Melora Walters

Melora Walters
Born	(1959-10-21) October 21, 1959 Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Nationality	American
Occupations	Actress filmmaker
Years active	1988–present
Spouses	Dylan Walsh ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2003)​ Alex Vendler ​ ​ (m. 2008; div. 2010)​
Children	2

Melora Walters (born October 21, 1959) is an American actress and filmmaker, best known for her starring roles as Wanda Henrickson on HBO's Big Love (2006–2010) and Kathy Kone on Hulu's PEN15 (2019–2021). She frequently collaborates with Paul Thomas Anderson, earning two Screen Actors Guild nominations for her work in Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), respectively. Her other film credits include Dead Poets Society (1989), Eraser (1996), Matchstick Men, Cold Mountain (both 2003), The Butterfly Effect (2004), Short Term 12 (2013), Cam, Venom (both 2018), and Offseason (2021). Walters' directorial credits include Waterlily Jaguar (2018) and Drowning (2019), both of which she wrote and co-produced.

Career

Film

Walters made her screen debut with a small part in the 1988 film Underground, which she followed with the more substantial role of Gloria, a school student, in Peter Weir's critically acclaimed Dead Poets Society (1989). Following roles in various features throughout the early-mid 1990s, such as Beethoven (1992), Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994), and the commercially successful Eraser (1996), Walters began a professional partnership with Paul Thomas Anderson when she appeared in his directorial debut, the 1996 crime drama Hard Eight. She earned praise for her work in his subsequent films Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), with Variety critic Emanuel Levy describing her portrayal of drug addict Claudia in the latter as "superlative". For her performance in Doubting Thomas (2018), Walters was named Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Door Film Festival.

Television

On television, Walters has appeared in guest roles on series such as Roseanne, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, CSI, Desperate Housewives, Californication, The Mentalist, NCIS, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and American Gigolo. She also starred as Felicity on L.A. Doctors (1998–1999), Wanda Henrickson on Big Love (2006–2010), and Kathy Kone on PEN15 (2019–2021).

Personal life

Walters has two children from her marriage to Dylan Walsh; they divorced in 2003. She was previously married to actor Christopher Scotellaro between 1990 and 1994. Walters married cinematographer Alex Vendler on June 21, 2008. She filed for divorce from Vendler in 2010, citing irreconcilable differences.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Underground	Prostitute
	Staring at the Dark	Eden	Short
1989	Dead Poets Society	Gloria
	Rude Awakening	Punky	Uncredited
1992	Beethoven	Pet Shop Owner
1993	America's Deadliest Home Video	Gloria
	Twenty Bucks	The Stripper/Funeral Director
1994	Cabin Boy	Trina
	All Tied Up	Bliss
	Ed Wood	Secretary #2
1996	Hard Eight	Jimmy's Girl
	Eraser	Darleen
	American Strays	Cindy
1997	Los Locos	Allison
	Boogie Nights	Jessie St. Vincent	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast
1999	Magnolia	Claudia Wilson Gator	Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast
2001	Speaking of Sex	Melinda
	Rain	Ellen
2002	WiseGirls	Kate
	Desert Saints	Bennie Harper
2003	Melvin Goes to Dinner	Trenice, Melvin's Girlfriend	Copper Wing Award for Best Ensemble
	The Big Empty	Candy
	Matchstick Men	Heather, Roy's Ex-Wife	Uncredited
	Cold Mountain	Lila
2004	The Butterfly Effect	Andrea Treborn
2007	Brothers Three: An American Gothic	Loren
2008	Harrison Montgomery	Margo Fleming
	Black Crescent Moon	Katelan Beacon
	Dark Yellow	Woman	Short
2009	Hurt	Helen Coltrane
2010	Case 219	Victoria Lash
	Shit Year	Shelly
	Love Ranch	Janelle
2011	The River Murders	Agent Glover
2012	The Master	Band (voice)
	Mary	Mary	Short
	Missing Pieces	Delia Greenly
2013	Short Term 12	Dr. Hendler
	Underdogs	Nancy Smith-Burkett
	Lonely Boy	Betsy
	They Shoot	Unknown	Short
2014	The Young Kieslowski	Barbara Kieslowski
	Sacrifice	Enid
2015	Sex, Death and Bowling	Evie
2016	Indiscretion	Harper
	The Muse	None	Short; writer and director
	Sugar Mountain	Tracy Huxley
2017	Good After Bad	Victoria
	The Lovers	Lucy
	An American Dog Story	Efthemia (voice)
	Odious	Beatrice
2018	Not a Stranger	Jill Madden
	In a Relationship	Mia Ziniti
	Doubting Thomas	Kate	Golden Door Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress
	Waterlily Jaguar	None	Writer and director
	Cam	Lynne Ackerman
	Venom	Homeless Woman Maria
	The Amaranth	Lily Kendrick
2019	Beneath the Leaves	Rose
	Robert the Bruce	Ylfa
	Kleen	Judith	Short
	Stuck	Nancy	Short
	Drowning	Rose	Also writer, director, producer
	Adeline, the Great	Ms. Nichols	Short
	Where Are You	Edith the Gatekeeper
2020	The Pale Door	Maria
	Pink Skies Ahead	Hayley
	Hard Luck Love Song	Gypsy Sally
2021	Far More	Evie Flores
	Offseason	Ava Aldrich
	Severed Silence	Naida
	Attention Attention	Ruby
	West of Eden	Evelyn	Short
2022	The Hater	Sally Jensen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989–1990	Roseanne	Debbie	Recurring (season 2); 5 episodes
1990	How to Murder a Millionaire	Ginger	Television film
1991	The Wonder Years	Waitress	Episode: "Road Trip"
	ABC Afterschool Specials	Unknown	Episode: "It's Only Rock & Roll"
1992	Murphy Brown	Lisa	Episode: "He-Ho, He-Ho, It's Off to Lamaze We Go"
	Dear John	Maria	Episode: "Adult Education"
1993	Telling Secrets	Karen Blake	Television film
	Walker, Texas Ranger	Star Buckley	Episode: "Bounty"
	Bakersfield P.D.	Marnie Archer	Episode: "Lucky 13"
1994	Dead Man's Revenge	Bunny	Television film
	Seinfeld	Jane	Episode: "The Hamptons"
	Midnight Run for Your Life	Lorna Bellstratten	Television film
1995	The Marshal	Sheryl	Episode: "The Ballad of Lucas Burke"
	Picket Fences	Sherri Watkins	Episode: "Reap the Whirlwind
	Dream On	Dina	Episode: "Little Orphan Eddie"
	NYPD Blue	Holly Snyder	Episodes: "The Bank Dick" and "Dirty Laundry"
1996	Simon	Emily	Episode: "Simon Night Fever"
	Nash Bridges	Flo	Episode: "Skirt Chasers"
1997	High Incident	Unknown	Episode: "Camino High"
	Brooklyn South	Carly	Episode: "A Reverend Runs Through It"
1998–1999	L.A. Doctors	Felicity	Series regular (sesson 1); 20 episodes
1998	Twice Upon a Time	Alannah Merribone	Television film
2002	Push, Nevada	Grace	Main cast; 7 episodes
2003–2004	Threat Matrix	Lia "Lark" Larkin	Main cast; 13 episodes
2005	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Sage	Episode: "Gum Drops"
2006–2010	Big Love	Wanda Henrickson	Main cast (seasons 1–4); 35 episodes
2007	Desperate Housewives	Sylvia Greene	Episodes: "Distant Past", "Something's Coming"
2012	Californication	Lisa	Episode: "Raw"
	Franklin & Bash	Joan Ackermann	Episode: "Strange Brew"
2014	Rake	Jan Falcon	Episode: "Man's Best Friend"
2015	The Mentalist	Amber	Episode: "Byzantium"
	Criminal Minds	Paige	Episodes: "Protection" and "The Hunt"
2016	NCIS	Susan Elizabeth Lowe	Episode: "Reasonable Doubts"
2017	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Laurel	Episode: "Something Happened"
2018	Cherries	Patsy	Television film
	Corporate	Nadine	Episode: "Corporate Retreat"
	The Lover in the Attic: A True Story	None	Television film; director
2019	The OA	Melody	Episode: "Angel of Death"
2019–2021	PEN15	Kathy Kone	Main cast; 22 episodes
2022	American Gigolo	Maryanne Henderson	3 episodes

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	"Try"	Michael Penn	Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
1999	"Save Me"	Aimee Mann	Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

External links

• Melora Walters at IMDb