Merle Dandridge

Merle Dandridge is an American actress, voice actor, and singer.

Biography
Dandridge was born in Okinawa, Japan, on May 31, 1975. Her father was an African-American U.S. serviceman from Memphis, Tennessee, while her mother was a local Okinawan of Korean and Japanese descent. After leaving Okinawa, Dandridge has lived at Beale Air Force Base in Sacramento, California; and later at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska, where she spent the majority of her childhood. Dandridge attended Papillion La Vista High School, where she participated in the play production class and theater department. She then attended the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University, gaining entry with a scholarship that she earned at the International Thespian Festival.

Dandridge began her acting career by appearing in a number of Chicago theatre productions. She then gained a wider fanbase and recognition through the voice of Alyx Vance in the award-winning action game Half-Life 2 and its sequels, Episode One and Episode Two, and also as Marlene in The Last of Us. On television, she guest-starred on several shows such as NCIS, 24, Criminal Minds, The Newsroom, and Drop Dead Diva. Dandridge also starred in recurring roles in the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy and the short-lived The CW teen soap-opera Star-Crossed. She has also toured the U.S. and Europe a total of five times.

On Criminal Minds
Dandridge portrayed Agent Lynn Brooks on the Season Seven episode A Family Affair.

Filmography

 * Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (2015) as Kate Collins (video game, voice)
 * The Night Shift (2015) as Gwen Gaskin (13 episodes)
 * Suits (2015) as Leah
 * Perception (2015) as Robyn Sherman
 * NCIS: Los Angeles (2014) as CIA Officer Nicole Borders
 * Stalker (2014) as Dean Lisa Miner
 * Drop Dead Diva (2014) as Nadine Comer
 * Star-Crossed (2014) as Vega (7 episodes)
 * The Mentalist (2014) as Lydia Faulk
 * The Newsroom (2012-2013) as Maria Guerrero (2 episodes)
 * Dota 2 (2013) as Legion Commander/Winter Wyvern (video game, voice)
 * The Last of Us (2013) as Marlene (video game, voice)
 * Nikita (2013) as Zoe
 * Company Town (2013) as Louise
 * Sons of Anarchy (2011-2012) as Rita Roosevelt (6 episodes)
 * Criminal Minds - A Family Affair (2012) TV episode - Agent Lynn Brooks
 * Ringer (2011) as Dr. Anabel Morris
 * Love Bites (2011) as Krista
 * Lie to Me (2011) as D.A. Jill Ottinger
 * Matadors (2010) as Brooke Comas
 * CSI: Miami (2010) as Stacy Garrett
 * 24 (2010) as Kristen Smith
 * The Deep End (2010) as Jennifer Hutchins
 * Nothing But the Truth (2008) as Celia
 * I'm Paige Wilson (2007) as Gloria
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two (2007) as Alyx Vance (video game, voice)
 * The Orange Box (2007) as Alyx Vance (video game, voice)
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One (2006) as Alyx Vance (video game, voice)
 * Guiding Light (2005) as Lawyer
 * All My Children (2005) as Lois (3 episodes)
 * Third Watch (2005) as Nikki
 * Half-Life 2 (2004) as Alyx Vance (video game, voice)
 * NCIS (2003) as Marcy Carruthers
 * Angel (2003) as Lacey Shepard
 * The Edge (2003) as Agent Angela Wells

LINKS
For an up-to-date filmography, see here.