Merle Dandridge (born May 31, 1975) is a Korean Japanese African
American actress and singer who performed in a number of stage
productions, including Broadway musicals Jesus Christ Superstar,
Spamalot and Rent. She is widely known for her role as Alyx Vance in
the Half-Life series and Marlene in The Last of Us. Dandridge is also
known for her recurring role on television series such as Sons of
Anarchy and The Night Shift. In 2016, she began starring as Grace
Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. She
played Papa Ge in the 2017 revival of Once on this Island, until
January 8, 2018.Dandridge was born in Okinawa, Japan. Her mother was
Korean living in Okinawa and her father was an African American U.S.
serviceman from Memphis. As well as Okinawa, Dandridge has lived
outside of Wheatland, California, at Beale Air Force Base and later at
Offutt Air Force Base (home to the then-Strategic Air Command) in
Bellevue, Nebraska, where she spent the majority of her childhood. She
attended Papillion La Vista High School and participated in the play
production class and theater department there. She then attended the
Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University (currently called the
Chicago College of Performing Arts).Dandridge began her career
appearing in Chicago theatre productions. She has gained a wider
audience as 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. In 2006, she was cast as Kala in the
original Broadway production of Tarzan. Dandridge earned a BAFTA Award
for her voiceover performance in the 2015 game Everybody's Gone to the
Rapture. On television, she guest starred on NCIS, 24, Criminal Minds,
The Newsroom and Drop Dead Diva. In 2012, she was cast in a series
regular role as Chief in the NBC drama series Chicago Fire. Dandridge
also had the recurring roles in the FX drama series, Sons of Anarchy
as Rita Roosevelt, and short-lived The CW teen soap Star-Crossed in
2014. In 2015, she co-starred in the second season of NBC medical
drama, The Night Shift as Gwen Gaskin.In 2015, Dandridge was cast as
lead character in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf
opposite Lynn Whitfield. She plays the role of Grace Greenleaf,
Greenleaf's estranged daughter. Dandridge has received critical
acclaim for her first leading screen role.
American actress and singer who performed in a number of stage
productions, including Broadway musicals Jesus Christ Superstar,
Spamalot and Rent. She is widely known for her role as Alyx Vance in
the Half-Life series and Marlene in The Last of Us. Dandridge is also
known for her recurring role on television series such as Sons of
Anarchy and The Night Shift. In 2016, she began starring as Grace
Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. She
played Papa Ge in the 2017 revival of Once on this Island, until
January 8, 2018.Dandridge was born in Okinawa, Japan. Her mother was
Korean living in Okinawa and her father was an African American U.S.
serviceman from Memphis. As well as Okinawa, Dandridge has lived
outside of Wheatland, California, at Beale Air Force Base and later at
Offutt Air Force Base (home to the then-Strategic Air Command) in
Bellevue, Nebraska, where she spent the majority of her childhood. She
attended Papillion La Vista High School and participated in the play
production class and theater department there. She then attended the
Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University (currently called the
Chicago College of Performing Arts).Dandridge began her career
appearing in Chicago theatre productions. She has gained a wider
audience as 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. In 2006, she was cast as Kala in the
original Broadway production of Tarzan. Dandridge earned a BAFTA Award
for her voiceover performance in the 2015 game Everybody's Gone to the
Rapture. On television, she guest starred on NCIS, 24, Criminal Minds,
The Newsroom and Drop Dead Diva. In 2012, she was cast in a series
regular role as Chief in the NBC drama series Chicago Fire. Dandridge
also had the recurring roles in the FX drama series, Sons of Anarchy
as Rita Roosevelt, and short-lived The CW teen soap Star-Crossed in
2014. In 2015, she co-starred in the second season of NBC medical
drama, The Night Shift as Gwen Gaskin.In 2015, Dandridge was cast as
lead character in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf
opposite Lynn Whitfield. She plays the role of Grace Greenleaf,
Greenleaf's estranged daughter. Dandridge has received critical
acclaim for her first leading screen role.
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