Melanie Deanne Paxson is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jaclyn in Cupid, Sara Brennan in Happy Family and as Julie in Notes from the Underbelly. Paxson also appeared in a number of Gladwaretelevision commercials in the early 2000s.
Life and career
Paxson was born in Champaign, Illinois, and grew up in Mahomet, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in Theatre. She received training in acting at Second City Chicago and performed with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Paxson later became involved with "The Crew on the U" on Chicago's WCIU-TV. The Crew was made up of a group of young actors that appeared in promos for the station shortly after WCIU became a full-time general English language station after Univision bought WGBO-TV. Paxson also appeared as Velma in promos for WCIU's Scooby-Doo episodes the station aired on weekday mornings. Paxson was still seen on WCIU and WFBT in disclaimers for E/I Children's programming as late as the mid 2000s. Paxson by that time had become relatively famous on a national level. She pursued a screen career. In 1997, she had an uncredited role in the series Early Edition. Her first notable screen role was a recurring role as Jaclyn in the ABC series Cupid from 1998 to 1999. She went on guest star in the series The Drew Carey Show, Quintuplets, Joey, Related, Kitchen Confidential, ', Surviving Suburbia, Rules of Engagement, Medium and The Exes. From 2003 to 2004, Paxson had a regular role in the NBC sitcom Happy Family as Sara Brennan. From 2007 to 2008, she co-starred as Julie in the ABC sitcom Notes from the Underbelly, the series aired for two seasons. From 2009 to 2010, she had a recurring role as Doris Madigan on the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP. She is also the spokeswoman in Red Robin's burger commercials. Paxson's film credits include Ready to Rumble, Slackers, Saving Mr. Banks as Dolly, Disney's secretary, and starring as Joyce DeWitt in the television film'. She has appeared in television commercials for State Farm Insurance, Fiber One, Target, Yoplait, Red Robin, Glad Trash Bags, Hotels.com, Icomfort mattresses, and 1-800-DENTIST. Most recently she starred in the 2015 Disney Channel TV Original Movie Descendants and its 2017 sequel, Descendants 2. She played the Fairy Godmother from "Cinderella," now serving as the Head Mistress for the school, Auradon Prep. She also played a mother of a schoolchild in the second episode of the second series of the ABC comedy Speechless, which played on October 4, 2017.
Personal life
Paxson is married to Andy Paxson, co-owner of Los Angeles restaurant Simplethings Sandwich & Pie Shop. They live in Los Angeles with their son Miller and daughter Winifred.
