Melinda Heather Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress and comedian. She starred as Natalie Green in the sitcom The Facts of Life from 1979 to 1988, and is known for voicing Velma Dinkley in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 2002 to 2015, succeeding B. J. Ward, before being succeeded herself by Kate Micucci. Cohn appeared on VH1's List of "100 Greatest Kid Stars".
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Early life
Melinda Heather Cohn was born in Los Angeles in 1966 and was raised Jewish.
Career
Cohn was discovered by actress Charlotte Rae when Rae and the producers of The Facts of Life visited Westlake School in Holmby Hills, California, while doing research for the show; she had been asked by the principal to be a student tour guide for the group, who found themselves enchanted by her natural comic instincts as she led them around the campus. Cohn was cast as Natalie Green and portrayed the character for the series' nine-year run (1979–1988), as well as in the reunion movie (2001). In 2013, she commented on Charlotte Rae's lobbying on her behalf: "Mr. Reynolds calls me into his office. It seemed that Charlotte Rae had fallen madly in love with me, in part because I reminded her of her best childhood friend Natalie—and I was irrepressible, charming, and hilarious. So she asked the producers to create a part for me in the show. Honestly, the whole thing seemed so fantastic I didn't know what to think." After the show, she remained friends with Rae. Two months before Rae's birthday in 2016, when Cohn was unavailable to attend The Facts of Life reunion interview, she sent Rae a video message praising her decades-long friend for teaching her the craft of acting. Cohn said that one of the reasons she did The Facts of Life Reunion in 2001 was that the actresses in the long-running 1980s series have been wrongly denied a cut of the syndication and DVD profits from the series. "We all never got paid and still don't get paid for DVDs and reruns... we felt we were owed."
