Melora Diane Hardin is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles in the TV series Thunder and The Office. She managed to appear in commercials, and in Disney films, and in drama series, and in hit feature films. In film and television, she has played over 125 roles.
Those who perceive Melora Hardin only as Jen Levinson, the heroine of The Office of NBC, are very surprised when they find out that their idol has been in show business for more than a decade. Melora did not get into the cult project "Back to the Future" only because of an annoying misunderstanding: the applicant for the role turned out to be taller than her future partner.
Film career
And television and cinema were not the only facet of her talent. The performer has already tried her hand at acting as a director, and is popular as a singer and poetess. She managed to gain fame as an unusually successful comedian. Especially the actress succeeds in the parody genre.
Hardin has her own website, which she runs herself. Melora Diane inherited her artistic talent from her parents. She was born into a creative family. The famous actor Jerry Hardin is her father. The mother of the future celebrity was Diane Hill Hardin, an actress in the past and an acting teacher in the present.
The girl was born in Houston on June 29, 1967. Together with the child, the family moved to San Francisco. The future famous performer received her education in one of the most prestigious educational institutions in New York. The artistic debut of the baby took place at the age of six.
Early work was advertising for toothpaste, which was quite popular at the time. From ten Melora, together with other children, took part in the work on the children's program "Cliffwood Avenue Kids". The show was usually shown on weekdays, early in the evening.
In the seventies, the future celebrity starred in a whole series of pilot projects for not very successful TV series releases. Critics spoke very highly of the work of the young artist. For the first time, the girl got on the set at eleven.
She was offered on the comedy The North Avenue Irregulars. The film was directed by the creator of Hogan's Heroes, Bruce Bilson, and the girl's partners were Cloris Leachman and Susan Clark. She made her film debut in 1972. The aspiring performer's heroine was Amy Warner in the ABC Afterschool Specials television series.
Way to success
The successful premiere was followed by less prominent characters, but the films of the eighties and nineties, in which the aspiring actress participated, were quite large. Melora was used to giving all her best.
Therefore, the high class of her game was immediately noticeable. One thing upset the performer: at the box office, all the pictures invariably failed. A happy exception in 1991 was the Disney movie The Rocketman.
Melora got a good heroine and a number of songs. The film's soundtrack benefited greatly from her performance. In 1997, the artist starred in the crime thriller "Absolute Power" with Clint Eastwood. Almost immediately followed by work with Aaron Eckhard on "They Smoke Here".
Most of all, the actress succeeded in television. She was very successful in small roles, a maximum of a couple of episodes. The greatest success was won by a comedy project with her participation on the NBC channel.
The multi-part project "Office" examines the everyday life of an ordinary office. It is run by Michael Scott, who is superbly played by Steve Carella, a good-natured but incredibly uncouth and very lonely man. Hardin went to the character Jen Levinson.
By her behavior, a cold-blooded and judicious employee resists the madness of her superiors. Viewers have awarded the TV series the title of the funniest project of the channel since "Seinfeld". Melora received a new surge in popularity.
Private life
The girl did not stop there and continued shooting. She is constantly raising her artistic level. Hardin directed the regional production of her friend Adria Tenor's solo show "Strip Search".
The colorful tragicomedy tells about a woman who is looking for her destiny and inner essence. The creative journey was crowned with complete success: the seeker discovered her vocation. It turned out that this is a striptease.
Hardin became Celia in the cult TV series Friends. In 2002 she went to Trudie Monk in The Defective Detective. A new project with her participation, "Boston Lawyers", was released in 2004. Melora then performed in 2009 as a cameraman and director in the project "You".
The script was written by the husband of the actress Gildart Jackson. Together with Hardin and her parents, he played the main role. The actress took place in her personal life.
Married to Gildart Jackson, screenwriter, Melora since 1997. She has a wonderful family. Two daughters are growing up in it. At the end of September 2001, their first child, Rory Melora Jackson, was born, and in 2005 she had a sister, Quincy.
Time present
A year after the birth of her youngest daughter, the performer returned to work. She is signed to Tapestry Films and Fox Atomic to play one of the key roles in The Avengers.
The sports project tells about a coach who volunteered to lead a lousy team to the championship. But at work in one motion picture, Hardin's activities did not end. She is actively working in film and television.
In 2008-2009, for her participation in The Office, the performer was nominated for the Actors Guild Award for the best cast in a comedy series.
In 2016, she was nominated for an Emmy as Best Guest Artist on Obvious. Melora is engaged in dancing, singing, loves jazz very much.
The actress lives in Los Angeles. She calls the city homely and cheerful. Melora especially likes the fact that you can always either go to the beach or climb the mountains.
