Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Michelle Clunie, who has won critical and popular audiences for her portrayal of the beautiful, intelligent, human Melanie Marcus of Showtime's groundbreaking series Queer as Folk, may have learned few specifics about playing a lesbian. But it was certainly there that she developed the talent, integrity and dedication to craft for which she is now known, regardless of the role she chooses. A gifted dancer, she accepted a scholarship to the Academy of Professional Ballet, and performed with the company until her focus turned to acting and she moved to Los Angeles. In addition to her featured and guest-starring roles on television drama/comedy series, she also worked in Los Angeles on stage, and in (year) produced and starred in the original play A Comedy of Eros for which she received the Drama-Logue Award for Best Actress. Clunie devotes time outside her professional pursuits to Destination Foundation, a non-profit organization that grants dream trips to people in the San Francisco Bay area who are living with life-threatening illness. She has also toured in The Vagina Monologues in performances which raised funds to fight violence againstwomen.



She was cast separately from her Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) co-star Michael B. Silver. It turns out they already knew each other by the time they got to the set; they had dated for years and had just broken up a year before shooting, and had no idea the other was cast in the opposite role.