Mischa Barton Biography

Actress and model Mischa Barton played poor-little-rich-girl Marissa Cooper in the popular television series The O.C., from 2003 to 2006. Barton was born in the United Kingdom, moved to New York as a child and began acting and modeling before she was in her teens. In the late '90s she began getting TV and movie roles, including a small role (as the poisoned girl) in M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense (1999, starring Bruce Willis). She had the lead role in the adolescent love story Lost and Delirious (2001) and appeared in several episodes of TV's Once and Again, but it was The O.C. that made her a star. While she worked on the series, Barton also worked as a model for clothing and cosmetics companies. Barton's character, Marissa, was killed in a car accident at the end of the third season -- a plot point the actress inadvertently revealed prior to the episode's airing. Since leaving the series, she has focused on modeling and a career in films, with the occasional arrest for driving while intoxicated. Her other work includes the films Homecoming (2009) and You and I (2011), and a recurring guest spot on the Ashton Kutcher TV production, The Beautiful Life: TBL (2009).