Melinda Clarke

Clarke was raised in Dana Point, California. She is the daughter of actor John Clarke. One of three siblings, Clarke's sister, Heidi, died in 1994 of a malignant heart tumor.Clarke appeared on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives as Faith Taylor (where her father was a senior cast member), and starred in the television series Soldier of Fortune, Inc. She also guest-starred on Xena: Warrior Princess as the Amazon chieftain Velasca, Firefly as the brothel madam Nandi, Charmed as the Siren, and has had six appearances on CSI where she played dominatrix Lady Heather. She also appeared in the Seinfeld episode "The Muffin Tops", playing Jerry's girlfriend who likes anything hairless. In 1993, she played a lead role in the horror film Return of the Living Dead 3.

She portrayed Julie Cooper in the teen drama series The O.C., that aired on the Fox network from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. Clarke's character Julie Cooper was often characterized as devious and selfish, with USA Today calling her a "shallow vixen". However, she revealed a more vulnerable side of herself a number of times during the series. Clarke was originally billed as a guest star in the first few episodes in which she appeared, but due to fan response was offered a series regular contract; Clarke accepted the role and her character became an integral part of the show's storylines.

In July 2009, Entertainment Weekly placed Clarke's The O.C. character Julie Cooper at No. 3 on their list of "21 Top TV Bitches". In January 2021, Vogue wrote about the fashion choices on The O.C., commenting: "Speaking of the Coopers, I also want to end by saying Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke), Marissa's mom, is so underrated during this whole series. First of all, she's gorgeous. Secondly, she commands every single room she walks into, whether it's in a pink Juicy Couture tracksuit or a groovy, off-the-shoulder top. Clearly Marissa got all her fashion sense from her."

As well as starring on The O.C., she has appeared on HBO's comedy-drama series Entourage as a fictionalized version of herself, married to Malcolm McDowell's character Terrance McQuewick. Clarke portrayed Blithe Meacham in the television film She Drives Me Crazy (2007), which was produced by Kelly Rowan. She had guest roles in several television shows, including Chuck (2007), Reaper (2007) and Ghost Whisperer (2010). In 2010, she appeared on The CW show The Vampire Diaries as Kelly Donovan, a mother who discovers her daughter has died. Los Angeles Times praised her performance as Kelly by saying: "In a scene without any dialogue, Clarke made Kelly's grief believable and powerful."

In 2010, she landed one of the main roles in The CW's action drama series Nikita as Helen "Amanda" Collins. Clarke's character was the main antagonist in the show's third and fourth season. The series concluded after four seasons on December 27, 2013. She has lent her voice to several voice acting projects, voicing Alexa in The Animatrix: Matriculated, Sofia Ivanescu in the video game Mission Impossible: Operation Surma, Madame Macmu-Ling in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Charlene in King of the Hill.

In April 2021, Clarke and her former The O.C. co-star Rachel Bilson launched a weekly podcast titled Welcome to the OC, Bitches! The podcast focuses on the hosts and guests re-watching and discussing episodes of The O.C. In August 2021, the podcast was named one of "7 Top Celebrity Podcasts You Should Subscribe To Right Now" by Bustle. In December 2023, Clarke announced that she is launching a new podcast, Beyond the OC, hosted by Clarke and her daughter. The podcast was launched on April 25, 2024.