Name: Wendie Malick
Date of Birth: 13 December, 1950
Place of Birth: Buffalo, New York
Most Known to everyone as: Nina Van Horn from the 90s sitcom, 'Just Shoot Me'; also appeared in the last season of Frasier
*Well known fact: She auditioned for the role of Diane in 'Cheers', which eventually went to Shelley Long
Fans of the short-lived sitcom, 'Just Shoot Me' will easily recognise Wendie Malick, who played ex-model- turned- writer Nina Van Horn of fashion magazine, 'Blush', for 7 seasons. 'Blush' was Just Shoot Me's very own Mode- only without the bitchy gay assistant. Suffice to say, she was just hilarious on Just Shoot Me- her comic timing and sheer delivery of her lines made her one of the star attractions of the show.
Interestingly, Wendie's career first kicked off when she became a model for the aptly named, 'Wilhelmina Modelling Agency'- no relation to Vanessa Williams's Wilhelmina character that is!
Though she has appeared on numerous TV shows, such as Baywatch, her first actual acting role was on the sitcom, 'Dream On'- the show lasted for 6 years in total.
As mentioned she played Martin Crane's girlfriend, Ronee in the NBC sitcom, 'Frasier' for 10 episodes in season 11. With a career spanning over 30 years, Wendie has an abundance of experience under her belt as a performer: both on- stage and screen.
Wendie is well known these days for her voice-over work on animated shows and cartoons such as Nickelodeon's 'Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'.
Wendie Malick would make a great guest star on Ugly Betty - she has proven in the past that she is the type of actress/ performer who can play a wide variety of roles. Her theatre credentials speak from themselves- she was in Lou Diamond Phillips' play 'Burning Desire' in 2007 alongside Michael Urie.
On Ugly Betty, I think the ideal role would be as either a correspondent on Fashion TV alongside Alec Mapa's, Suzuki ST Pierre- because for me, she has that newscaster-type voice and a personality to go with i and of which Wendie can carry off, or as a hard-nosed worker/representative of Meade Publications.
I could see Wendie at Mode alongside Betty, Marc, Amanda, Daniel, Claire, Willie; the problem is in what role or capacity would she occupy? Probably not as the owner of Meade, as it's Claire's anyway. I wouldn't mind her playing a catty Nina Van Horn again but with a different character name. Would it irate ex- 'Just Shoot Me' fans? Possibly so and probably not.
Wendie is an exceptional talent and a brilliant character actress, whose talents demonstrates her flexibility and range by playing a diverse set of characters. To have her on a show like Ugly Betty, would be great- she'd be a hoot!
Here she is as Nina from Just Shoot Me:
Info collated from IMDb and Wikipedia
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