Michelle Renee Clunie (born November 7, 1969) is an American actress and former

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer. A native of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, Clunie studied ballet from an early age, earning a scholarship at the Academy of Professional Ballet. In 1992, she starred in a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based production of ''A Comedy of Eros'', for which she won a

Drama-Logue Award The Drama-Logue Award was an American theater award established in 1977, given by the publishers of Drama-Logue newspaper, a weekly west-coast theater trade publication. Winners were selected by the publication's theater critics, and would recei ...

for Best Actress, before making her film debut in the slasher film '' Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'' (1993). Clunie gained international attention for her portrayal of

Melanie Marcus This is a list of characters in the Showtime series ''Queer as Folk''. The characters are listed alphabetically by their last name or by the name which appears in the episode credits. Drew Boyd Drew Boyd is the quarterback of the fictional Pitt ...

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's critically acclaimed series '' Queer as Folk'' (2000–2005). She later starred as Ellen Beals on ''

Make It or Break It ''Make It or Break It'' ( ''MIOBI)'' is an American teen/family drama television series that focused on the lives of teen gymnasts who strived to make it to the Olympic Games in 2012. The series was inspired by Touchstone's 2006 teen comedy-dra ...

'' (2010–2011) and as Mrs. Finch on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

’s ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is chang ...

'' (2015–2017).

Early life

Clunie was born November 7, 1969 in

. As a child, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and violin. Clunie attended Portland's

David Douglas High School David Douglas High School (DDHS) is a public high school in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is a part of the David Douglas School District. In 1998 Lynn Olson, author of ''The School-to-work Revolution: How Employers And Educators Are Joinin ...

, graduating in 1987. She was awarded a scholarship to The Academy of Professional Ballet where she studied and apprenticed throughout her teenage years. At 19 years old she sold her violin for $200 and moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career.

Career

In 1992, Clunie made her Los Angeles stage debut in Dean Orion's ''A Comedy of Eros'' performed at the Skylight Theatre, which earned her a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress. Additional stage highlights include her portrayal of Abby in

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...

's West Coast premiere of '' The Mercy Seat'' at the

Ford Theatre ''Ford Theatre'', spelled ''Ford Theater'' for the original radio version and known, in full, as ''The Ford Television Theatre'' for the TV version, is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950 ...

, for which she won the Backstage Readers Best Performance Award, and the world premiere and Off-Broadway production of ''US'', written and performed by Clunie at New York City's Lion Theatre at Theatre Row. In 1995, she was cast in the Academy Award-winning ''

The Usual Suspects ''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 neo-noir mystery thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwait ...

'' and shortly thereafter played a supporting role in '' Lost & Found''. She became a series regular on ''

The Jeff Foxworthy Show ''The Jeff Foxworthy Show'' is an American sitcom television series created by Tom Anderson, starring comedian Jeff Foxworthy and based on Foxworthy's stand-up comedy routine. It originally aired from September 12, 1995 to May 5, 1997 on ABC (s ...

'' and guest starred on '' ER'', '' The Tony Danza Show'', ''

House M.D. ''House'' (also called ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. The series' main character is G ...

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

,'' '' NCIS'', among several others. She played Melanie Marcus in the US adaption of '' Queer as Folk'' and the biology teacher, Mrs. Finch, on

’s ''

''.

Personal life

In October 2014 it was announced Clunie was expecting a child with director

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...

, and in January 2015 she gave birth to their son.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Michelle Clunie website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clunie, Michelle 1969 births American female dancers American dancers American film actresses American television actresses Living people Actresses from Portland, Oregon David Douglas High School alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses