Mischa Barton's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The O.C. Marissa Coo… The Beautiful Life: TBL Sonja Stone The Orlando Jones Show Mischa Barton

Main Movie Roles

BIOGRAPHY:

Mischa Barton (born January 24, 1986) is an actress with talent and poise beyond her 21 years. Born in London and raised in New York. She has the kind of career most actors can only dream about. From humble beginnings in New York Theater in 1994 where she trained with such esteemed Director/Writers as 'James Lapine' (Twelve Dreams at Lincoln Center with 'Donna Murphy'), 'Tony Kushner' (Slavs! at New York Theater Workshop with 'Marisa Tomei'), and 'Naomi Wallace' (One Flea Spare at the Public Theatre with 'Dianne Wiest'), she went on to work side by side with modern-day screen icons including 'Julia Roberts' and 'Hugh Grant' on Notting Hill (1999), 'Bruce Willis' and 'Toni Collette' on The Sixth Sense (1999) and 'Sam Rockwell' in her Sundance critically-lauded feature film debut Lawn Dogs (1997) produced by 'Duncan Kenworthy' in 1998.

Yet, despite this early success in theater and film, what really catapulted Barton to the next level and made her a household name is her small screen performance as the irrepressible and irresistible "Marisa" on the popular Fox television show, The O.C. (2003 to 2006). The show fast became a global cult phenomenon and has earned many awards including a Television Critics Association Award nomination for "Outstanding New Program of the Year".

Established as one of the most sought after young actresses of her generation Mischa was named "It Girl" in 2003 by Entertainment Weekly, she was also Hollywood Life's "Breakthrough Actress of the Year", she won several American Teen Choice Awards for the show, and also Cosmopolitan's "Fun Fearless Female Award" for "Knockout Ingenue" and Glamour's "Women of the Year". She has been ranked as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" from 2003 to 2007. She was awarded the VIPer Award in 2008 for "Style Icon 2007" by Mr. 'Karl Lagerfeld'. Most recently in 2007, she played opposite 'Shirley MacLaine' & 'Christopher Plummer' in Sir Richard Attenborough's Closing the Ring (2007), with 'Hayden Christensen' in the Dino De Laurentiis' film Virgin Territory (2007), and starred opposite 'Bruce Willis' in Assassination of a High School President (2008) for the Yari Production Company. In 2007, she filmed Walled In (2009) for the French production company "Canal Plus", and has starred in and produced the film Homecoming (2009).

Even at such an early age, Barton has also made a major impression in the fashion and beauty world. She has already graced the covers of countless international magazines and has become the face of numerous advertising campaigns.

This commercial and theatrical success has given the young woman an opportunity to take an extremely influential role in the global community. She became the spokesperson for "Climate Star", an organization that fights global warming through social and legislative activism. She serves as an "Entertainment Industry Foundation" ambassador teaming up with QVC to spread awareness and raise funds for women's cancer research through the "Fashion Footwear Association" of New York "Shoes on Sale Initiative" and is also involved in the "SAFE" campaign for skin cancer awareness. She is an ambassador for "Save the Children" and the "One Water" campaign which brings water to remote locations in Africa, and is on the board of the "Lupus Research Committee" in Los Angeles.


TRIVIA:

• Favorite book: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
• 'It Girl 2003' according to Entertainment Weekly's 'It List' for top Creative People in Entertainment
• Older sister, 'Zoe Barton' (qv), is a barrister in London.
• Younger sister is an aspiring singer.
• Born in London, England, but moved to New York when she was still a toddler.
• As a child, she was a model with Ford Modeling agency with 'Lindsay Lohan' (qv).
• Ranked #22 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.
• Pet: Angelo, a cat