Melanie Joy Mayron is an American actress and director of film and television. Mayron is best known for her role as photographer Melissa Steadman on the ABC drama ''

thirtysomething ''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust any ...

'' for which she won the

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre-, or even gender-, specific. Begin ...

in 1989. In 2018, the Santa Fe Film Festival honored Mayron for her outstanding contributions to film and television.

Personal life

Mayron was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

to Norma (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Goodman), a real estate agent, and David Mayron, a pharmaceutical chemist. Her family is Jewish; her father is from a

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

background (the original surname was "Mizrahi"), while her mother is of Russian Jewish descent.‘Slap’ Happy Actor-director Melanie Mayron is breaking stereotypes in front of and behind the camera
By Naomi Pfefferman of the ''Jewish Journal'', August 22, 2002 She trained as an actress at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

. Mayron was in a long-term relationship with screenwriter and producer

Cynthia Mort Cynthia Mort (born June 18, 1956) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Mort has worked primarily in television since beginning her career in 1994, writing for the sitcom ''Roseanne''. Her notable works include the HBO series '' ...

, with whom she shared co-parenting of their two children.

Career

Mayron appeared in the 1974 film ''

Harry and Tonto ''Harry and Tonto'' is a 1974 road movie written by Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld and directed by Mazursky. It features Art Carney as Harry in an Oscar-winning performance. Tonto is his pet cat. Plot Harry Coombes (Art Carney) is an elderly ...

'', the 1976 movies ''

Gable and Lombard ''Gable and Lombard'' is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Sidney J. Furie. The screenplay by Barry Sandler is based on the romance and consequent marriage of screen stars Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The original music score was ...

'' and ''

Car Wash A car wash, carwash, or auto wash is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior of motor vehicles. Car washes can be self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or fully automated (possi ...

'', and the 1977 films '' The Great Smokey Roadblock'' and '' You Light Up My Life'', and starred in 1978's '' Girlfriends''. In the mid-1970s, she played Brenda Morgenstern's best friend, Sandy Franks, on three episodes of the sitcom ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974, to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The Mary Tyl ...

''. In 1982, she played Terry Simon, the photographer, in director

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

' political drama ''

Missing Missing or The Missing may refer to: Film * ''Missing'' (1918 film), an American silent drama directed by James Young * ''Missing'' (1982 film), an American historical drama directed by Costa-Gavras * ''Missing'' (2007 film) (''Vermist''), a Bel ...

''. In 1988, she co-wrote and co-produced the comedy film ''

Sticky Fingers ''Sticky Fingers'' is the 9th British and 11th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. The Stones released it on 23 April 1971 on their new, and own label Rolling Stones Records. They had been contracted by Decc ...

''. In 1995, Mayron directed '' The Baby-Sitters Club'', a film based upon the book series of the same name. She also directed the television movie '' Toothless'' (1997) starring

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

and the movie '' Slap Her... She's French'' (2002), starring

Piper Perabo Piper Lisa Perabo () (born October 31, 1976) is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), she starred in ''The Prestige'' (2006), ''Angel Has Fallen'' (2019), and as CIA agent Annie Walke ...

(which appeared on television as ''She Gets What She Wants''). In 2006, she appeared as a judge in the reality show ''Looking for Stars'' on the

Starz! Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consis ...

channel. In addition to her role as a primary cast member on ''

'', she also directed episodes of the show, as well as episodes of ''

In Treatment ''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series '' BeTipul'' ( he, בטיפול), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman. The series is about a ...

'', '' The Fosters'', ''

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

'', ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

'', '' Ed'', '' State of Grace'', ''

Nash Bridges ''Nash Bridges'' is an American police procedural television series created by Carlton Cuse. The show stars Don Johnson and Cheech Marin as two Inspectors with the San Francisco Police Department's Special Investigations Unit (SIU). The s ...

'', ''

Wasteland Wasteland or waste land may refer to: * Desert or barren area * an uncultivated area of land, whether wooded or not, whether common land or not Art, entertainment, and media Comics * ''Wasteland'' (DC Comics), 1987–1989 anthology-style horror/ ...

'', '' Tell Me You Love Me'' and '' The Naked Brothers Band''; the latter series was created and showran by Mayron's former ''thirtysomething'' co-star

Polly Draper Polly Carey Draper (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress, writer, producer, and director. Draper has received several awards, including a Writers Guild of America Award (WGA), and is noted for speaking in a "trademark throaty voice." She g ...

. In 2015, she directed and released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

''The Living Room Sessions'', a collection of videos of up-and-coming musical artists performing acoustic sets in her living room. Mayron has directed an episode of the Netflix original series '' GLOW'', an episode of '' SEAL Team'', an episode of '' The Enemy Within'', and multiple episodes of the 2018 ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcas ...

'' reboot, as well as ''

Jane the Virgin ''Jane the Virgin'' is an American romantic comedy-drama and satirical telenovela developed by Jennie Snyder Urman. The series premiered October 13, 2014, on The CW and concluded on July 31, 2019. It is a loose adaptation of the Venezuelan t ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Director

Awards

''Winner:'' * 1979: Bronze Leopard at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

('' Girlfriends'') * 1989:

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for

(''

'') ''Nominations:'' * 1979: BAFTA Best Film Newcomer Award for '' Girlfriends'' * 1990: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (''thirtysomething'') * 1991: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (''thirtysomething'') * 1998:

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film director, film and television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dire ...

Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs (''

The Wonderful World of Disney The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

: Toothless'')

References

External links

*
Melanie Mayron
at

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

Mayron's Goods
(formerly Mayron's Good Baby), Melanie Mayron's Company for Natural Skin Products and Diaper Cream {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayron, Melanie Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American film directors American television actresses American television directors American women film directors LGBT film directors LGBT television directors LGBT actresses American women television directors American health care businesspeople American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American actresses Actresses from Philadelphia American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners 21st-century American Jews Year of birth missing (living people)