Melinda Markey

Melinda Mary Markey was born on February 27, 1934, in Los Angeles, California, a date she shared with her mother, Hollywood actress Joan Bennett, whose 24th birthday fell on the same day. Her father was screenwriter and producer Gene Markey. Following her parents' separation during her infancy, Markey was raised primarily by her mother. She was the niece of actresses Barbara Bennett and Constance Bennett. Growing up in a Hollywood neighborhood, she was surrounded by prominent entertainment industry figures including Art Linkletter, Liza Minnelli, Ronald Reagan, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, and Bing Crosby. During her youth she also spent time at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, where she rode horses alongside actress Elizabeth Taylor. One of the farm's racehorses, Our Mims, was named in her honor and went on to become a champion.

Markey launched her acting career in the early 1950s, working across film, television, and stage. Her film debut came in the 1953 drama Titanic, in which she played a college girl. That same year she made her Broadway appearance, portraying the character Marcia Giles in the 1953 production of On Borrowed Time. She continued her film work throughout the decade, appearing in The Other Woman (1954), Woman's World (1954), The Adventures of Hajji Baba (1954), Crashout (1955), Prince of Players (1955), and Guns of the Timberland (1960).

Alongside her film career, Markey was active in television during the 1950s and early 1960s. Her television credits include guest appearances on Dragnet, Richard Diamond Private Detective, M Squad, Alcoa Theatre, and Matinee Theater, among others. She also appeared in General Electric Theater, Fireside Theatre, The Halls of Ivy, and Westinghouse Preview Theatre.

Markey has been married three times. Her first marriage, to actor Don Hayden, lasted from October 1954 until their divorce in September 1958. She subsequently married Joseph Albert Bena Jr. Her third marriage, to Thierry Van Dyck, took place on July 5, 1998. She has three children.