Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian-born film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. George is perhaps best known in Australia for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993–1996). After moving to America, she appeared in television series such as Friends (2003), Alias (2003–2004), In Treatment (2008), Grey's Anatomy (2008–2009) and Lie to Me (2010), earning a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for In Treatment.
She made her film début in the neo-noir science fiction feature Dark City (1998) and later appeared in supporting roles in films, including The Limey (1999) and Mulholland Drive (2001). She has gone on to have lead roles in films, including the remake of The Amityville Horror (2005), the thriller Turistas (2006), the vampire horror film 30 Days of Night (2007) and garnered critical acclaim for her starring role in Triangle (2009).
Her most recent credits include the thriller A Lonely Place to Die (2011), the Australian drama series The Slap (2011), for which she won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress, and the British-American spy drama series Hunted (2012).
Melissa George was born in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Pamela, a nurse, and Glenn George, a construction worker. William Ward, a grandfather (several generations back) on her mother's side, worked as a prison warden at Rottnest Island, offshore from Perth. The second of four children, George developed an interest in dancing and began studying jazz, tap, ballet, and modern dance at the age of seven. Her enthusiasm for dance eventually evolved into a passion for artistic roller skating. She is an Australian national roller skating champion and won bronze medals in the National Championships in 1989 and 1990. She won a silver medal at the Junior World Championship in 1991.
George began modeling in her early teens, and in 1992 she was named Western Australia's Teenage Model of the Year. At the age of sixteen she met casting agent Liz Mullinar and won the role of Angel Parrish on the popular Australian soap Home and Away.
