Roxana Zal (born November 8, 1969) is an American former actress and fashion designer. In 1984, at the age of 14, she became the youngest

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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

winner for her title role in the television film '' Something About Amelia''.

Early life

Zal was born and raised in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

, the daughter of Maureen and Hossein Zal, an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian-born Los Angeles investor. Zal was keen to take up acting when aged 8, however her parents resisted, until her aunt persuaded them to allow her several years later.

Career

She began acting aged 11 and secured her first acting role as a guest spot on '' Hart to Hart'' towards the end of 1981. In 1983, Zal appeared in the films '' Table for Five'' starring

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations ...

and ''

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

'' opposite

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American-Canadian actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 ...

. In 1984 she won a

for her role in the television film '' Something About Amelia''. She also received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film nomination for her performance. Zal later starred in the 1986 independent crime film '' River's Edge'' and in 1989 starred in the teen romantic drama film '' Under the Boardwalk''. In 1989, she appeared as young mother Cissy McClure in '' Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure'', the real life story about the rescue of Jessica McClure two years prior. At the time, she was a second-year student at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA) and filmed the role while studying world arts and cultures. In 1990, Zal appeared in a number of made-for-television and independent films playing supporting roles. She also guest starred in a number of television series, including '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', '' The Pretender'' and '' NCIS''. In 2006, she was a regular cast member on the

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

telenovela '' Watch Over Me''. Zal left acting and became a fashion designer in the 2000s.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zal, Roxana 1969 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American child actresses American film actresses American people of Iranian descent American television actresses Actresses from California Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners Actresses from Malibu, California Living people