Melissa DiMarco | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | York University |
Occupation(s) | Actress, Television Host, Producer, Writer, Documentary Film Maker |
Years active | 1995 – present |
Website | http://www.outtherewithmelissa.com |
Melissa DiMarco is a Canadian actress, producer, and television personality. She has made acting appearances in feature films and television. She is best known for her role as Daphne Hatzilakos in the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2002-2010) and as the host and showrunner of her own syndicated television program Out There with Melissa DiMarco .
On television, one of DiMarco's best-known acting parts was in the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation as Daphne Hatzilakos, teacher and later Principal of Degrassi Community School. She played Hatzilakos for eight seasons (2002 - 2010). DiMarco's TV credits include the CBC soap opera Riverdale and guest-starring spots on series such as Due South , Blue Murder , The Hardy Boys , Psi Factor , Kung Fu: The Legend Continues , Relic Hunter , and Kojak . [1]
Her film credits include roles in Peter Bogdanovich's Hustle: The Pete Rose Story , Duct Tape Forever (the film adaptation of The Red Green Show ), The Rest of My Life: Degrassi Takes Manhattan , and Degrassi Spring Break Movie. She also appeared in Danny DeVito's dark comedy, Death to Smoochy . [2]
She also directed, produced, and wrote Dreamseeker: Nia Vardalos, an award-winning documentary on the rise of Nia Vardalos [3] of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame and was the host and producer of Nite Life, an entertainment show that focused on celebrity interviews and the nightclub, bar, and concert scene, which aired on OMNI. [4]
Since 2004, DiMarco has hosted the Out There with Melissa DiMarco television comedy which airs on Citytv's national network and The Biography Channel. [5] Excerpts from DiMarco's celebrity interviews also air on OUTtv. [6] The show mixes celebrity interviews with scripted comedy that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the life of an entertainment journalist (played by DiMarco). Among the celebrities she has interviewed on the show are Pierce Brosnan, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek, Queen Latifah, Ludacris, Matthew McConaughey, Brad Pitt, and Gene Simmons. [7] Updates and excerpts from these interviews are syndicated internationally. Out There has been recognized for Outstanding Achievement in Creative Excellence at the 39th U.S. International Film and Video Festival. [8]
DiMarco is a Dean's Honour Roll graduate of the Fine Arts Program at York University [9] and is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists, the Academy of Canadian Cinema, and WIFT-T (Women in Film & Television Toronto). [10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | The Hardy Boys | Reporter | Episode: "Love Birds" |
Side Effects | Belinda | Episode: "On the QT" Episode: "Time Enough to Say Good-Bye" | |
1996 | Due South | Stella | Episode: "Starman" |
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Jennie | Episode: "Shaolin Shot" | |
1997 | Riverdale | Irene | TV series |
While My Pretty One Sleeps | Heidi | TV movies | |
The Absolute Truth | Nurse | ||
Time to Say Goodbye? | Courthouse Reporter | ||
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | Katie Sheffield | Episode: "The Damned" | |
1999 | Relic Hunter | Kate Yawley | Episode: "Diamond in the Rough" |
2000 | No Alibi | Stella | |
The Thin Blue Lie | Sandra Durano | TV movie | |
2001 | Relic Hunter | Maxine Schneider | Episode: "Out of the Past" |
Blue Murder | Selena del Rio | Episode: "Partners" | |
The Associates | Cameron | Episode: "E Pluribus Unum" | |
Leap Years | Rosaline | Episode 1.9 | |
2002 | Degrassi: The Next Generation | Principal Daphne Hatzilakos | 2002 - 2010 (91 episodes) |
Marker | Dianna | ||
Death to Smoochy | Tara | ||
Duct Tape Forever | Deputy Dawn | ||
Adventure Inc. | Elizabeth Dillon | Episode: "Message from the Deep" | |
2003 | Wild Card | Spa Manager | Episode: "Sand Trap" |
2004 | Out There with Melissa DiMarco | Actor / Host / Interviewer | 2004–Present (144 episodes) |
Hustle | Carol Rose | TV movie | |
Life After | Angeline | ||
2005 | Bailey's Billion$ | Tessa (voice) | |
Kojak | Nancy Pastori | Episode: "Hitman" Episode: "Kind of Blue" | |
2008 | Degrassi Spring Break Movie | Principal Daphne Hatzilakos | TV movie |
2010 | The Rest of My Life: Degrassi Takes Manhattan | Principal Daphne Hatzilakos | TV movie |
2013 | The Goree Girls | Erica Gilligan | Pre Production |
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey Fatone. It follows a young Greek-American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian television series created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler. The second series in the Degrassi franchise and the first to be set in a universe that has spanned multiple decades, it aired on the CBC from 18 January 1987 to 27 February 1989, and on PBS in the United States starting from September 1987. A non-union show, it was primarily produced by Playing With Time with involvement from WGBH. Although not generally acknowledged by the mainstream, it has been frequently referred to as a pioneer of the teen drama genre that prefigured later and better-known series such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Dawson's Creek.
Antonia Eugenia Vardalos is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. She starred in and wrote the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), which garnered her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, which went on to spawn a media franchise.
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Yan Moore and Linda Schuyler. It is the fourth series in the Degrassi franchise and a revival of Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High. It premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001 and concluded on August 2, 2015 on MTV Canada.
Degrassi is a Canadian teen drama television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler, that follows the lives of youths attending the eponymous secondary school in Toronto. Each entry since 1987 has taken place in the same continuity. Outside of television, the franchise comprises a variety of other media, such as companion novels, graphic novels, documentaries, soundtracks, and non-fiction works.
Lauren Felice Collins is a Canadian actress, best known for portraying Paige Michalchuk on Degrassi: The Next Generation. She has also had supporting roles in the films Take the Lead (2006) and Charlie Bartlett (2007). In 2013, she appeared in multiple episodes of the sketch comedy Kroll Show, as well as a recurring guest role in the fourth season of the FX series The Strain (2017).
Betty Margaret Hannah Kennedy was a Canadian broadcaster, journalist, author, and Senator. She is best known for her work on radio and television.
Melissa Erin McIntyre is a Canadian former television and theatre actress. She is best known for her role as Ashley Kerwin on the long-running CTV/The N teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Amanda Felicitas Stepto is a Canadian retired actress who played Christine "Spike" Nelson throughout the majority of the Degrassi teen drama franchise. With no previous acting experience, she rose to prominence playing the character on the CBC's Degrassi Junior High (1987–1989) and its follow-up Degrassi High (1989–1991).
Linda Schuyler is a Canadian television producer. She is best known for being the co-creator and producer of the Degrassi franchise, which has spanned five series over four decades. She is a co-founder of Playing With Time, Inc., and Epitome Pictures, the production companies involved with the franchise over its 40-year-long history respectively.
School's Out is a Canadian drama television film based on the Degrassi teen drama franchise created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. It was directed by Hood and written by Yan Moore, based on a story by Moore, Schuyler and Hood. It aired on CBC Television on January 5, 1992, and served as a finale to the series Degrassi High and its predecessor Degrassi Junior High, which are collectively known as the Degrassi Classic era of the franchise.
Steven Shehori is a multiple award-winning Canadian writer, director, journalist, playwright, actor, author, and comedian from Toronto, Ontario. He contributes to Vulture and The Onion's The A.V. Club, and worked as a writer, editor, and celebrity interviewer for The Huffington Post from 2008 to 2018, contributing humor, film, music, political, and journalism pieces. In 2010, his satirical musical comedy Stephen Harper The Musical became the first-ever play to be staged at the international comedy festival Just For Laughs. In 2011, he broke the front-page Huffington Post story of the Toronto Catholic School Board dropping a lesbian comedian from its homophobia awareness event after discovering she was gay married. That same year, Shehori made headlines for securing the first post-series finale interview from Lost creator Damon Lindelof, where instead of discussing the show, the two men wrote out a beat-by-beat alternate version of Sex and the City 2.
Jessica Shaia "Jessi" Cruickshank is a Canadian television personality. She is the former co-host of MTV Canada's program The After Show and its various incarnations including The Hills: The After Show and The City: Live After Show with co-host Dan Levy. She also hosted Canada's Smartest Person and The Goods on CBC.
"Mother and Child Reunion" is the two-part pilot episode of the Canadian teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, which premiered on October 14, 2001 on the CTV Television Network. The episode was written by story editor Aaron Martin and series co-creator/creative consultant Yan Moore, and directed by Bruce McDonald. As with the majority of Degrassi: The Next Generation episodes, "Mother and Child Reunion" takes its title from a pop song, "Mother and Child Reunion", written and performed by Paul Simon.
Degrassi Goes Hollywood, known in syndication as "Paradise City", is a 2009 Canadian television film based on the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation, the fourth entry of the Degrassi television franchise. Directed by Stefan Brogren, it premiered in the United States on The N on 14 August 2009, and in Canada on CTV on 30 August 2009.
Degrassi Takes Manhattan, titled "The Rest of My Life" in syndication, is a 2010 Canadian television film based on the teen drama television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, the fourth entry of the Degrassi television franchise, which by release was renamed simply Degrassi. Directed by Stefan Brogren, it premiered in Canada on MuchMusic on 16 July 2010 and in the United States on TeenNick on 19 July 2010.
Out There with Melissa DiMarco is an internationally distributed comedy series that follows the misadventures of an entertainment journalist, and her offbeat "Out There" crew as they navigate the "glamorous" world of Hollywood. Canadian actress Melissa DiMarco portrays a neurotic entertainment journalist, struggling to keep her sanity while interviewing A-List stars.
Cristine Prosperi is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Imogen Moreno on the long-running television series Degrassi. She also starred as Aria on the web series Totally Amp'd, and as Mikayla Walker in the TeenNick television series Open Heart.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by Kirk Jones and written by Nia Vardalos. The film stars Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Andrea Martin, Ian Gomez, and Elena Kampouris.