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IMDbPro

Meghan Markle

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000121
Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle has had quite the ride, from starring as Rachel Zane in "Suits" to her much publicized marriage to Prince Harry. "No Small Parts" takes a look at her rise to fame, both as an actress and as royalty.
Play clip2:47
The Rise of Meghan Markle
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99+ Photos
Rachel Meghan Markle is an US-born member of the British royal family and a former film and television actress.

Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California, and is of mixed-race heritage. During her studies at Northwestern University, she began to play small roles in television series and films. From 2011 to 2017, she played her best-known role, Rachel Zane, on the legal drama series Suits. As an outspoken feminist, Markle has addressed issues of gender inequality, and her lifestyle website, The Tig, featured a column profiling influential women. Her humanitarian work in the 2010s saw her represent international charity organizations. She has also received recognition for her fashion and style, releasing a clothing line in 2016.

From 2011 until their 2013 divorce, Markle was married to actor and producer Trevor Engelson. In 2017, she announced her engagement to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and moved to London. She consequently retired from acting, closed her social-media accounts, and started undertaking public engagements on behalf of the British royal family. Following their wedding on May 19, 2018, Markle received the title of Duchess of Sussex. After her and Harry's departure as working members of the Royal family, they no longer use their HRH titles in a professional capacity.

Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California, at West Park Hospital in Canoga Park. Her mother, Doria Loyce (Ragland), a social worker and yoga instructor, is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and lives in View Park Windsor Hills, California. Markle has often described a very close friendship with her mother. Her father, Thomas Wayne Markle, who lives in Rosarito, Mexico, is a retired Emmy Award winning television director of photography and lighting director, whose profession resulted in his young daughter often visiting the set of "Married...with Children." Markle's parents divorced when she was six years old. She has two older paternal half-siblings, Thomas Markle Jr. and Samantha Markle, from whom she is reportedly estranged.

Describing her heritage in a 2015 essay for Elle, Markle states that her "dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white ... While my mixed heritage may have created a gray area surrounding my self identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed race woman." Her father's roots include German, English, Irish, and Scottish. Her mother has family lines in Tennessee and Georgia.

Markle grew up in Hollywood. She was educated at private schools, beginning at age two at Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse. Markle attended Immaculate Heart High School, a girls' Catholic private school in Los Angeles, but was raised as a Protestant. She then attended Northwestern University, where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and participated in community service and charity projects. While at Northwestern, her uncle obtained an internship for her at the American embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Markle studied for a semester in Madrid, Spain. Markle graduated from Northwestern's School of Communication in 2003 with a bachelor's degree and a double major in theater and international studies.

Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher to support herself between early acting jobs. Her first onscreen appearance was a small role as a nurse in an episode of the daytime soap opera General Hospital (1963), where her father was lighting director. Early in her career, Markle had small guest roles on the television shows Century City (2004), The War at Home (2005), and CSI: NY (2004). She also took on several contract acting and modeling jobs, including a stint as a "briefcase girl" on the US game show Deal or No Deal (2005). She appeared in Fox's series Fringe (2008) as Junior Agent Amy Jessup in the first two episodes of its second season. Markle had some difficulty getting roles early in her career. In 2015, she wrote: "Being 'ethnically ambiguous', as I was pegged in the industry, meant I could audition for virtually any role. Sadly, it didn't matter: I wasn't black enough for the black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn't book a job."

In July 2011, Markle joined the cast of the USA Network show Suits (2011), playing Rachel Zane. The character began as a paralegal and eventually became an attorney. She completed work on the seventh season in late 2017. According to a critique in The Irish Times, Markle deftly and actively re-positioned her character from ingenue to moral conscience and gave viewers the unique portrayal of a daughter, whose African American father is in a position to help her career and advance her strong desire to break several racial and gender "glass ceilings". She appeared in two 2010 films, Get Him to the Greek (2010) and Remember Me (2010), and one 2011 film, Horrible Bosses (2011). She also appeared in episodes of Cuts (2005); Love, Inc. (2005); 90210 (2008); Knight Rider (2008); Without a Trace (2002); The League (2009); and Castle (2009).

From 2014 to 2017, Markle was founder and editor in chief of lifestyle website The Tig. She derived the name from Tignanello red wine. One of The Tig's features was Tig Talk, a column that profiled women including Jessica Alba, Gail Simmons, Ella Woodward, Daphne Oz, Elizabeth Hurley, Lauren Bush Lauren, Ivanka Trump, Dianna Agron, and Jessica Stam. In April 2017, she closed The Tig. Markle developed an adept and polished social media presence at the time of its closing, her Instagram account had 1.9 million followers. In January 2018, Markle deleted her social media accounts and, in a statement issued by Kensington Palace, thanked "everyone who has followed her social media accounts over the years".

Since her marriage with Prince Harry of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, Markle is known as HRH Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Countess of Dumbarton and Baroness Kilkeel.
BornAugust 4, 1981
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornAugust 4, 1981
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000121
  • Unlock contact info on IMDbPro
  • Awards
    • 1 win

Photos304

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Harry & Meghan (2022)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Harry & Meghan (2022)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Royalty (2021)
Meghan Markle in No Small Parts (2014)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Good Morning Britain (2014)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)
Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle in Suits (2011)

Known for

Pierce Brosnan, Lena Olin, Chris Cooper, Emilie de Ravin, and Robert Pattinson in Remember Me (2010)
Remember Me
7.1
  • Megan
  • 2010
Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Colin Farrell, and Jason Sudeikis in Horrible Bosses (2011)
Horrible Bosses
6.9
  • Jamie
  • 2011
Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher in A Lot Like Love (2005)
A Lot Like Love
6.6
  • Hot Girl
  • 2005
Anna Torv in Fringe (2008)
Fringe
8.4
TV Series
  • Junior FBI Agent Amy Jessup

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Suits (2011)
    Suits
    • Rachel Zane
    • TV Series
    • 2011–2018
  • Jonathan Scarfe, Kristoffer Polaha, and Meghan Markle in Dater's Handbook (2016)
    Dater's Handbook
    • Cass
    • TV Movie
    • 2016
  • Anti-Social (2015)
    Anti-Social
    • Kirsten
    • 2015
  • Suits Webisodes (2012)
    Suits Webisodes
    • Rachel Zane
    • TV Series
    • 2012–2014
  • When Sparks Fly (2014)
    When Sparks Fly
    • Amy Peterson
    • TV Movie
    • 2014
  • Abby Wathen, Meghan Markle, and Michael Rady in Random Encounters (2013)
    Random Encounters
    • Mindy
    • 2013
  • Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic in Castle (2009)
    Castle
    • Charlotte Boyd
    • Sleeping Beauty
    • TV Series
    • 2012
  • Stacey Dash, Tatyana Ali, Reagan Gomez-Preston, Meagan Good, Wesley Jonathan, Stacy Keibler, Terrell Owens, Keith D. Robinson, Jason Weaver, Persia White, Datari Turner, Christian Keyes, and Hosea Chanchez in Dysfunctional Friends (2012)
    Dysfunctional Friends
    • Terry
    • 2012
  • Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Colin Farrell, and Jason Sudeikis in Horrible Bosses (2011)
    Horrible Bosses
    • Jamie
    • 2011
  • The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down (2011)
    The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down
    • Dana
    • TV Movie
    • 2011
  • Vyto Ruginis in The Candidate (2010)
    The Candidate
    • Kat
    • Short
    • 2010
  • Russell Brand and Jonah Hill in Get Him to the Greek (2010)
    Get Him to the Greek
    • Tatiana (uncredited)
    • 2010
  • David Caruso, Eva LaRue, Rex Linn, Omar Benson Miller, Emily Procter, Adam Rodriguez, and Jonathan Togo in CSI: Miami (2002)
    CSI: Miami
    • Officer Leah Montoya
    • TV Series
    • 2010
  • Pierce Brosnan, Lena Olin, Chris Cooper, Emilie de Ravin, and Robert Pattinson in Remember Me (2010)
    Remember Me
    • Megan
    • 2010
  • Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton, Paul Scheer, Jonathan Lajoie, Stephen Rannazzisi, and Nick Kroll in The League (2009)
    The League
    • Meghan
    • TV Series
    • 2009

Producer

  • Live to Lead (2022)
    Live to Lead
    • executive producer
    • TV Series
    • 2022
  • Meghan Markle in Archetypes (2022)
    Archetypes
    • producer
    • executive producer (produced by)
    • Podcast Series
    • 2022
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos92

The Rise of Meghan Markle
Clip 2:47
The Rise of Meghan Markle
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:36
Official Trailer
Official Trailer 2
Trailer 1:11
Official Trailer 2
Trailer
Trailer 2:05
Trailer
Dater's Handbook
Trailer 0:36
Dater's Handbook
TCA Reel
Trailer 1:40
TCA Reel
Gotham Branded
Trailer 0:31
Gotham Branded
Season Three Preview
Trailer 0:30
Season Three Preview
When Sparks Fly
Trailer 0:33
When Sparks Fly
Live To Lead
Trailer 1:33
Live To Lead
Harry & Meghan: Official Trailer 2 (German Subtitled)
Trailer 1:09
Harry & Meghan: Official Trailer 2 (German Subtitled)
Harry & Meghan: Official Trailer 2 (Latin America Market Subtitled)
Trailer 1:08
Harry & Meghan: Official Trailer 2 (Latin America Market Subtitled)

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Jacquelynn King
  • Height
    • 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
  • Born
    • August 4, 1981
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Spouses
      Prince HarryMay 19, 2018 - present (2 children)
  • Children
      Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor
  • Parents
      Thomas W. Markle
  • Relatives
      Samantha Grant Markle(Half Sibling)
  • Other works
    TV commercial "Does Anyone Want That Kind of Exposure," with Meghan Markle and Reshma Shetty, in a co-marketing campaign between and for USA Networks (promoting Suits (2011) and Royal Pains (2009)) and Coppertone (TM) Sun Screen, Coppertone Sport (TM), and Coppertone AccuSpray Sunscreen (TM).
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Biographical Movie
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 107 Articles
    • 89 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Meghan's father is white and has German, English, Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and remote French ancestry. He has Colonial American (largely English) roots going back to the 1600s, particularly in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Meghan's mother is African-American and has family lines in Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia.
  • Quotes
    I would love to do anything from a really gritty, interesting, indie type film, to that commercial, bigger stuff.
  • Salaries
      Suits
      (2011)
      $50,000 per episode

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