Melinda Clarke Biography

Melinda Clarke is known mostly for her work in television, from guest shots on Xena: Warrior Princess and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to her current role as conniving Julie Cooper-Nichol on The O.C.. Clarke started acting right out of high school, landing a role in 1989 on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives (her father, John Clarke, was a regular cast member). During the ’90s she made dozens of television appearances and a few films (she was Jessica Priest in 1997’s Spawn), usually playing villainous vixens, such as Velasca in Xena (opposite Lucy Lawless) and dominatrix Lady Heather in CSI (starring William Petersen).