Mischa Barton was born January 24, 1986 and has never been
far away from privilege and wealth. Born in England to a wealthy banker
father, Barton moved to New York with her family when she was four. Her
childhood consisted of the pleasures of travel and culture. When she was eight
she was sent to summer camp, and it was there that, while performing a
monologue she wrote about a turtle, an agent recognized her talent and
encouraged her parents to take her ability seriously.
They enrolled her in acting classes, and when she was nine
she was given an extraordinary opportunity to prove herself in Tony Kushner’s
play Slavs!, performing opposite Marisa Tomei. Barton did not
disappoint her audience. Her critically acclaimed work in Slavs! led to
more theatre work at New York’s Lincoln Center and the New York Shakespeare
Festival.
But it was in film that she desired to make her mark. At
first she managed to get a reoccurring role in the soap opera “All My
children.” As she became older her beauty became more obvious, and she signed
with the Ford Modeling Agency. She appeared in ads for Calvin Klein and worked
for Vogue and Gitano. 1997 would prove to be a big year for the young
actress. She landed the lead role of a young girl who is befriended by a man
who mows lawns in Lawn Dogs. Starring opposite Sam Rockwell, Burton helped to make the film a favorite that year at the Sundance Film Festival.
By 1999 Barton had experienced success in two more hugely
popular films, The Sixth Sense and Notting Hill. In the next
couple of years she landed roles that placed her on the screen with Jessica
Alba (Paranoid, 2000), Melanie Griffith (Tart, 2001), and
Courtney Love (Julie Johnson, 2001). Barton’s star was rising. Then it
was in 2003 that Mischa, a relatively unknown young actress from New York City, would find her way into the homes millions of people. Her role in Fox’s
“The O.C.” has served to make her name synonymous with Marissa Cooper, her
wealthy and sometimes awkward character on the hit television show, and secure
her a reputation as one of the most captivating stars today.