Mel Harris

Mel Harris is an American actress writer and director best known for her portrayal of Hope Steadman on the critically acclaimed Emmy Awardwinning series Thirtysomething 1987 for which she received a Golden Globe nomination as best Actress in a Drama Series She starred in the NBC comedy Something So Right 1996 and the My Network drama series Saints and Sinners 2014 Her most recent role has been as Nadine Davies on Hulus new series Shut Eye 2016 Mary Ellen Harris was born in Bethlehem Pennsylvania and raised in New Jersey Her mother was a high school science teacher and her father a football coach at Princeton University She spent 12 years in the modeling world living in New York and Europe before stumbling into the acting business She starred in numerous miniseries and telefilms including Cross Fire 1989 The Burden of Proof 1992 and Grass Roots 1992 as well as appearances on Crazy ExGirlfriend 2015 Law Order Special Victims Unit 1999 and as Senator Rafferty on The West Wing 1999 Among her feature film credits are Brian De Palmas Raising Cain 1992 K9 1989 opposite Jim Belushi Suture 1993 The Pagemaster 1994 and Wanted Dead or Alive 1986 She made her New York stage debut at the Circle Repertory Company in the world premiere of John Bishops Empty Hearts for which she received a 1992 Theater World Award In addition to her acting in the last few years she has focused on writing with her partner and husband Emmy Award winning writerproducer Bob Brush under their shingle Topanga Moon Productions IMDb mini biography by mel harris