Amanda Walsh (born October 3, 1981) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actress, writer, and former VJ for the Canadian

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

Early life

Walsh was born in

Rigaud, Quebec Rigaud () is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality in Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent region. It is located at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rigaud River, about west of downtown M ...

. She went to Hudson High School, in

Hudson, Quebec Hudson is an off-island suburb of Montreal, with a population of 5,135 ( 2011 Census). It is located on the south-west bank of the lower Ottawa River, in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. Situated about west of downtown Montreal, ...

Career

Walsh started her acting career "acting" out of border-crossing scenarios at the

Canada Customs The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cus ...

college in her hometown of Rigaud. Walsh began working as a professional actor at age 12. She has dabbled in sketches and stand-up comedy, with numerous TV appearances. She won a gold medal win at the 2000 Improv Games in Quebec as a member of the "8 People" troupe. An honours graduate from

John Abbott College John Abbott College ( French: ''Collège John Abbott)'' is an English-language public college located in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, near the western tip of the Island of Montreal. John Abbott College is one of eight English publ ...

, Creative Arts program (in Ste. Anne de Bellevue), she maintains an interest in

TV production A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for t ...

and music, and at 16 co-produced a documentary on the

swing revival The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak from the early/mid to late 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the ...

. Between acting jobs, open mic nights doing stand-up, creating video comedies with her friends, and learning to play the fiddle, she held a part-time job as a waitress in Hudson, Quebec. She co-starred in the straight-to-video film '' WarGames: The Dead Code'' (2008). She was also in an episode of ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a horror anthology television series. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, w ...

MuchMusic

Walsh was "discovered" by a MuchMusic producer while waiting tables in Hudson, Quebec. He encouraged her to send a video and apply for the job. She got it and became the youngest VJ in MuchMusic history at the age of nineteen. She has hosted or co-hosted many programmes including ''Much Top Tens'', ''

Electric Circus ''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') was a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988 to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...

'', ''

MuchOnDemand ''MuchOnDemand'' (also called MOD) is an hour-long per broadcast viewer interactive television program aired on MuchMusic, Monday through Friday at 5pm ET. It was broadcast live from 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario. ''The Best of M ...

'', '' Fandemonium'' and others. She left

in 2004 to pursue an acting career.

2000s work

Walsh has since made appearances on shows such as ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

'', and the night time

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Train 48 ''Train 48'' was a Canadian improvised soap opera, broadcast on Global Television Network and CH from 2003 until 2005. ''Train 48'' was based on the format of an Australian television program called '' Going Home''. History The show was broadc ...

''. In 2005, she starred opposite

David Boreanaz David Paul Boreanaz ( born May 16, 1969) is an American actor, television producer, and director known for playing the roles of vampire-turned-private investigator Angel on The WB/UPN ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' supernatural drama (1997–2003 ...

in the movie ''

These Girls ''These Girls'' is a 2005 film directed by John Hazlett and starring David Boreanaz, Caroline Dhavernas, Holly Lewis, Amanda Walsh, Colin C. Berry and Donnell Makenzie. Based upon the play of the same name by Vivienne Laxdal, its plot concern ...

'', based on the play by

Vivienne Laxdale Vivian (and variants such as Vivien and Vivienne) is a given name, and less often a surname, derived from a Latin name of the Roman Empire period, masculine ''Vivianus'' and feminine '' Viviana'', which survived into modern use because it is the ...

. That movie was shown at the 2005

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

. She had a small role in the movie "Stardom (2000)" playing an overenthusiastic VJ on a parody of the Canadian music channel MuchMusic. After moving to Los Angeles, Walsh got a starring role in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

mid-season replacement '' Sons and Daughters'', which premiered March 7, 2006 on ABC. The show was canceled in late-April after ten aired episodes. Walsh appeared on an episode of ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

'' and also had a minor role in the film '' Disturbia''. She portrayed Katie in the original pilot for the sitcom ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

'', but was replaced by

Kaley Cuoco Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (2002 ...

(as

Penny A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is t ...

) in the second pilot. In 2007, she had a role in the ABC movie ''Full of It'' as Vikki Sanders. In 2008, Walsh had a role in the Internet series ''The Remnants'' with

Ze Frank Hosea Jan "Ze" Frank (; born March 31, 1972) is an American online performance artist, composer, humorist and public speaker based in Los Angeles. Personal life Frank was born to German-American parents (his father is Chemistry Nobel Laureate J ...

. She can be seen in the 2009 comedy film ''

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past ''Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Mark Waters. The script was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. Filming spanned February 19, 2008 ...

''. In 2010, she appeared in

Family's ''

Beauty and the Briefcase ''Beauty & the Briefcase'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy television film directed by Gil Junger, based on the novel ''Diary of a Working Girl'' by Daniella Brodsky. The film stars Hilary Duff as a fashion journalist who works undercover to w ...

'' playing Hilary Duff's best friend Joanne. In 2011, Walsh appeared in an episode of the Showcase series ''

Single White Spenny ''Single White Spenny'' was a Canadian mockumentary television series that aired briefly on Showcase in 2011. The series chronicles the misadventures of a fictionalized version of Spencer Rice, played by himself, as he dates various women after ...

'' as well as a minor appearance on the ABC

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

''. She made a brief appearance as Natalie Haverstraw in an episode of ''

Grimm Grimm may refer to: People * Grimm (surname) * Brothers Grimm, German linguists ** Jacob Grimm (1785–1863), German philologist, jurist and mythologist ** Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm * Christia ...

'' entitled Of Mouse and Man in 2012. She has also appeared in season 10, episode 5 of ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

'' as Dawn, in season 10, episode 3 of '' NCIS'' as Ellen Roberts, and in season 1, episode 12 of ''

The Mob Doctor ''The Mob Doctor'' is an American television drama that aired on Fox from September 17, 2012, to January 7, 2013, as a part of the 2012–13 network television season. The series was created by Josh Berman and Rob Wright and is based on the book ...

'' as Chloe. In 2014–15, she appeared in 10 episodes of ''

Lost Girl ''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...

'' as Elizabeth Helm/Zee. In 2017, she appeared in the second season of '' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' in the central role of Suzie Boreton.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Amanda 1981 births Actresses from Quebec Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people Much (TV channel) personalities People from Montérégie Anglophone Quebec people 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian VJs (media personalities) Canadian women television personalities