Melissa George

Melissa George

Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian Golden Globe-nominated actress who has worked in Australia and the United States in film and television.

Early life
Melissa George was born in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Pamela, a nurse, and Glenn George, a construction worker. The second of four children, Melissa George developed an interest in dancing and began studying jazz, tap, ballet, and modern dance at the age of seven. Her enthusiasm for dance eventually evolved into a passion for roller skating. George was an Australian national roller skating champion and won bronze medals in the National Championships in 1989 and 1990. She also won a silver medal at the Junior World Championship in 1991.

Personal life
Melissa George lives in Los Angeles with her husband Chilean film director, Claudio Dabed, who best known for his 2006 film Pretendiendo, and his daughter from a previous relationship, Martina (born 1995). She and Dabed met in Bali in 1998 and married on 22 September 2000. Melissa George became a naturalised American citizen in 2008. She now has dual Australian/US citizenship.

Career
Melissa George achieved a significant breakthrough in 2003 when she landed the role of Lauren Reed on the ABC series Alias. Also that year, she became Rachel's nanny in the American sitcom Friends.

Her first starring role in a feature film was Kathy Lutz in the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror. The same year, she played Deanna Schine in the thriller Derailed, co-starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston.

2006 was a busy year for George, who filmed three new movies; the drama Music Within, opposite Ron Livingston, the thriller WÎ"Z, opposite Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd, and the film adaptation of the graphic novel 30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade and co-starring Josh Hartnett. Also this year, she starred in the horror-thriller Turistas. George made her return to television in 2008 in the HBO half-hour drama In Treatment, co-starring Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest. In 2006, it was announced that George would be the new face and spokesperson for cosmetics company Napoleon Perdis, and the Australian jewelry company Linneys. She has also been appointed as an official ambassador for the 2007 52nd World Artistic Roller Skating Championships.

In September 2008, it was announced that Melissa George was joining the cast of Grey's Anatomy for 11 episodes as Sadie Harris, a bisexual intern. In January 2009, it was announced that George was leaving Grey's Anatomy due to a mutual agreement between her and the show's producers.

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