Meghan Markle (born Rachel Meghan Markle) is an American member of the British royal family, former model and actress who appeared as briefcase model #24 during season two of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal.
Biography[]
Meghan was born in Los Angeles, California on August 4, 1981 to an African-American mother and a Dutch and Irish descent father, who is a retired photography director.
In high school, Meghan was not a pageant girl but was Homecoming Queen and was also the very first in her family to graduate college, she is an alumna of Northwestern University where she graduated with a double major in Theater and International Relations. After college, she worked for the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires in the Public Affairs Department and would eventually love to go back to school for her Master's in International Diplomacy.
At age 11, Markle appeared on an episode of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee[1]in 1993 when she saw a commercial for the dishwashing soap called Ivory Clear that didn't sit well with her because it proudly declared that "women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans". As she took matters into her own hands and kicked off a letter-writing campaign to bring attention to the sexist nature of the commercial. In addition to penning a letter to Proctor & Gamble, Markle wrote to diverse group of women in various professions, including then-first lady Hilary Clinton, attorney Gloria Allred and host Linda Ellerbee.
The letter caught Ellerbee's attention as she asked Markle to appear on the show to talk about the issue.
According to Markle, she claims that "I don't think it is right for kids to grow up thinking these things, that just mom does everything". She also said "It's always Mom does this and Mom does that" so "If you see something that you don't like or are offended by on television or any other place, write letters and send them to the right people and you can really make a difference, not just yourself but for lots of other people". At the end, P&G did change their phrasing to "people everywhere are fighting greasy pots and pans".
Markle's acting career began unexpectedly when she was discovered at a party after her friend gave a manager a copy of Meghan's film in college to view. To support herself between acting jobs, Meghan worked as a freelance calligrapher.
One of her first TV roles was appearing as an extra on a 2001 episode of the soap opera General Hospital and from there, she went on the land guest starring roles on various shows including Without a Trace, Knight Rider, 90210, CSI: NY, and Castle. She has also landing supporting roles in the movies A Lot Like Love, opposite Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet and Horrible Bosses opposite Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, and Jason Sudeikis.
In 2006, Meghan appeared on season two of NBC's Deal or No Deal as one of the Briefcase Models. She first stood beside Briefcase #11 (regularly held by Katie Cleary) for two episodes, then moved to Briefcase #24. She left the show midway through the season to focus on her modeling and acting career. She was replaced on Briefcase #24 by newcomer Kelly Brannigan.
Markle was previously married to Trevor Engelson, whom she began dating in 2004 and married on August 16, 2011. They divorced in February 2014.
She later appeared as Rachel Zane on the USA legal drama Suits from July 2011 to 2017. She is also a self-proclaimed foodie, which was incorporated into the Rachel Zane character.
She is also the founder of The TIG, "a hub for the discerning palate—those with a hunger for food, travel, fashion & beauty". The project aims "to create a space to share all of these loves—to invite friends to share theirs as well, and to be the breeding ground for ideas & excitement—for an inspired lifestyle", and its website features food, travel, fashion, beauty, and "influencers".
Meghan opened the $2,000,000 case on 2-7–2007.
Aside from her acting and charity work, Meghan enjoys cooking and is known to be a Scrabble fanatic.
In 2016 Meghan started dating Prince Harry. They announced their engagement the following year on November 27, 2017, and Meghan retired from acting. They were married in the spring of 2018.
Cases[]
- Case 24 - Season 2