- Born
- Birth nameDaphne Eurydice Zuniga
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Zuniga was born in San Francisco, California to Agnes A. Zuniga (née Janawicz) and Joaquin Alberto Zuniga Mazariegos. Her mother is a Unitarian minister, of Polish and Finnish descent, and her father, originally from Guatemala, was an emeritus professor of philosophy at California State University, East Bay. Zuniga has two sisters: Jennifer Zuniga and Rosario Zúñiga.
In her early teens, Zuniga expressed interest in acting, and attended the Young Conservatory program of the American Conservatory Theater of San Francisco. After her parents divorced, Zuniga moved with her mother and sister from Berkeley, California to Reading, Vermont, where she spent the remainder of her teenage years. Zuniga graduated from Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock, Vermont, in 1980, after which she returned to California and enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles to study theater arts. After leaving college, Zuniga was close friends and roommates with fellow actress Meg Ryan.
Zuniga made her film debut in a supporting part in the slasher film The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982), while a student at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was then cast in the 1984 horror film The Initiation (1984), opposite Vera Miles and Clu Gulager. This was followed by a lead role, opposite John Cusack, in Rob Reiner's film, The Sure Thing (1985).
In 1986, she starred as Princess Vespa in Mel Brooks' memorable cult comedy Spaceballs (1987), followed by a supporting part in the science fiction horror sequel, The Fly II (1989). From 1992 to 1996, Zuniga portrayed Jo Reynolds on the wildly popular soap opera Melrose Place (1992), which garnered Zuniga wider mainstream exposure. Her role on the series would be followed by numerous appearances on television series, including a lead role as Shelly Pierce on American Dreams (2004) from 2004 to 2005, and a recurring on the popular CW series, One Tree Hill (2003), as Victoria Davis, a role which she played from 2008 until 2012.- IMDb Mini Biography By: S.C.H.
- SpouseDavid Mleczko(June 8, 2019 - present)
- ParentsAgnes A. JanawiczJoaquin Zuniga
- RelativesJennifer Zuniga(Sibling)
- Raven dark hair and blue eyes
- Deep smoky voice
- Shared an Los Angeles house with Meg Ryan when both were struggling actresses.
- It was Mel Brooks who, after seeing what he considered such a great job in his Spaceballs (1987) film, personally recommended her for The Fly II (1989).
- (June 8, 2019) Married her boyfriend of 12 years Beau David Mleczko at Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The couple, who were initially set up on a blind date 12 years ago, got engaged after a decade.
- When she isn't acting she works for such causes as cleaning up toxic waste and counseling high school kids against the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
- Her father is a philosophy professor and her mother is a Unitarian minister.
- The hardest part about doing Spaceballs (1987) was not laughing when they said "action". (2004, VH1's "When Star Wars Ruled the World")
- I know that place of being an actor and wishing and wanting for things to happen for you, but the truth is that it happens inside.
- "I've said that if we were going to do a reunion, they have to pay me the money they should have paid me when I did the original" (on the prospect of participating in a "Melrose Place" reunion)
- I was a real pain in the ass actually, kind of obnoxious. Moving around a lot and being the "new kid" on the block affected me. My life wasn't too normal in terms of Friday night dates and all that. (on her younger days)
- I had a kind of anger inside of me that made me want to prove myself all the time. I constantly got into fights and usually ended up in the principal's office. My mother had her hands full with my sister and me. And yet those years taught me to be independent. I once thought that to be "normal" -- to have a mother, father, 2.7 kids and a dog -- was to be happy. I learned pretty quickly that wasn't my "thing" at all. (on her troubled childhood)
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