Representation for Film, TV & Stage: THE GAGE GROUP Representation for Commercials & VO: DON BUCHWALD AGENCY |
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UNION SQUARE PILOT
FILM ACTING REEL
TELEVISION ACTING REEL
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PHOTOS
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COMMERCIAL VO REEL
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EARLY RETIREMENT Dear Friends, I was way ahead of the times when I did this very funny sitcom for NBC!~ Just now, I finally got a clean copy of the show "Union Square" and wanted to give you all this gift as a memory of Me in this lifetime industry I so devoted myself to. Now look @ The Latinas on T.V.!~ I guess I was {besides Dezi Arnaz} a pioneer in my thinking here...lol. Please put the volume up, click on the blue line, sit back & enjoy a glass of wine & laugh... I was taught by the very best to always keep my dignity, my elegance& grace & finally, My Class Act In Tact. Therefore, My industry has been giving me strong clues to bow out gracefully for some time now. Like a Throughbred Horse that ran its prime out... it is placed to pasture for the rest of it's life, unless its used for McDonald Hamburgers & I refuse to allow that to happen to Me...lol. So, I am putting in for early retirement at the end of the year and letting you all know~ My wonderful support group, My Dear friends of so many years & My close knit Family, {& you know who you are}... that I truly from the bottom of my heart... Thank You ALL for a brilliant longrun in such a difficult business & in my chosen profession. Perhaps, one day, as I always leave the door open, someone will call me and ask me to step in for a sick actress and I will be waiting in the wings with An Oscar caliber performance~ isn't that what happens to us great late bloomers?...LOL. God Bless You All for being there during the good days as well as & especially, the bad ones, and as for you Daddy, I Thank You for raising me so well. You gave me so much unconditinoal love... allowing me to be who I am with a tremendous heart &soul. My talent was evident early on & never once did you sway me away from what I was meant to do in this life... but instead, SUPPORTING MY DECISION early on... to go for it with everything I had & letting me always know that you would "Be There" no matter what... and as, "The Man of your Word" @ 83, I know you to be...I, @ 52, consider You My favorite human being on Earth. You are an awesome father to Me. Thank You. At least I got to be one of the Lucky Ones, I got to ACT with the finest, be directed by the finest, walk a few red carpets... and make lots and lots of people laugh throughout my long successful career ON The Great Broadway Stage, in all of our living room T.V. screens, & finally had the opportunity to know what its like to Star On The Silver Screen... with appreciative fans from allover the world acknowledging me with positive fan mail & appraise. IT WAS A WONDERFUL JOURNEY!~ Lucky Me!~ I can now bow out after 35 years of being a true professional... being able to say that I AM AN ACTRESS. I Thank You ALL once again for your belief in Me for all these years!~ With Nothing but Love, |
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ABOUT MEL Mel Gorham obtained her B.F.A. in drama from the prestigious University of Miami Ring theater program. Other notable thespians who attended the renowned drama school include Sylvester Stallone, Ray Liotta, and Steven Bauer among others. Mel received several acting awards while still a student. During her senior year on a professional auditioning class trip to New York, Mel was the first ever student to actually book professional off-Broadway theater work - a significant role in the 1980 revival of the musical HAIR. She took a leave of absence from school to work on the show, and within a short period of time, she became the elaborate ensemble's choreographer thanks to dancing skills she honed at the famed Joe Michael's School of Dancing, the studio run by Emmy-award winning dancer and choreographer Mia Michaels of recent SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE fame. She continued working on and off-Broadway in several plays including OH CALCUTTA, and Marvin Hamlisch-Howard Ashman's SMILE, to name a few highlights among her 37 stage productions. Not surprising for a girl who first graced the stage with her presence at the tender age of 12 in Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN. It was while showcasing her chameleon-like talents in Angel Salazar's EL BARRIO staged at THE VILLAGE GATE and CAROLINE'S in New York City (where she created 22 different characters), that she caught the attention of protean actor John Leguizamo and his then manager Michael Bregman, son of famous film producer Martin Bregman. Thus, Mel was discovered after years of persistent, dedicated work at her craft. Shortly thereafter, top-tier talent agency ICM signed her, and Mel's career took off under the guidance of reps Lisa Loosemore and Aleen Keshishian. Big screen work followed almost immediately, including a 5-movie deal with Harvey Weinstein's MIRAMAX where she showed her natural-born talent as a character actress in each successive role. She worked along side of Harvey Keitel and William Hurt in Paul Auster and Wayne Wang's SMOKE and its pioneering improvisational sequel BLUE IN THE FACE, which brought her great critical acclaim for her role as the passionate Violeta. She stood out within the star-studded cast that included Mira Sorvino, Harvey Keitel, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin, and Madonna, et al. In COPLAND, Mel portrayed the girlfriend of the character played by Ray Liotta, Monica, who memorably dies in a fiery explosion. There, she disappeared under the skin of a character addled with drug addiction and starred opposite another star-studded cast led by Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta. Indeed, years later, she assisted the talented up-and-coming young actor James Franco prepare for his memorable role as a drug addict in CITY BY THE SEA opposite Robert DeNiro. WISHFUL THINKING brought her into the company of star Drew Barrymore playing her character's psychic. She starred with Billy Baldwin in the Quentin Tarantino film CURDLED shot in her hometown of Miami. Among her 27 film credits are her more recent roles as a papparazzo in DELIRIOUS opposite Steve Buscemi and as a quirky character in AMERICAN COWSLIP with an ensemble cast of great actors including Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman. In the late 1990s, because of her memorable film roles, NBC developed a TV sitcom loosely based on her own life as a native of Miami who leaves her hometown to try her luck as an actress in New York City. UNION SQUARE, directed by TV legend James Burrows, landed a coveted must-see TV spot between FRIENDS and SEINFELD. Mel Gorham was born Marilyn Schnier to parents as ecletic as their only daughter. Her father Sanford "Sandy" Schnier, a veteran Miami entertainment journalist of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, was also a theater stage actor himself who encouraged and supported her dreams of becoming a lifelong career actress but not without first warning her that "it's a tough racket, kid." Her mother Emma Xiomara Dieguez Valdivia, a ravishing Cuban-born beauty handed down a passionate and resilient spirit to her daughter. Mel took several years off her career to attend to her mother who passed away from cancer in early 2004. |
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