Meghan Markle
White + African-American
Actress
Instagram: @meghanmarkle
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Meghan Markle is the daughter of an Emmy Award-winning cinematographer, Thomas Markle, who is White; and a clinical therapist and yoga instructor, Doria Radlan, who is African-American.
Meghan has publicly talked about her struggles with her ethnic identity. In a column she wrote for Elle in 2016, one of many experiences occurred in 7th grade when she had to complete a mandatory census: “…you had to check one of the boxes to indicate your ethnicity: white, black, Hispanic or Asian. There I was (my curly hair, my freckled face, my pale skin, my mixed race) looking down at these boxes, not wanting to mess up, but not knowing what to do. You could only choose one, but that would be to choose one parent over the other – and one half of myself over the other.”
When her father was a lighting director on the popular sitcom “Married…With Children,” he would bring Meghan on set. Through this exposure, Meghan became interested in television from a very early age.
She attended private schools during her childhood, followed by attending Northwestern University in Illinois, where she took on two majors – theatre and international relations. The year before graduation, she landed her first TV appearance on an episode of the daytime drama “General Hospital.”
In 2003, Meghan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications and would go on to book contract acting and modeling jobs, while working as a freelance calligrapher to support herself between gigs.
Since 2002, her appearances in several film and TV shows include: “Century City” (2004), “Cuts” (2005), “Deal or No Deal” (2007), “90210” (2008), “Knight Rider” (2009), “CSI: Miami” (2010), “Get Him to the Greek” (2010), “Horrible Bosses” (2011). As of 2011, Meghan has played a main character (Rachel Zane) on USA Network’s legal drama series, “Suits.”
Today, Meghan proudly identifies as a strong, confident mixed-race woman, and spreads her positive spirit through advocacy work with the United Nations and World Vision Canada.
Sources: The Telegraph and CNN