Melanie Mayron

Mayron was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Norma (née Goodman), a real estate agent, and David Mayron, a pharmaceutical chemist. Her family is Jewish; her father is from a Sephardic background (the original surname was "Mizrahi"), while her mother is of Russian Jewish descent. She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1972 and subsequently attended the Actors Studio, studying initially with Lee Strasberg, and later with John Lehne and Sandra Seacat.

In her first starring role, Mayron appeared opposite Josh Mostel and Art Carney in the 1974 film Harry and Tonto. She worked steadily during the 1970s, with roles in the 1976 movies Gable and Lombard and Car Wash, and the 1977 films The Great Smokey Roadblock and You Light Up My Life, and starred in 1978's Girlfriends, directed by Claudia Weill. In the mid-1970s, she played Brenda Morgenstern's best friend, Sandy Franks, on three episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore show spin-off, Rhoda. In 1982, she played Terry Simon, the photographer, in director Costa-Gavras' political drama Missing, alongside Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek.

In 1988, she co-wrote and co-produced the comedy film Sticky Fingers starring Helen Slater. In 1995, Mayron directed The Baby-Sitters Club, a film based upon the book series of the same name. She also directed the television movie Toothless (1997) starring Kirstie Alley and the movie Slap Her... She's French (2002), starring Piper Perabo (which appeared on television as She Gets What She Wants). In 2006, she appeared as a judge in the reality show Looking for Stars on the Starz! channel.

In addition to her role as Melissa Steadman, one of the primary cast members on thirtysomething, she directed episodes of the show as well.

The character of Melissa, like Mayron, is single, hails from Philadelphia and has supported herself as a photographer. The New York Times noted in a 1991 article about Mayron: "If most actresses make a point of distinguishing their real selves from the characters they play, Ms. Mayron is a curiosity in her insistence that, in fact, she is Melissa, or vice versa. Or maybe a more confident version of her television persona"

She directed episodes of numerous TV series, including In Treatment, The Fosters, Providence, Dawson's Creek, Ed, State of Grace, Nash Bridges, Wasteland, Tell Me You Love Me, Pretty Little Liars and The Naked Brothers Band; the latter series was created and showran by Mayron's former thirtysomething co-star Polly Draper. In 2015, she directed and released on YouTube The Living Room Sessions, a collection of videos of up-and-coming musical artists performing acoustic sets in her living room.

She's continued to direct TV, including episodes of the Netflix original series GLOW, SEAL Team, The Enemy Within, the 2018 Charmed reboot, Jane the Virgin, and Julia. In addition to directing Jane the Virgin, she also appears in a number of episodes as a feminist literature advisor. She and Gina Rodriguez first worked together when Rodriguez appeared in an episode of Army Wives that Mayron directed.

In December 2023, she appeared off Broadway in Sandra Tsing Loh's play, Madwomen of the West, alongside Caroline Aaron, Brooke Adams and Marilu Henner.