Born August 6, 1976 in Perth, Western Australia, Melissa Suzanne George is an athlete and an actress who made a name in her hometown and in the United States. At an early age of seven, she became interested in dancing and took up lessons in jazz, tap, ballet and modern dance. Eventually, she became engrossed in roller skating and received the Australian National Roller Skating Champion Award. For two consecutive years since 1989, she earned bronze medals at the National Championships and a silver medal at the 1991 Junior World Championships. The second of four children, George attended Warwick Senior High School. As a teenager, she took an interest in modeling and was dubbed as Western Australia's Teenage Model of the Year in 1992. At 16, a casting agent discovered her and George landed on the role of Angel Parrish on Home and Away, an Australian soap. She then moved to Sydney in pursuit of her acting career. She has since then appeared on various TV shows including
Friends , LA Confidential,
Alias ,
Charmed and Lost in Oz.
George was cast as Cleo Miller on the comedy crime film Sugar & Spice. She also played Elkie on the romantic comedy Down with Love, which starred Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. In 2005, she starred opposite Vincent Cassel on Derailed. On the same year, she earned her first starring role through the remake of The Amityville Horror, where she played Kathy Lutz. George's other films are Stopping Power, Triangle and The Betrayed.
She currently lives in Los Angeles with husband Claudio Dabed, whom she met in Bali, and with stepdaughter Martina.
Laura is played by
Melissa George on the HBO drama
In Treatment . An attractive and young anesthesiologist who has been under Paul's treatment for a year, Laura faces a dilemma of choosing between leaving her boyfriend or marrying him.
(Photo courtesy of HBO)