Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle

Markle at the Paley Center in January 2013
Born Rachel Meghan Markle
(1981-08-04) August 4, 1981
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Residence Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
Alma mater Northwestern University, Immaculate Heart High School (Los Angeles)
Occupation Actress
Years active 2002–present
Known for Suits
Spouse(s) Trevor Engelson (m. 2011; div. 2013)

Rachel Meghan Markle (born August 4, 1981)[2][3] is an American actress, best known for her role as Rachel Zane on the TV legal drama Suits and FBI special agent Amy Jessup in the sci-fi thriller Fringe.

Early life and education

Markle was born and raised in Los Angeles County, California.[4] Markle is of mixed race, and self-identifies as such: "My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. ... I have come to embrace [it, and] to say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman."[5] Her father is of Dutch and Irish descent.[6]

Her mother, Doria, has a master's degree in social work and works as a yoga instructor and clinical therapist.[7][8] Her father is Emmy Award winner Thomas W. Markle, whose profession—director of photography—resulted in his daughter spending many years as a child visiting the set of Married... with Children.[9][10][11]

Markle was educated privately at the Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girls, independent Roman Catholic high school in Los Angeles.[12] She graduated in 2003 with a double major in theatre and international relations from Northwestern University.[13]

To support herself between early acting jobs, Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher.[14][9]

Humanitarian work

Markle is actively involved in the socio-political arena. In 2016 she became the Global Ambassador for World Vision Canada, traveling to Rwanda for the Clean Water Campaign.[15] She has also worked with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women as an Advocate,[16] making a presentation at the UN for the HeforShe gender-equality campaign in September 2014. She traveled to Afghanistan with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on a USO tour in December 2014.

Markle was a Counsellor for the international charity One Young World, speaking at the annual summit in Dublin (2014)[17] on the topics of gender equality and modern-day slavery. She also attended the Ottawa summit in 2016.[18]

Acting career

Markle appeared in Fox's series Fringe as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season.[19] Since July 2011 she has played paralegal Rachel Zane, on the USA Network show Suits.

Markle appeared in two 2010 films, Get Him to the Greek and Remember Me and one 2011 film, Horrible Bosses.[20] She appeared in the short film The Candidate (seen on the KQED public television show ImageMakers: the Company of Men) as a secretary in 2012.

In 2002, Markle appeared in an episode of the daytime soap opera, General Hospital. She has also appeared in episodes of Century City, Cuts, Love, Inc., The War at Home, 90210, Knight Rider, Without a Trace, The Apostles, CSI: NY, The League, Castle and Suits. Markle has also made appearances in the films A Lot Like Love and Deceit.

In November 2016, Markle and Canadian clothing company Reitmans released a line of reasonably priced women's fashion workwear.[21]

Personal life

Markle married Trevor Engelson on September 10, 2011, after having dated since 2004.[22]

The couple split in May 2013, divorcing in August 2013. It was reported in November 2016 that Markle had waived her right to financial support from Engelson.[23]

On November 8, 2016, Kensington Palace confirmed Markle was "a few months" into a relationship with Prince Harry in a statement from the prince asking for the media harassment of Meghan and her family to end.[24]

Markle is a self-proclaimed foodie, which was incorporated into her Suits character Rachel Zane.[9]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2002 General Hospital Jill 1 episode
2004 Century City Natasha "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose" (season 1: episode 4)
2005 Cuts Cori "My Boyfriend's Back" (season 1: episode 5)
2005 Love, Inc. Teresa Santos "One on One" (season 1: episode 9)
2006 1 vs. 100 Herself Mob member number 7
2006 The War at Home Susan "The Seventeen-Year Itch" (season 1: episode 17)
2006 CSI: NY Veronica Perez "Murder Sings the Blues" (season 3: episode 7)
2006 Deceit Gwen TV film
2007 Deal or No Deal Herself Holder of Case #24; 4 episodes
2008 90210 Wendy "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" (season 1: episode 1)
"The Jet Set" (season 1: episode 2)
2008 'Til Death Tara "Joy Ride" (season 3: episode 2)
2009 Knight Rider Annie Ortiz "Fight Knight" (season 1: episode 14)
2009 Without a Trace Holly Shepard "Chameleon" (season 7: episode 15)
2009 Fringe Junior FBI Agent Amy Jessup "A New Day in the Old Town" (season 2: episode 1)
"Night of Desirable Objects" (season 2: episode 2)
2009 The League Random Girl "The Bounce Test" (season 1: episode 2)
2010 CSI: Miami Officer Leah Montoya "Backfire" (season 8: episode 20)
2010 The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down Dana TV film
2011–present Suits Rachel Zane Main Character; Series Regular
2012 Castle Charlotte Boyd/Sleeping Beauty "Once Upon a Crime" (season 4: episode 17)
2014 Extant Girl at Table "Extinct" (season 1: episode 2)
2014 When Sparks Fly Amy Peterson Hallmark Channel movie
2016 Dater's Handbook Cassandra Barber Hallmark Channel movie

References

  1. Dewan, Angela; Isaac, Lindsay (8 Nov 2016). "Meghan Markle: Prince Harry warns press about harassing girlfriend". CNN.
  2. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGLK-V9T
  3. "Rachel Meghan Markle, born August 4, 1981". California Birth Index. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  4. Kim, Jae-Ha. "Celebrity travel with Meghan Markle".
  5. Markle, Meghan (17 August 2015). "I'm More Than An 'Other'". Elle UK. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  6. "Meghan Markle: Six things you didn't know about Prince Harry's girlfriend". The Week. November 8, 2016.
  7. Boyle, Danny (8 November 2016). "Who is Meghan Markle? Everything we know about Prince Harry's girlfriend". UK Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 November 2016. Meghan Markle was born in Los Angeles on August 4 1981 and raised by her mother, a yoga instructor and clinical therapist, and father, a photography director...
  8. Melas, Chloe (3 November 2016). "Meghan Markle: 5 things to know Prince Harry's rumored love interest". CNN. Retrieved 3 November 2016. This is when (my mother) graduated from USC with a masters in social work....
  9. 1 2 3 Goulet, Matt (July 13, 2013). "Q&A:The Beautiful Meghan Markle on Suits, Canada Day, and Handwriting". Esquire. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  10. Hicks, Tony (11 November 2016). "Prince Harry ready to meet Meghan Markle's father". Mercury News. Retrieved 12 November 2016. Her father, Thomas W. Markle, is an Emmy Award-winning cinematographer.
  11. Goulet, Matt (13 July 2013). "Q&A: The Beautiful Meghan Markle on Suits, Canada Day, and Handwriting". Esquire. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 12 November 2016. She (Markle) spent time growing up on the set of Married... with Children
  12. "Design and Trend". IBT Media Inc. 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  13. Lanyon, Charley (6 January 2013). "My life: Meghan Markle". Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  14. Goulet, Matt (13 July 2013). "Q&A: The Beautiful Meghan Markle on Suits, Canada Day, and Handwriting". Esquire. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 12 November 2016. What's funny is I (Markle) probably still have some calligraphy business cards floating out in the world....
  15. Watkins, Janelle (February 29, 2016). "Meghan Markle 'Suits' Up for Success". Ebony. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  16. Singh, Harmeet (August 7, 2015). "UN Women turn on the light". Strategy Online. Brunico Communications Ltd. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  17. "Meghan Markle: I had to refuse being filmed in just a towel every day". Independent.ie.
  18. "Justin Trudeau welcomes Emma Watson, Bob Geldoff, and other star activists to Parliament Hill".
  19. Andreeva, Nellie (2009-06-23). "Meghan Markle joins 'Fringe'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  20. Hibberd, James (2010-08-24). "Meghan Markle books lead role on 'Legal Mind'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  21. Delap, Leanne (November 5, 2016). "Suits star Meghan Markle launches 'accessible' clothing line at Reitmans". Toronto Star.
  22. "Hitched, Hatched, Hired". The Hollywood Reporter. September 27, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  23. Rayner, Gordon (3 November 2016). "Prince Harry 'has spent past week in Canada at Meghan Markle's house'". UK Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 November 2016. Miss Markle married the film producer Trevor Engelson in 2011, but they divorced in 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. Divorce papers published online show that she waived her right to any financial support from her ex-husband.
  24. "Prince Harry condemns press 'abuse' of girlfriend". BBC News. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.

External links

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