Melinda was born and raised on a farm in Durand, Illinois. Her hometown is two miles wide and two miles long with a population of 1100. There was only 36 students in her high school graduating class. Melinda is extremely proud of being a Midwest Farmer's daughter. She attributes her genuine "what you see is what you get" personality to growing up in a Mayberry kind of town. After high school Melinda moved to Chicago where she immediately was offered a contract with the Elite modeling agency. She fell in love with Shakespeare and joined a Shakespeare theater group called 'Inclusive Theater'. Melinda soon found she was born to play the role of 'Helena' in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Within a year of moving to Chicago Melinda landed her first film role opposite Patrick Dempsey in the movie "With Honors". This same film also gave Melinda the opportunity to work with Joe Pesci and Branden Frasier. Melinda soon realized she loved film as much as the theater. Later that year Melinda appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah's kind and encouraging words inspired Melinda to move to Hollywood. Once in Hollywood Melinda was quickly introduced to the world of Independent Films. Not only did she get a lot of on camera acting experience on the Indie sets, she got to try her hand at writing, directing, and even producing. This journey has given Melinda great respect for all the jobs that go into making a film. Melinda's first role on a TV show was on her favorite sitcom, "The Office". Show less «