Melinda Clarke is an American actress from California. Her better known roles include her portrayal of Faith Taylor in the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" (from 1989 to 1990), her recurring role as the dominatrix Lady Heather in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (from 2001 to 2015), her co-starring role as the devious mother Julie Cooper in the teen drama "The O.C." (2003-2007), and her portrayal of the ruthless psychologist and professional torturer Helen "Amanda" Collins in the action thriller series "Nikita" (2010-2013).

Clarke was born in Upland, California, and raised in Dana Point. Dana Point is a relatively small harbor city in Orange County, California, primarily known for its association with the surfing industry since the 1950s. Clarke's father was the professional actor John Clarke (1931-2019). who has one of the main roles in "Days of Our Lives" from 1965 until his retirement in 2004. Clarke's chose to follow in her father's footsteps.

Clarke had her first prominent film role in the horror comedy film "Return of the Living Dead 3" (1993). She portrayed Julie Walker, a young woman killed in a motorcycle accident. Julie's boyfriend intentionally revives her as a sentient zombie. In 1994, Clarke had the co-starring role of Lexy Monroe in the short-lived fantasy series "Heaven Help Us ". The series only lasted for 13 episodes, and was released as part of a syndication package.

In 1997, Clarke had a prominent guest-star role as the villainous Amazon Queen Velasca in two episodes of the fantasy series "Xena: Warrior Princess".. Velasca was a popular villain for the series, resulting in the creation of a toy figure in her likeness and the character's appearance in a Xena video game.

Also in 1997, Clarke portrayed the female assassin Jessica Priest in the superhero film "Spawn". Priest is the assassin who originally killed Spawn/Al Simmons, but is surprised when her victim is revived as a hell-spawn and seeks revenge. Clarke had the co-starring role of Margo Vincent in the short-lived action adventure series "Soldier of Fortune, Inc." (1997-1999). The series featured the adventures of a "black ops" mercenary team which was under contract with the American government.

In the 2000s, Clarke had memorable guest-star roles in several then-popular series. She portrayed the shape-shifting resistance leader Sarin in "Star Trek: Enterprise", an unnamed demonic Siren in "Charmed", the brothel madam Nandi in "Firefly", the master poet and teacher Macmu-Ling in "Avatar: The Last Airbender", and the Russian mercenary and spy Black Widow/Sasha Banacheck in "Chuck".

Clarke hosted her own weekly podcast from 2021 to 2023, under the title "Welcome to the OC, Bitches". It provided discussions on aspects of the television series. It was listed for a while as as one of the most popular celebrity podcasts. In 2024, Clarke was working on launching a sequel podcast under the title "Beyond the OC". It will reportedly feature Clarke's daughter as a co-host.