Mindy Cohn Biography

Mindy Cohn (born May 20, 1966) is an American actress, voice actress, comedian and singer. She is known for her role as Natalie Green, the student of Edna Garrett (played by Charlotte Rae) in the long-running sitcom The Facts of Life, and for being the voice of Velma Dinkley in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 2002 to 2015. She resides in Beverly Hills.

Early life and career

Cohn was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1966, and was raised Jewish. She was discovered by actress Charlotte Rae when Rae and the producers of The Facts of Life visited Westlake School in Bel Air, California, while doing research for the show. Cohn was cast as Natalie Green and portrayed the character for the series' entire run (1979-88), as well as in the reunion movie (2001). Her work on The Facts of Life was honored when she was ranked 43rd on VH1's List of 100 Greatest Kid Stars.

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 still remains friends with Rae. Just 2 months before her acting mentor's 90th Birthday in 2016, when Cohn was unavailable to attend The Facts of Life reunion interview, she even bestowed Rae a video message praising her decades-long friend for teaching Cohn the craft of acting.

Education

Cohn has a degree in cultural anthropology from Loyola Marymount University and is a founding member of the weSpark cancer support center.

Later career

Cohn has continued her acting career outside of The Facts of Life. In 1984 she had a leading role as the daughter alongside Stockard Channing in RKO's video production of "Table Settings". In 1986, she appeared in The Boy Who Could Fly playing the part of Geneva. She also had guest appearances in other popular TV shows, including Charles in Charge (playing Buddy's sister Bunny, a young alcoholic, in the 1988 episode "Bottle Baby"), and two guest appearances in the second season of the cop drama 21 Jump Street (playing Rosa in the 1987 episode "Christmas In Saigon" and the 1988 episode "Chapel of Love"). In 2004 Cohn appeared in the WB comedy The Help. In 2010, Cohn played the role of Violet, the leading character in Casper Andreas's movie Violet Tendencies, and appeared on the Season 8 premiere of TLC's What Not to Wear on October 29, 2010. She appeared in an episode of Hot in Cleveland on July 13, 2011, on The Secret Life of the American Teenager on March 26, 2012, and in The Middle on May 21, 2014.

Cohn said that one of the reasons she did The Facts of Life Reunion in 2001 was that the actors in the long-running 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."

Cohn reprised her Velma Dinkley role in Lego Dimensions.

Personal life

Cohn has never married and has no children. She is also a strong supporter of the LGBT community and has stated that she is proud to be a "fag hag."

Accolades

In 2003 Cohn was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on the TV show What's New, Scooby-Doo?, for which she provided the voice of Velma Dinkley. She reprised her role of Velma on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and in several Scooby-Doo movies.

She received a positive notice from Variety for her role in the 2007 Daniel Waters' comedy film Sex and Death 101.

Filmography

Actress

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979-88	The Facts of Life	Natalie Green	Main cast (202 episodes)
1980-81	Diff'rent Strokes	Natalie Green	Episodes: "The Slumber Party", "The Older Man"
1982	The Facts of Life Goes to Paris	Natalie Green	TV film
1985	Double Trouble	Janie Blakemore	Episode: "Funny Girl"
1986	The Boy Who Could Fly	Geneva Goodman	Feature film
1987	The Facts of Life Down Under	Natalie Green	TV film
1987-88	21 Jump Street	Rosa Banducci	Episodes: "Christmas in Saigon", "Chapel of Love"
1988	Charles in Charge	Bunny Lembeck	Episode: "Bottle Baby"
1991	Dream On	Marie	Episode: "Toby or Not Toby"
1993-94	The Second Half	Maureen Tucker	Main cast (13 episodes)
1999	Suddenly Susan	Cindy	Episode: "Revenge of the Gophers"
1999	The Chimp Channel	Candy Yuponce (voice)	Main cast (13 episodes)
2001	Alone with a Stranger	Toni	Feature film
2001	Virtually Casey	Joanne Collins	TV film
2001	The Facts of Life Reunion	Natalie Green	TV film
2002	Under the Gun	Gale	Feature film
2003	One on One	Ms. Sorel	Episode: "Daddy, I Don't Need an Edumacation"
2003	Swing	Martha	Feature film
2004	The Help	Maggie, the Cook	Main cast (7 episodes)
2005	The Adventures of Tango McNorton: Licensed Hero	Lunch Lady	Short film
2005	The Third Wish	Bridgette	Feature film
2007	Sex and Death 101	Trixie	Feature film
2010	Violet Tendencies	Violet	Feature film
2011	Hot in Cleveland	Cassie	Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor"
2012	The Secret Life of the American Teenager	Dylan's Mom	Recurring role (8 episodes)
2013	Holiday Road Trip	Artie	TV film
2014	The Middle	Kimberly	Episode: "The Wonderful World of Hecks"
2014	Operation Marriage	Kathy	Short film
2014	Bones	Valentina	Episode: "The Puzzler in the Pit"
2014	FreakMe	April	TV pilot episode (unaired)
2015	You're Killing Me	Karen	Feature film
2016	Worst Cooks in America	Herself (contestant)	Season 9: Celebrity Edition 2 (8 episodes)
2016	A Cinderella Christmas	Zelda	TV film
2017	Hollywood Dirt	Thelma	Feature film
2018	Fly	Air Traffic Controller Camille Fields	Recurring role (8 episodes)

Voice Work

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
1999-2001	The Kids from Room 402	Nancy Francis	TV series (34 episodes)
2002-2006	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Velma Dinkley	TV series (41 episodes)
2003	Dexter's Laboratory	Librarian	Episode: "Voice Over/Blonde Leading the Blonde/Comic Stripper"
2003	Kim Possible	Ms. Whisp	Episode: "Naked Genius"
2004	Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster	Velma Dinkley	Direct-to-video film
2005	Aloha, Scooby-Doo!		Direct-to-video film
2005	Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy?		Direct-to-video film
2006	Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!		Direct-to-video film
2006	Family Guy	Natalie Green	Episode: "Prick Up Your Ears"
2006	Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!	Velma Dinkley	Episodes: "Shags to Riches" and "Almost Ghosts"
2007	Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!		Direct-to-video film
2008	Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King		Direct-to-video film
2009	Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword		Direct-to-video film
2010	Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo		Direct-to-video film
2010-13	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated		TV series (52 episodes)
2010	Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare		Direct-to-video film
2011	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Velma Dinkley / Ticket Girl	Episode: "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!"
2011	Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur	Velma Dinkley	Direct-to-video film
2012	Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire		Direct-to-video film
2012	Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games		Direct-to-video short
2012	Big Top Scooby-Doo!		Direct-to-video film
2012	Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays		Direct-to-video short
2013	Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon		Direct-to-video film
2013	Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright		Direct-to-video film
2013	Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow		Direct-to-video short
2013	Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace		Direct-to-video short
2014	Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery		Direct-to-video film
2014	Scooby-Doo! Ghastly Goals		Direct-to-video short
2014	Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy		Direct-to-video film
2015	Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness		Direct-to-video film
2015	Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie		Direct-to-video short
2015	Scooby-Doo! and Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery		Direct-to-video film

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem	Velma Dinkley	Voice role
2005	Scooby-Doo! Unmasked		Voice role
2006	Scooby-Doo! Who's Watching Who?		Voice role
2009	Scooby-Doo! First Frights		Voice role
2010	Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp		Voice role
2015	Lego Dimensions		Voice role