Meghan Markle

Rachel Meghan Markle (born August 4, 1981), is an American actress, model and humanitarian from Los Angeles. Since 2011 she has portrayed Rachel Zane on the legal drama series Suits and is also known for her work as FBI special agent Amy Jessup in the sci-fi thriller Fringe. 2Early life Markle was born on August 4, 1981, and raised in Los Angeles. Of her parents she has said, "my dad is Caucasian and my mom is African-American ... I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman." Her mother, Doria Ragland, has a master's degree from the University of Southern California and works as a psychotherapist and yoga instructor. Her father, of Dutch and Irish descent, is Emmy Award winner Thomas W. Markle, whose profession as a lighting director resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of Married … with Children. 3Education From age five, Markle was educated at private schools, first at Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse and later at Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl, private Catholic school in Los Angeles. She graduated in 2003 from Northwestern University, near Chicago, where she took theater studies before completing her bachelor's degree in theater and international studies; coursework included an internship at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires. 2Career 3Acting To support herself between early acting jobs, Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher and took on several contract acting and modeling jobs including a stint as a 'briefcase girl' on Deal or No Deal. In 2002, Markle appeared in an episode of the daytime soap opera, General Hospita