Bahar Soomekh ( fa, بهار سومخ, born March 30, 1975) is an Iranian-American actress. She is best known for her roles in ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' and the ''

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mov ...

'' franchise.

Early life

Bahar was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, to a devout Persian-Jewish family. She moved with her parents and sister,

Saba Soomekh Saba T. Soomekh ( fa, صبا سومخ) is an Iranian-born American professor and author. Early life and education Soomekh was born in Tehran, Iran, to a Persian-Jewish family. to Hamid and Manijeh Soomekh. She is a sister of Hollywood actres ...

, to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1979 during the

Islamic Revolution of Iran The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. Soomekh attended Sinai Akiba Academy and

Beverly Hills High School Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or as BHHS) is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills, Moreno High School, is a small alternative school located on B ...

. Bahar later attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

. She graduated in 1997 with a B.A. in environmental studies.

Career

Following her graduation from UCSB, Soomekh worked in motivational sales while taking acting classes. In the beginning of her acting career, Soomekh guest starred on several

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

s, including '' JAG'' and '' 24''. She ultimately quit her day job to pursue acting full-time and landed her role in ''Crash'' less than three months later. Soomekh's breakthrough role came as Dorri in the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning movie for Best Picture, ''

''. Following her success in Crash, ''People (magazine), People'' magazine listed Soomekh as a member of the Class of 2006 as "New on the Scene". She followed up with roles in ''Syriana'' and ''Mission: Impossible III''. In 2006, she had a leading role as Dr. Lynn Denlon in the horror film ''Saw III''. Soomekh had a recurring role as Margo in the television series ''Day Break'' and guest appearances on shows such as ''Ghost Whisperer'' and ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. Her last film role was in ''Just like a Woman (2012 film), Just like a Woman''. After the Southern California area experienced the loss of film industry jobs to other locations, Soomekh decided to pursue a real estate career to remain close to her family.

Personal life

Bahar married Clayton Frech in 2001. The couple have three children. One of their children, Ezra Frech, was born with a disability. He was a double silver Parapan American Games medalist in 2019 and was named as a finalist for the 2014 Sports Illustrated SportsKid of the Year.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soomekh, Bahar 1975 births Living people University of California, Santa Barbara alumni American film actresses American television actresses Iranian emigrants to the United States 21st-century Iranian actresses American people of Iranian-Jewish descent Jewish American actresses Actresses from Tehran Actresses from Los Angeles Iranian Jews Iranian film actresses 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women American Sephardic Jews American Mizrahi Jews