: Special Ops Force" and Aaron Spelling's "Heaven Help Us." Her guest-starring credits include "Seinfeld," "Nash Bridges," "First Monday," "Xena: Warrior Princess," "Sliders," "Likely Suspects," "The George Carlin Show," "Strangeluck" and others.

Melinda recently recurred on the hit series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" as the provocative Lady Heather, a dominatrix who brings customers' fantasies to life. The character of Grissom is intrigued and attracted by her intelligence and strong sexual presence. Melinda also had a recurring role on "The District."

A professionally trained coloratura soprano, Melinda enjoys performing in musicals. "It's the ultimate test," she says. "Not only is your acting being showcased, but your vocal and dance abilities as well." Besides starring on stage in such musicals as "The Music Man," "Oklahoma," "West Side Story," "The Sound of Music," "Hello Dolly" and "The Fantasticks," Melinda has also performed in dramatic theatre in such critically acclaimed productions as "Vicious," "The Elephant Man," "Lie of the Mind" and "Dark of the Moon."